We have reached the middle of our final week, I have mixed emotions as I am so proud of how far my students have come and how much I have grown as a teacher and a person from this whole experience. The students finally have the hang of how to play Tunnel Ball and can get excited about winning as they know how to win!
During the middle of the day we played a game of letter Bingo and with the use of the new tables the students were able to remain focused and understand the concept of the game, even the teacher who supports us during that block was eager to join in and play with the students.
The afternoon was full of excitement, creativity and did get a little messy. Just picture 23 students getting involved with Paper Maćhe, there was plenty of smiles, giggles and myself being a very neat freak was a little stressed out. Although putting my neat freakness aside the students were absolutely loving the activity and immersed themselves completely.
-MJ
Monday morning was not set as plan as my teaching partner was feeling ill and unable to teach although I managed quite well. During the morning session I read to the students a big picture book called “Trouble in the Jungle” they were thoroughly engaged and the images were very vibrant and interesting. We then did the roll, emphasized which day in the week today was and began the main focus of the lesson. After a quick recap of the sounds the letters “A, M, S and T” make I introduced the letter “I”. Students were able to grasp the letter sound very quickly.
During the middle session I decided to allow the students to work in groups of 4 and 5 to decorate a Christmas Tree, providing them with the outline stencil of the tree they were able to make beautiful designs which were all unique, vibrant and full of life. They worked extremely well in their groups and were very excited to display these in the classroom on the wall near the entrance.
In the afternoon I spoke with my associate pre-service teachers to figure out if the library room which is used to view movies was free, which luckily it was free today for the afternoon session. As the students have not had the opportunity to use this room as of yet they were very excited to view a movie and all sat respectfully, quietly and attentively.
After school today I went with Tin Tin and two other teachers from the kindergarten level to the markets to collect the tables for the children in the two KG classes. Through the support of my Mum she was able to connect with close friends to raise money to fund the tables needed in the two KG classrooms. With the extra money I was able to buy the children in my class who needed coats and pajamas; I will also be able to buy all the students in my classroom toothbrushes to conduct a lesson on dental hygiene.
It is so beautiful the support I was able to receive from home to support the children over here, a small amount of money does go a long way and the basic needs of these students are being accounted for within the classroom environment, the use of these tables will be so beneficial for their learning.
-MJ
Recap on the past 3 days… I have had an absolute blast in Bagan! Mount Popa was quite strenuous to get up, the stairs were extremely steep although the view was well worth the drive and the walk, we all admired the fresh air from above along with the view of below. Arriving at our accommodation we were all quite exhausted with the all up travel of over 9 hours on the bus although dinner brought a little taste of home with the choice of Italian cuisine.
With a slight sleep in till 7 o’clock we all congregated downstairs to have buffet breakfast before heading out for the day, we saw beautiful unique Pagodas, visited Jo Jo’s village which they took us through to demonstrate how the lacquerware is made. To finish off the day we had a beautiful boat cruise which had an amazing sunset as the view.
Now I am currently on the bus on the way home back to school, 6 hours down and I am not too sure how long to go although a full week ahead next week.
-MJ
Heading to Bagan today, approximately 6 hours until arrival of destination. Lucky for me I got a spare seat next to me so relaxing is what I will most definitely be doing. Can not wait!
-MJ
Today was filled with songs, dancing and outdoor adventures. During the middle block I decided to allow the students to engage with music and dance as it is a beautiful way to release energy, feel happy and most importantly laugh. Using a variety of songs students loved to mirror my improvised actions whilst dancing freely as they pleased. It was great to see all the students involved in dance and I was pleased to see their expressions on their face whilst their unique dance moves were present. The students all listened to the instructions relatively well and majority were mindful of personal space. The crowd favourite song was “Gangnam Style”, it was so adorable seeing all the students giving the actions a go and giggling with one another.
During the afternoon we had our last block on the topic “Sink or Float”. We decided to take the students outdoor and split them into three groups to engage in a race game to determine which group could ‘sink the boat’. The students were engaged and listened to the instructions, they were filled with excitement and I was pleased to see them all cooperating in their group so well. The students have grasped the concept of what the key term ‘sink, float, heavy, light’ means and are able to use these key terms to distinguish between two objects.
Today KG were all present at school, during the morning block we took the students down to the library and I read them a couple of stories. They all listened beautifully and were engaged in what we were learning. After the library session I spoke to a lady from England who travels to Phaung Daw Oo once a year she set up the library and organized the books and loved seeing it in good use. The teachers here perhaps need more support of how to implement the use of a library session during their class time to support positive learning.
With the letter “S” still being of focus the children were able to work in groups and colour in all the s’s they could find. In the same groups they then engaged in a sorting game which combines previous letters explored to consolidate their learning.
Relaxation worked really well today as we were able to use speakers to play the music. The children were quiet, relaxed and were well focused.
“Sink or Float” during the afternoon session created a lot of excitement for the children they were able to play with the water and predict further whether objects would sink or float. The parents were all watching from the classroom window and looked very pleased.
-MJ
Today we introduced the letter “S” out of the 20 students present today only 8 needed intensive support to rehearse making the sound the letter “S” makes. The students love singing the verses of the Phonetic song and find them appealing when accompanied with an illustration. 
This afternoon we also introduced our science topic “Sink or Float?” The children loved sitting around the large bucket of water and engaged in the action of predicting what an object would do when placed in water.
-MJ
4pm we travelled to Mandalay Hill, all 10 of us squished in the back of the truck and travelled up the very steep gravel road. Once we arrived we took 3 sets of escalators and stepped out onto a beautiful designed Pagoda with gorgeous stones, vibrant colours and a quite busy crowd.
We met a young man who introduced himself and was very eager to engage in conversation. He explained that in his village no one is able to speak English so every weekend he travels to Mandalay Hill so he can have conversations with foreigners who speak English. I never really understood how valued the English language is and this young man was so inquisitive and really wanting to find out how the best possible way to practice his English.
Ending the conversation with “I am very happy to practice my English” I was overwhelmed with happiness.
The sunset was magic, the contrast of colours was astonishing, I captured a time lapse video which captured the sun setting which occurred quite quickly once the sun was traveling down.
-MJ
Engage-Discuss-Inspire 