Day Fourteen at DES

Today I accomplished many things, and it felt exceedingly good.  To start, I came in at 10 am and helped with the utilization of their new math concept: rates.  I drew some "nice" visuals on the board for my group, and ended up getting giggled at, but in the end the abstract concept of rates was better received.  After a good hour of math, we had a rehearsal for our lunch time French performance.  We invited the 1st graders over and began to practice reciting our poem, first repeating words, then lines, then the whole poem. Recess followed and I remained inside to prepare the school ipod for recording our poem for my blog, and then joined my companions at lunch for some dining and French culture.  When it was time, the 1st and 4th graders got up in front of the dining hall and said bonjour, recited the poem Ciel Rouge Le Soir, and then said au revoir!  I felt so good see that I had accomplished my last goal and that it had gone successfully.  I had taught a French class and gotten wonderful results.

For the last few hours of the day, I assisted with Nature Trail projects and manned the letter die cutting station to create letters for those who needed them for their backboards.  The 4th graders worked so incredibly hard and I was so proud of each and every one of them, and Miss Blessing was beaming with satisfaction at how independent and self sufficient her class was being.  It was a wonderful sight to behold.  When the 4th graders moseyed off to guidance class, I hung around with Miss Blessing and talked about the joys of teaching and learned how to "attempt" to post audio on our blog pages, until a student invited me to come out and play balloon toss with the group.  Willingly and in need of some beautiful summer weather and vitamin D, I popped in to observe some balloon toss... WATER balloon toss.  I was "threatened" by balloons rather quickly and, well, I got wet (:  It was a fantastic day at DES and was a fabulous conclusion to my time with the 4th graders.  I will be back in next week to deliver my rock to the 1st and 4th graders, and to pay visits.  I simply cannot thank Miss Blessing enough for her never ending generosity, kindness, spirit and patience with me! I hope she has a wonderful time at her daughter's wedding this weekend and I cant wait to catch up with her next week! Merci beaucoup! DES ROCKS!