Lots of singing and dancing for the last week at Marymount!

My last week at Marymount was very bittersweet. It was filled with days of the kids coming up to me saying "please don't go Ms. McCarty" or "Can't you stay just one more week?" and even "can you come back next year and be in fifth grade with us?" They were all so sweet. But the whole week was dedicated to preparing for the students' big diversity concert; which so perfectly happened on Thursday (my last day there!) The concert included the students singing songs from different countries (my favorite of course was Waka Waka) and they spoke in different languages (chinese, arabic, french, portuguese, and italian) about how they accept diversity, and they performed dances from different countries. Some boys did a Russian dance and the kids in my class were assigned to American theme. It was very funny! The girls did a New York jazz routine and the boys did a break dance. It just made me chuckle what things they chose to symbolize America. So the whole week consisted of them practicing for the concert. On Monday, they practiced in the morning from 9-11 and then it was time for lunch and then they practiced again after lunch! I felt bad for them because I could tell that they were really exhausted. Then on Tuesday, I was not at school because I went to the audience with the pope! Although it was very hot out, it was needless to say amazing. The pope rode right past me in the pope mobile (he was standing up and waving) and he looked me right in the eye! It was so crazy!! That evening, Logan (who was with the other fourth grade teacher) and I went out to dinner with our teachers as a thank you to them. It was so fun being out with our teachers in a normal setting! It was fun talking about our students and learning more about our teachers. Then on Wednesday, they again had practice from 9-11. So, my last week there was not much teaching going on. But I was glad I got to experience that because I know as a teacher, there are going to be times when you are going to want to get things done but other "school activities" take priority. I saw how hard that was to deal with as a teacher because you kind of have to take a backseat which must be so difficult when all you can think about is how much more curriculum you want and need to get covered. Thursday was the day of the big performance!! The students performed it once in the morning for the entire elementary school; this was more of a dress rehearsal in that they were still figuring out the lighting and curtains and sounds. Then the students had lunch and then it was time to perform for the parents. The students did an excellent job! I was so proud of them! :) Oh, and before the performance for the parents my students and teacher had a going away party for me. My teacher had me sit outside the classroom after I brought them in from recess. Then when I was told I could come into the classroom, they all shouted "we are going to miss you Ms. McCarty" it was so adorable. Then on the side table there was a huge card that said "Ms. McCarty you are..." and then in the inside each student wrote a different adjective in different languages. Then also inside there were small little cards written by each student saying thank you and why they are going to miss me. They were so cute! And we also had cupcakes which were more like chocolate and vanilla muffins but they were delicious! I got a special one that was the shape of a heart! It was a wonderful last day! I loved every moment at Marymount and I am definitely going to miss all my students and my teacher!

Here I am with the students and my practicum teacher! 

Here they are at their performance!

And this is the adorable table they had set up for me. With muffins, water, and an adorable card. 

A few clouds and sun in Elba!

Greetings after a weekend in the wonderful island of Elba! It was a very beautiful island and it really actually reminded me of Kiwa. Due to the mountains and then beaches. We left Friday morning at six and we arrived in Elba at 12. We basically took every form of transportation. First we took a train, then a bus, then a boat, and finally a car! The train ride was a scary experience. Laura, Kelly, Kelsey, and I were all sitting in a car separate from everyone else (but I could see some of our girl's bags from the window from my tram). But any who the car smelled BEYOND terrible. It was a combination of smoke, dirt, throw-up and gasoline. The guy sitting with us had two face piercing. One above his lip and one below his lip then he had ripped up and torn up jeans and his one pant leg had gunk on it that looked like throw up. Then I glance down by my feet and see a little pile of something that looked a lot like throw-up. So needless to say, I was not able to sleep until that mysterious man left. The ride took about two hours. Then we hopped on a bus to head to the ferry station (named Moby...I thought that was very ironic) and then we took the ferry to the island. Once we got to the island, Steve and Kyle rented cars for us to drive to the resort. We got to the resort and it was beautiful! It looked like a Greek island to me! The color scheme was orange and white! So nautical and I loved it! So we all changed into our bathing suits and then went downstairs to eat lunch! We had a delicious lunch and then headed to a beach! (our place wasn't exactly on the beach) and boy oh boy was that an experience! We saw many naked babies, topless women, and men in speedos. It was quite the experience! We had trouble controlling our giggles, but I just had to keep reminding myself that it is part of the culture. We all fell asleep on the beach because of our long day, and when we woke up the beach had cleared out and it was time to head back to our places for shower and dinner. We figured out after we were in the shower that all of our water heaters were connected, so we all took freezing showers! Then we headed down to the main area and had a wonderful dinner. (all of our meals included veggies and bread as appertivo,  then we had pasta, then we had our meat/seafood, and then we had dessert. After dinner (which was at 8-9) we finished and then headed to bed! We were exhausted!

 Look at how beautiful it was! 

