Mary Martin @ Strzala Elementary
This is my final visit to the children in four various classes. First grade identified the days of the week as we do routinely, then busily worked with flash cards depicting colorful clothes and animals. “I have a brown bear. I have a green frog.”
Third grade practiced sentences that described their routine activities. Verbs were written in red pen or ink. Example: I walk to school. We speak English. We then expanded sentences by using names of classmates. Natalia plays with her friends.
This same attention to the FIRST PERSON SINGULAR –S in present tense verbs was practiced by Fourth graders, but we extended it to asking “Do you –Verb” Does s/he –Verb” questions of one another. It reinforced their focus to sit in two rows of chairs facing each other and work our way down the line: Line A asked questions; Line B answered and then we switched the procedure. Martina clearly distributed an advanced level of English language proficiency.
The principal and vice-principal, along with Agnes and Kate presented me with lovely tokens of appreciation for the services of a Global Volunteer. I carry with me warm memories of Strzala School and the lessons I learned there.
Georgianna taught four classes and bid a fond farewell to the two groups she won’t see tomorrow. The rest of the day was occupied with daily logs, summary log sheets for the two groups that ended classes today, and tweaking tomorrow’s lesson plans. And, sadly, one last class with Tosia and Waldek.
Audrey: I left Reymontowka at 9:00 in order to be on the bus and ready to roll out of Cisie at 9:30. After Pani Dyrector Maryla led the students in prayer, off we went to Warsaw.
The students loved the play---Little Tiny in English---and I was mesmerized, despite the fact that I do not understand Polish. After the performance, the students were bubbling over with what they had seen and there was a constant “Mrs., Mrs.” as they used their English---or tried to, usually as a group effort—talk about what we had seen.
Next we went off to Zelazowa Wola, the birthplace of Chopin. For me, a true lover of Chopin’s music, it was a very special occasion, something completely unexpected, a true gift.
Eventually we staggered back to the bus, collapsed into our seats, students and teachers alike, recharging and rehydrating with candy and chips and water. Some of us sat quietly, a few snoozed briefly, most talked, and eventually we all sang. A few students volunteered to use the bus microphone to sing, sort of a rolling karaoke, and all joined in.
I arrived home weary but energized and very happy, in time for a late supper and then to bed.
Jim’s penultimate day with the 8th & 9th “scholars” at Spoleczna went well. The schedule was unchanged, the interruptions were non-existent, and the students seemed to accept the foreigner as “one of the staff”. Even the grade-schoolers hailed the visiting American with hearty “good mornings”. Lessons were performed quite well by the upper Middle School students, and the word search puzzles filled out each of the class hours that had unfulfilled time remaining.
A particularly heart-warming tutoring session was shared by his two adult “students” in the four-to-five-thirty afternoon session. Again, animated conversations which included new segments on stress in the workplace and Polish and American superstitions, were the order-of-the-day. Parting was indeed sweet sorrow! It is felt that tomorrow’s final sessions at Spoleczna will just be more of the same!
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