Who would have thought that teaching children can be so complicated? Not me, apparently. We’ve done a course in teaching children at college but in my opinion, it’s definitely not enough to become a successful primary school teacher. There are so many peculiar features of children that you cannot possibly predict. Of course, I knew that teaching children is all about visuals, games and fun, I even revised some theoretical knowledge about young learners. So, after doing my teaching practice in junior high school for a few weeks, I was very enthusiastic about my first lesson in second grade of primary school. Seriously, how difficult could it be? Before planning my lesson, I told the teacher that instead of singing the ‘Hello’ song (which was their routine), I was going to do a different worm-up hence I didn’t know the words of the song. The teacher said it was absolutely impossible, which I thought was a little weird. Couldn’t they just do something else for once? But as soon as I entered the classroom and saw thirty little pupils all pumped and ready to sing their song, I realized what the teacher meant. So we sang the song and then moved on to some exercises. Having done a few settle activities, it was time to do the stir ones (as it’s methodologically required). See, I was prepared, wasn’t I? :) I’d panned an activity called ‘caterpillar’ which involved walking around the class in a snaking queue (like a caterpillar), singing a song and performing some gestures. I asked if there were five volunteers for the game and before I even noticed, I had the whole class next to the blackboard. The teacher sitting at the last desk couldn’t stop laughing. Somehow, by promising that they would take turns and everyone would play, I managed to bring the chaos under control. Then they were supposed to revise their vocabulary which involved drawing. It took ages for some kids (future perfectionists for whom it took plenty of time to choose proper colors and draw perfect lines) to finish their drawings, whereas others just scribbled something and ran to me asking if I liked their work :) Finally, the bell rang. The lesson seemed to last for hours and I was extremely exhausted. As much as I really admire children for their energy, passion and unique intellectual capacity, teaching them is a real challenge. It was beyond any of my expectations :)
The woman in Polish politics, whose work I admire most, is Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka. I was really sad having found out that she was one of the people on the plane, which crushed on 10 April 2010, killing all aboard. May she rest in peace.
I think we underestimate friendship. We really do. Somehow, I don’t quite understand why, girls seem to abandon their friendships more often then guys. Maybe that’s just my personal experience, but as far as I can see, whenever they find the “right” guy, they neglect friendship and devote all their time to their Prince Charming :) I have probably done it at some point too and I wish I haven’t, because boyfriends come and go and true friends will always care about us (if we let them, of course).
Like everyone, I’ve had plenty of friends. I’ve lost contact with some of them, but I still keep in touch with the others. Marta (the one in a grayish sweater) and I have been friends since we both were about 3 years old (!!!) :D We don’t meet as often as I would like to, mostly because we live in different cities now, but we see each other sometimes. The girl in a green monkey t-shirt (which prompted a lot of jokes btw ;) ) is Kasia who is my great friend from primary school. We went to junior and senior high school together as well and she is one of the people I have the closest relation with.
I was particularly happy about the friendships that I made at the beginning of my college education. I thought they were adult and really sincere but unfortunately, I was wrong. Even though it all seemed so great and honest, in the end it turned out to be the same ‘high school drama’. (I’m talking about my roommates, not you guys ;) )
Anyway, I hope I will make plenty of great friends in the future and I definitely want to keep in touch with the great people I’ve met in collage. I’m very happy that those three years of hard work are almost over but leaving you guys will surely be the most difficult part of it. For what it’s worth, we will always have facebook ;) Take care! And remember about your friends... :)
Well... I've had a really happy childhood :) It's definitely been the best part of my life so far. I wish I could go back to playing around all the time and having no responsibilities :) I was lucky to have my whole family next to me (including grandparents, which I think is very important for a child). I've always wanted to have more sibligs but I guess there is nothing I can do about that ;) In the future, I'd love my kids to have as sweet a childhood as I used to have.
Market Square in Poznań:
