by Rebecca Gutman, MITF (Bat Yam)
Well the last couple weeks we have certainly been kept busy. Lots of teaching and seeing the children reach new milestones in their reading.
We did a review the other day of everything they had learnt so far and it was amazing at how much they remembered. It was a little bit of a slow start for them but now they are picking it up as fast as we are putting down.
The schools here do is safety day. Basically, for a week the students go over road safety and talk about police and paramedics.
Then at our school there was a period where the police and paramedics were brought in to show what they do. They gave some pretty exhilarating demonstrations for the students. Some of the pupils also got to dress in full SWAT gear to see how it feels.
Something really cool that has gone on the last couple of days is Yom HaMorah (or teacher’s appreciation day). This isn’t something we have back home but it is basically a day dedicated to the hard work the teacher’s here put in for their students. On Sunday, our school invited us to attend a dinner in honour of the teachers. It was such a fun experience to see our co-workers outside of school. It was such a relaxed and fun atmosphere.
They had a slideshow where they secretly asked family members to right something for each of the teacher’s and include a picture. It was really sweet, they did one for us as well. They also had a comedian come in. As you know there have been some construction issues at my school, so they made light of the situation. It was so nice to see everyone let loose and just laugh at themselves. Also, this was all done in Hebrew, and Marni and I held our own…
After the comedy show it was time for dessert and DANCING! We had a lot of fun letting loose and I’ve learned that not much changes once you leave Bar/Bat Mitzvah age. You still gather in a circle and dance with each other, and shove people into the middle to show off their moves.
On Monday, it was the in-school appreciation day. The school had set up a red carpet for the teachers to walk where they were awarded a medal of honour. For the morning, there was no school for the first 2 periods. The parents came to supervise the students while the teachers got a morning of food, fun and relaxation. All the parents brought in breakfast and pastries for the teachers. There was also hair braiding, manicures and massages!
Tonight, is the first night of Hanukah which means for the last couple of weeks we have been feasting on Suffganiot and Latkes galore.
What this also means is that we have a school break, which means travel time for me! So right now, as I’m writing this I am also packing my bags to get ready to leave super early in the morning (I’m talking 3am early). I won’t spoil my destinations. It just means you have to keep checking in here.
Read more from Rebecca’s blog Teaching Abroad 101
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