End of Term Festival

Heya!
Before I tell you all about my holidays, including all the adventures and escapades, I'll start at the beginning with some pictures from our End of Term Festival. The festival went very well and it was a great chance for all of the classes to entertain us and creatively share what they have been learning throughout the term. For instance one of our classes was studying weather and so they gave a weather report, rain, rain and most likely more rain. Then they sang an oldie but a goodie, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, before busting out their umbrellas and dancing around to Rihanna's Umbrella song. Everyone got a kick out of it.
For me the festival was particularly wonderful because the boy I look after in class was so successful, not only during our performance but also sitting and watching the others. He really managed so well and this was just the kind of situation which he finds difficult. I was very anxious before the festival about sitting with him and I was so sure that he really wouldn't manage but he was terrific! He stayed in his seat (and it wasn't his special chair which he gets strapped into) and in spite of his obvious excitement he didn't make a lot of noise even though he is known for really making a racket. He even managed to behave and make an appearance on stage and while I was worried that he would get excited and run off the stage, he only went to sit in his chair waiting off to the side. I was so impressed and so proud. It gets even better though because I was talking with the teacher whose class I work in and he said that he was impressed as well but he credited me more than the boy. He said that it was how I managed the boy and how I worked with him. Yay!! I was so pleased as you can imagine but even more so because I haven't heard much feedback about my work in the class, good or bad, which often just leaves me wondering "what the heck am I doing here?!"


(As it turns out I don't have so many pictures from the festival that I can post here on the internet. That is most unfortunate. I also wasn't able to find one of me as the dragon in our play. Not even one that I could crop and post. These will have to do.)

That is Esther helping Fabian to dress in the background and Gerusa in the yellow helping my youngest boy to get into his costume (unfortunately I had to crop him out). If you aren't sure they are dressing as Indians and their play was about making naan (this term they were studying India).
More costume preparations.

Folk dancing! This was something that we have been doing all of term, however, I have never really participated because of the boy I look after during the dancing. While everyone else has a partner and is dancing in "formation" he and I are usually free-styling or else I am making sure he doesn't get stepped on while he tries to socialize with all the dancers. Well, the week of the festival I was informed that I would be joining the dancers and be partnered with one of the girls from my class. Luckily, no one in my dancing group (seen in the picture) had ever really danced the dance so we were all in the same boat. The first time we danced together in practice we were so terrible and we were told that we had lots of work to do. Haha! Somehow we managed though and I think we did really well.
More dancing. By the way, this is supposedly and American folk dance. It is called Two Fat (or First, I'm never really sure) Ladies. Never heard of it. It is very funny here, because if anything American comes up people automatically get excited because I'm here from America. In class we are studying geography, in particular, continents. When it comes to placing North America in our giant sized puzzle it always comes up "Kaija lives in America!" Also, in addition to placing the name of the continent on the puzzle piece, there is a picture of me to stick beside it.

I hope you enjoy!
Coming soon.....the West Highland Way.