This morning at school I was able to observe my first morning assembly - which was special for Wednesdays because it is a “Rev Up” day, typically, every week. This week was just a briefing on Rev Up for the new students (and me), so it was really nice for me to get to experience.
At the first bell, students are to meet in the main hall, and should be seated by 7:20am. They sit in single file rows depending on the class they are in, starting with Sec 1A's-G's... Sec 2A-G... etc.. through Sec 5. I noticed (and was surprised to see) most of the students were reading while they waited for the assembly to start.
Teachers sit in chairs or stand near their form classes (like homeroom), and since Ivy doesn't have one, I just walked around observing the different classes. I eventually found a seat over on the side of the main hall.
The students who walked in late to the assembly were called up to go sit on stage, and were later led into the hallway to sit there for the rest of the assembly. The formality and discipline is much different than what I see in the states, and the entire time I kept trying to imagine my school doing this sort of thing - I don’t think it would work. It really does get the message across however that being late to school is not acceptable.
The assembly started with the National Anthem and Pledge, led by 2 girls. The Sec 4 and 5's were instructed to help out the school by actually singing the anthem and actually saying the pledge - I know this is a problem we have in our schools too. ;)
progress for our nation.
After this, I got a little bit nervous, as the principal came on stage for a few announcements - she had told me earlier that morning that she planned on introducing me to the entire school, and I didn't quite know what she meant. She started with a few brief announcements and then proceeded to call me up onto stage and introduce me... to the entire school... and even let me say a few words. I said (in brief), “Thank you so much for welcoming me to your school, I feel very fortunate and excited to be here. Feel free to ask me any questions or simply say hello around campus,” etc. It was a little nerve racking, but exciting all the same - and I got a loud applause after and quite a few “Hello Ma’am”’s.
Following my introduction, a teacher led the briefing on Rev Up Wednesday procedures. In short, Rev Up is a program to "extend physical capacity and enhance mental tenacity." Every Wednesday morning, students will do a certain activity for about an hour (depending on their grade level) - these activities include:
- Road Running - running around the campus
- Vertical Running - running up and down the four flights of stairs on campus
- Pushball - team game where you have to push a giant ball over the line *a campus favorite
- Aerobic Kickboxing - kickboxing to upbeat dance music!
Also, because of this, Wednesday’s are dress down days for teachers - we are to wear sports attire, etc. During the presentation, safety was quite emphasized, along with discipline, professionalism and fun. The teacher addressed all of the rules, scheduling, etc. and the assembly proceeded to a ‘discipline check.’ This involved form teachers walking up and down their class lines and checking the students attire - everything from school uniform requirements, to hair style, to nail polish, etc. It was really interesting to see, as I have never seen anything like this back home. The students who didn’t meet the standards for the discipline check had to then proceed to the stage, and the assembly was finished. The students were dismissed row by row, and the students headed to their first class of the day.
I had a break from 8:30-11, which was nice and I started a lot of work - lesson plans, yay! I'm preparing to teach the scientific method and different types of variables to the 1D's next week, and movement of substances and nutrients to the 3G's next week... I'm really looking forward to it!
At 11, I finally met the 1D's. These are first year express students who are about 12 or 13 years old - and they are SO cute! It brought me back to my Junior High placement in August (which was so fun), and the kids seemed really excited to have me as their teacher. They were very smiley, almost every single one said, "Hello Ma'am," to me once (or twice), and I had a couple of (interesting) questions. Ivy proceeded to do a lesson on the advantages and disadvantages of science and technology - and then got partway into lab safety, and the period ended. The students all cheerfully said goodbye as we left their classroom (which still takes some getting used to!)
At 1pm, we had an In-Touch assembly (In-Touch, as I understand is a time designated (also on Wednesdays) to building community and cultural awareness throughout the school/classroom. Today a group of students presented on their trip to Indonesia last year that was an exchange program they were able to participate in (as Sec 3's). It was a great presentation, very well organized and inspiring... and they played these awesome instruments called angklungs! They were really beautiful sounding, and the 29 of them played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!" It was adorable.
After the In-Touch assembly, I was free to head home! A much earlier day than my first day there, but I'm so excited to go back tomorrow. I'm really loving it at this school, and am already so sad the fact that the end is so near!
Rae, Katie, Elise and I are now headed to dinner and to see Catching Fire, finally! I'm so excited - yayyyy I can't wait, I can't believe I still haven't seen it!
___
Cat of the Day!
Today's Cat of the Day goes to Katniss back home, in honor of me seeing Catching Fire, finally tonight! Miss you Fatniss!
No comments:
Post a Comment