Trip to China

Last night in class, we received our edited copies of our Best/Worst Experience stories. Since last night, that amazing experience has been on my mind. My Best Experience was when I went to China on a teaching trip. Here's a quick overview of the trip including some key details. In my senior year of college I met a man who was one of the main people in charge of the journey. After many discussions, I was convinced to go to China and teach. I didn't have a clue how to speak Chinese but I didn't have to. He explained that I would teach high school juniors conversational English and American culture. I was in China for a month and a half teaching students and I loved every minute of being in the classroom as a teacher. There was no curriculum so I taught anything that I wanted. After my teaching duties had expired, I had a few days to travel China and see some amazing sites like The Great Wall. It was such an awesome experience that I loved and still treasure to this day.
Word Bank 
Received – Accepted
Overview – General idea
Key – Main or important
Journey – A trip
Discussions – Have a conversation about something, talk about something
Convinced – Made a believer 
Curriculum – Things that a teacher must teach
Duties – Responsibilities 
Expired – Not valid or usable anymore

Using the words above, choose the best word that will fit into the paragraph below.
Yesterday, I  ________ my teaching certificate.  I’m nervous because the _____________ covers many subjects but I am also very excited. After taking eight years to get to this level, I’m glad that the _________ is over. I am _________ that this is the right profession for me. Even after many long __________ about doing a different kind of work, I’m sure that teaching is for me. I know that teaching will be challenging but I am sure that I will be able to handle all of the ______ that I must complete. My time working as an Aide has _____ and now I’m ready to teach every day. An ______ of the perfect classroom would have six students who are actively engaged and work well with each other. That would be the best case scenario for me, but the _____ is to just find a job.  
Grammar Point 
The story listed above contains many verbs in the past tense. Find them in the passage and write them. Then change it into the present form for each verb. For example:  had – (to) have

Grammar Assignment
Now it’s your turn! See if you can write a paragraph using the vocabulary words listed above. Your story can be about anything at all, just have fun and be creative with it!

President's Week of Fun

Tomorrow is the last day of school before I start my week long vacation. Last year I took a road trip down to Florida to visit my dad for the week. I remember how miserable the weather was last year, we had so much snow and it stayed for so long because of the freezing conditions. This year I will stay local and enjoy the week of no work. On February 23rd I will be going to visit my college roommate in Pennsylvania. I haven't seen him since the summer and every time we hang out we always have fun. I will leave on Thursday but if I leave too late then I’ll be stuck in rush hour traffic. Although the drive shouldn’t take too long, I’ll have to avoid the city because there’s usually a lot of traffic in the city.

Word Bank
Word Bank
Vacation – A time period of no work
Road trip – Traveling a longer distance in a car
Miserable - Horrible
Roommate – Somebody that you share a roommate with
Rush hour traffic – When there are many cars on the road at the same time
Although – Despite the fact
Avoid - To stay away or keep away from something

Using the word bank listed above, use these words to find the antonyms from column B listed below. Antonyms are words that mean the opposite. For example, cold and hot are antonyms because they are opposites. Good luck!

Column A                                                                               Column B
Vacation                                                                                 Neighbor
Road Trip                                                                               Amazing
Miserable                                                                               Stay at home
Roommate                                                                              Drive around the block
Rush hour traffic                                                                     Go to; seek
Although                                                                                No cars on the road
Avoid                                                                                    Most definitely

Free writing activity 
Have you ever traveled somewhere during a vacation? In a paragraph, write about your vacation including the place you traveled and explain what you did to make it so much fun. If you have never taken a trip, then describe a place that you would want to travel to. Make sure you include at least three of the vocabulary words above. Be creative and have fun!

Me and my roommate Ramon from St. Patrick's Day 2007.
 

Back to the First Grade

Last week I had the opportunity to observe a class at the Newbridge Road School. Part of my requirement for this semester is to complete 60 hours of observation in addition to 2 lesson plans. I need 30 hours for childhood 1-6 and 30 hours for TESOL (ESL). I usually have worked with older students, high school students, so it was totally different to be back in the 1st grade. I enjoyed it but it will definitely take some adjustment time if I do happen to work with 1st graders. My next 30 observation hours will be at the same school and will take place in the TESOL department. I am excited to work with English Language Learners.

Word Bank
Observe – To watch or see
Requirement – Something that must be done
Semester – A time period in school that last a few months
Complete – To finish
Usually – Something that happens most of the time
Adjustment – Having to make a change with something
Department – An area

Using the word bank listed above, fill in the sentences with the correct word.

In order to start college, it is a __________ to finish high school.
During the spring ___________ at Molloy, I am only taking one class.
Macy’s is a very big ____________ store.
In order to learn, some people can sit and _______ while others must become more involved.
Yesterday I wore shorts thinking it was hot, but when it was very cold I had to make an ________.
I am _______ very good at guessing the weather but yesterday I was wrong.
What year will you _______ high school?

Grammar: Synonyms
There are many words that can be used to describe something, but they basically all mean the same thing.  For example, if somebody described a cold day he or she could say it was frigid or freezing. Although it is two different words, the meaning is the same. Using the words below in column A, match the synonym in column B to the correct word.

Column A                                                                                 Column B
Observe                                                                                    Fix
Requirement                                                                              Section
Semester                                                                                   Look
Usually                                                                                      Period
Adjustment                                                                                Necessary

Department                                                                                Mostly