Monday, March 7:
The sun rose Monday morning shining brightly. It was to be a very hot day with a sky clear of clouds. I spent the morning with Kínder 2, we began our day by creating a fertilizing mixture in a large water bin. (Similar to my Supergro that I use at home for my plants!) We then watered each part of the greenhouse.The lettuce, the cilantro, the purple lettuce, the cucumbers, the sweet peppers. I was unfortunately swarmed by black biting ants in the greenhouse and ended up with about twelve bites. Ouchy and itchy! We then returned to the classroom where we working on a frog cut-out and I began a project in which each student got to create their own X-ray of their left arm. |
Kínder 1 arrived midday and we got to work on new material. We are finishing up with sound versus silence and by the end of the week we plan to be working on learning about the human body! During some free choice time I caught these two students with amazing ideas. The photo above shows that the students are able to use their imaginations to create something different than what a game may be intended for. I painted this egg carton and then painted bottle caps to be coordinated with the colors on the carton. The idea is that the student places the caps in the correctly colored spaces. The student did this but then also organized the caps in a straight line based on colors. Very interesting to me! And to the left are three snails created with playdough! These moments make my heart very happy and I know that this is the profession for me! |
The ending to our Monday, relaxing at the back table watching the sun set in the horizon.
Tuesday, March 8:
National Women's Day
It's always a good day when it starts with pancakes and coffee. Tuesday I only met with Kínder 2 during the morning session, the afternoon was reserved for all preschool teachers to meet and share ideas for the rest of this month's plans. We worked on distinguishing between healthy and unhealthy food options. After creating an anchor chart, I gave each student a piece of newspaper to look for food, as well as a stomach to glue their food choices to. |
A typical school lunch!
(Cantaloupe was served afterwards)
(Cantaloupe was served afterwards)
PS-- Cortizone cream for those nasty ant bites... | The preschool staff meeting was scheduled to start at noon and did not until about an hour and fifteen minutes later. Something that I've come to accept as part of the lifestyle here. During this meeting we worked as a team to come up with ideas for lessons based on the information that the students needed to learn by the end of the month. There are three students teaching Maternal Level and Three (including me) teaching the Transition Level. Maternal is the most similar to Preschool and Transition is similar in my mind to K-4 but here it's considered the kindergarten level. We were successful in coming up with many fun ideas for the students and of course the meeting wasn't complete until we had both coffee and bread to snack on! That will be missed greatly back home. I drank this coffee black, I don't know that coffee in the States will ever compare. |
Wednesday, March 9:
On Wednesday in Kínder 2, we were able to complete our X-rays! They turned out wonderfully! The students really enjoyed this 3-D art project and I have to admit that I did as well. We then worked on some Wisconsin Leaf tracings and I got to teach a bit about the state that I live in. Each of these activities I will also be working on in Kínder 1, but not until next week because of the fact that we are working on different units in each classroom. | The month of March is dedicated to the fight against discrimination and human rights. In Kínder 1 we have been discussing this in great detail as well as seeing videos that express ways to fight discrimination. This is an important topic in our classroom especially due to the fact that we are an inclusion class with a young boy who uses a walker for assistance. |
Thursday, March 10:
Thursday was a shortened schedule again due to another staff meeting. In Kínder 2 we began our day by harvesting the cilantro that we planted about two and half weeks ago. It was awesome knowing that the cooks were planning to use this harvest right away in the cafeteria. In Kínder 1 are starting to work on studying the human body. I am looking forward to sharing my art activities with this class as well.
Friday, March 11:
In Kínder 2 we are beginning the unit about families and family trees and so I got to teach a short introduction to what is to come the next coming week. We then worked on fine motor skills for the remainder of our morning.
In Kínder 1 we continued learning about our bodies and had the chance to finish working on our X-rays. These students enjoyed the project as much as my first class. Success!
In Kínder 1 we continued learning about our bodies and had the chance to finish working on our X-rays. These students enjoyed the project as much as my first class. Success!
Saturday, March 12:
Sleeping in Saturday was the best! It was quite the rainy day so it was great to just get the chance to lay in bed until I was ready to get up. Another new experience here in Costa Rica, one of Mami's friends from church came to the house and painted our toe nails! I felt very lucky to not have to leave the house at all. Overall we had a very relaxing day here, our last full weekend here in Costa Rica. |
Sunday, March 13:
Ziplining at Last!!
On Sunday, Brittani and I finally got to fulfill our dreams of ziplining through the rainforest!! We took a bus and then a taxi to Hacienda Pozo Azul. It was one of the shortest trips that we've made, but definitely a great one. There were multiple cables for us to zip down, we never really knew where the next cable would be so that in itself made it quite the adventure right in the middle of the rainforest!!
And then before we knew it, our seventh week came to an end and we were left with one week left to live the Costa Rican lifestyle.
And then before we knew it, our seventh week came to an end and we were left with one week left to live the Costa Rican lifestyle.