Today was the first day of school! We listened to Taylor Swift's Fearless and Everything Has Changed while Ben drove us.
Everything went pretty smoothly. The girls made some forays into potential friendships and commented on how friendly everyone seems. I managed to present myself and the classes in a fairly organized manner.
Things I like:
Two mandatory outside breaks (recesses) for all students, pre-K - 12.
Tiny class sizes. My biggest is 16, smallest 7.
Things that are hard:
IT Problems - intermittent wi-fi, no printer, old computer
Being a rookie
12-hour days?!
Dahlia and Georgia helped me think of good ice-breakers. The one that went over the best asked students to write three things about themselves on a piece of paper, then make it into a paper airplane. Once everyone was ready, throw all the planes, retrieve one, read it out loud and find out who wrote it. I think it worked because it was fun, active and different kids enjoyed different parts of it. Some students made elaborate paper planes. Others had no idea how to make one at all.
The student body is quite international. Most students speak at least two languages, some up to 5 different languages. One girl brought me a little gift from St. Petersburg. Another liked me because I am 'so American'.
Several kids arrived from foreign countries days ago. New school, new country. They seem to take it in stride so I will try to do the same.
Love the photo! You look very organized and professional. The icebreaker G&D suggested was brilliant. Glad you've got such great consultants.
ReplyDeleteAnne
Having been sent so many First Day of School photos of Dahlia and Georgia, Beaumont and Beardon, I never seemed able to see them without shedding a few tears, but this time I felt lot of tears AND such (humble) pride. Look at the 3 of you, aka: "the gals". What joy and beauty you each bring into our lives. Your blog entries, Indya, are wonderful. The International School of Ljubljana...Ya did good, Ben!!! Love you all so much. mom b/Gromi
ReplyDeleteHey! Its Dahlia. Just wanted to say Iove your blog, and its really weird for me to read sit cause we're going through the same things, but its like I'm hearing your thoughts on it. ILYSM, D
ReplyDeleteWhat a really cool icebreaker.
ReplyDeleteThere's a pretty good QSI school near us in Bratislava, too, but our 4 kids go to the local Slovak church school. I'll be very interested in your IT / moodle experiences, too. But this seems a fine way to show your extended family your lovely girls.