Saturday 27 September 2008

Reflecting on the first 4 weeks at EtonHouse....

We have reached the half way mark of Term 1 and are now on holidays, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on life at EtonHouse. It is certainly extremely different to MLC, but is a great change and just what I needed professionally. My class are great, the children (and their parents) are culturally very different, with totally different ideas and expectations, this is something that is a challenge for me as I try to incorporate text books into my teaching. The language barrier is another challenge and I'm really enjoying trying to get the message across in the clearest way possible. Everything seems to take a lot longer due to this, 2 days worth of planning is normally enough to get me through 3 or 4 days! Having only 9 children is wonderful, there are so many more opportunities for one on one teaching and discussion. The philosophies of the school are great - we don't spend time on administration during meetings, it is very curriculum focussed. Although we don't have as much release time as we did at MLC, teachers are supported very well - 'Meet the Teacher' times were held during the school day, interim reports were simple checklists - and the stress levels are minimised this way! 'Meet the Teacher' afternoon was interesting - 7 Korean mums, a translator and me! Thank goodness for the translator, Julie! So, life at EtonHouse is just as busy as MLC but in a very different way. We finished the week with my class hosting the assembly and I have attached a video of the gorgeous Year 4 Kookaburras singing the 'Kookaburra' song. For some of them, it's the most English they know! I'm thrilled to say that I have been offered the position of PYP Co-ordinator, a role which will be a huge job and a great challenge. In the next two years, the school will be working towards PYP accreditation, which will involve a lot of work for everyone at the school. The role is exactly what I have been working towards during my time at MLC and I'm really looking forward to the challenge. That said, we're now on holidays and I don't plan to do anything that challenging for my mind! I'm flying out to Guilin tonight and then boating down to Yangshuo, where I will spend the next week exploring the area on foot, bike and bamboo raft! Take care, Anna.

1 comment:

Fi said...

That's such a cute video! At first I didn't realised they were singing in English, until I read your blog and listened again and realised they were!