First Couple of Days

Today marked my second full day at Dromclough and I am loving it so far! I am teaching in the junior infants class which is composed of thirty-one 4 & 5-year-olds. It is basically the equivalent of America's pre-k and kindergarten. Dromclough is a country school that is about 15-20 minutes outside of the main town of Listowel where I am living with my host family. For a country school, I was picturing a smaller class size so I was a bit taken aback by how many students there are in the junior infants class. But I understand that Dromclough has a very good reputation in Listowel so I think it attracts a lot more students for that reason.

My cooperating teacher at Dromclough is really nice and welcomes any new ideas that I may have, as does the Principal. The whole faculty is really friendly and welcoming so I feel really comfortable there already. The sixth class teacher gives me a ride to school every morning and also brings me back at the end of the day. It's nice to be able to chat with her about the school, good places to travel to while I'm here, the kinds of tv shows they watch here, etc.

There is a total of 8 classes at Dromclough. Sixth class is the highest class which marks the students' last year of primary school. Sixth class is basically the same as America's sixth grade. There is only one teacher for each class but there is also a resource teacher that works in a few different classrooms throughout the day. The faculty gathers together for tea and biscuits in the morning while the students have a chance to go outside for a break and then meet again for lunch later on in the day. While the teachers eat their lunches in the multi-purpose room, the students come in from recess and go back to their classrooms to eat. My cooperating teacher told me that it is fairly typical of Irish schools not to have a cafeteria. Most students bring their own lunches to school. She did say that there may be a couple of schools throughout the country that provide a special lunch program for students who can't afford to bring a lunch of their own every day, but it sounded as though that was not really an issue for most Irish students.

The junior infants classroom has a lot of student work displayed on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. The students all sit at tables with about 5-6 students in each group. The classroom also has a smartboard so there are lots of opportunities for students to interact that way and be more engaged during lessons. My cooperating teacher said that there is a lot of content that needs to be taught within the school year so there is always a lot going on during the school day. All of the schools in Ireland also require students to learn Irish so every morning the students learn Irish before delving into any other subjects. Personally, I find the Irish language to be really difficult because the written words are pronounced so differently than they appear. I am really impressed with the junior infants and their abilities to recite several different words/poems/songs in Irish. It's really pretty interesting to listen to.

Next week I will be picking up one subject to teach but I am not sure what that will be yet. I'm excited to start teaching but at the same time I am a bit intimidated. I know how loud my cooperating teacher's voice gets so that she can get the childrens' attention back after they have started to wander from their seats or chat with other students. This will be excellent practice for me to really improve upon my "teacher voice" and use different techniques for keeping their attention during a lesson or getting it back during transition times.

On a final note, here is a link to Dromclough's website. The junior infant's class picture is on the right hand side of the school's homepage: http://www.dromcloughns.com/