 Here we are the "Rockets" 

We woke up the next morning at around 7:30 to get ready for a day full of the beach. The resort had a wonderful breakfast ready for us. And we actually got eggs!!! The first time in a long time! Then we all packed into the cars and headed to the beach! When we finally got there (it involved a drive full of razorback turns up and down the mountain) it was not as populated as the beach the previous day! So we claimed our spot and right where we were all laying there were tons of boulders. So Laura, Dana, Katie, Alissa, and I decided to climb them! It was such an adventure! We were all climbing barefoot and I told them that we were being very "true to ourselves" haha! We got to this one perfect spot and it basically like in the Lion King at Pride Rock! It was so fun!! It was wonderful listening to the waves crash against the rocks! It really was a blast!! Then we headed back to the beach and decided to get drinks at the bar since it really wasn't that sunny! :( It was so relaxing! After a while the sun finally came out!! So we all got warm and decided to jump into the water!! Who else can say they have been in they Tyranian Sea!! How cool!? And there were these slides stationed in the water that we got to climb up on and slide into the water! After our full day at the beach, we headed back to the hotel to get showered and ready for dinner! Before dinner, we drove to this restaurant down the street for apertivo (a yummy pizza) and spritz (which was not very good!). Then we headed back to the hotel for a late dinner and then we packed up a drove to a little village! Man was it a happening place at 11! There were tons of people out and there were DJ's on the street and vendors! It was so cool, but you know how the sun really drains you so I was kinda ready to head back to the hotel at around 12! We got back to the hotel and I hit the hay likidysplit!
We woke up the next morning at around 8 and we leisurly got up and changed and headed to breakfast. Then we laid around the pool all day. It was very relaxing but it was still kinda cloudy and cold but we did all get some color. It was funny to look around at everyone laying in our lounge chairs wrapped up in our beach towels (which we bought there...mine was of a topless hippo! haha) Anything to catch a few rays of sun! So typical! Then we had to pack up and get ready to catch the ferry back to the main island. We had a long commute back. And we arrived in Rome at around 9:15!
We are about to enter our last week at Marymount! It is hard to believe that it is already time for that!! Time is just flying by!

What I did the week of the 27th

Welcome to my third week!
On Monday, we did the normal things. I got gelato at Old Bridge and I got banana and pistachio. I don't know why I hadn't gotten banana sooner! It was amazing!! I am definitely going to get it again! We went to the grocery to stock up on food and then just relaxed. And Dana and I tried to do Insanity. I am not sure I really like Insanity. It had too much jumping around. Needless to say, it only lasted for about 20 minutes and then we ended up doing other workout videos. Then on Tuesday after school, Dana and I went for a run. We ran to where we watched the beautiful sunset a few weeks ago. We ran for 30 minutes and then took showers and went out to dinner with Kyle, Steve, and Steve's family, and Kelly, and Alissa. We went to another pizza place and it was really good. One that Max had recommended. I got a mushroom pizza. And a rice ball for an appetizer; I had never heard of these until Dana talked about them! After dinner we walked to Frigidarium. While we were there we had an awkward encounter with an American man with a blonde buffont who was sitting outside eating. He popped his head into where we were standing to order and goes "the melon is really good." So strange! And then after we had gotten our gelato he stands with us and goes "I noticed no one listened to my advice." Yikes. We just wanted him to leave. Also while we were standing there, Kyle begins to smell his ice cream and he is making this strange face. So of course I went over and was like oh no what's wrong and he proceeds to tell me that his ice cream smells kind of strange. So naturally I say oh let me smell, so I lean in to smell the ice cream and he smashes the thing against my nose. And then I shriek because it was so not expected! It was very funny! On Wednesday, I decided to skip gelato and take a nap! My first one of the trip and man it felt great! more to come with the rest of the week! :)

Week 3 at Marymount

Ah! I just look so forward to going to school every day! The kids are just so adorable and so silly. This is definitely showing me that I definitely want to do the older kids. My favorite part of the day is reading to them. We are reading Tale of Desperaux. It's cute! It makes me think that maybe I want to be a librarian later in life! hehe! Today, Monday, during social studies we were analyzing quotes for Confucius. And my teacher and I really had no idea what one of the quotes meant and of course these kids are just so brilliant and they told us what they thought it meant and they were so on point! Today I also got to watch a DRA for a student who really struggles with english and reading. He was really good at the oral reading but he really struggled with comprehension. Part of me thinks that maybe he understand things when he reads them out loud, but doesn't understand it at all when he reads to himself. I found that very interesting. I also gave them a spelling test and I graded them and they did very well! But I do notice that the boys are very aggressive with each other!
On Tuesday, my teacher did a huge nonfiction reading lesson. She follows the Lucy Cawkons book. The main point of this book is that you, the teacher, model the thing you want the students to learn, then you do it together with the class, then you send the students to their seat to do it on their own, (while they are doing it on their own you are suppose to go around and make sure they are on track), and then you bring the class back together and get someone to show how they were able to successfully do it. For her lesson, she was showing the students that when they read nonfiction they become like "little teachers." They all did a great job! During math, we were learning how to draw an angle for and obtuse, acute, and right angles. Then we worked on polygons and perimeters. I really like how my teacher puts a quick review on the board each afternoon to check to make sure the students know what they learned the previous day! That is something I definitely would want to implement in my own classroom. I also did a DRA with one of my lower level reading students. When the student was doing the oral reading part, I think he was really focused on speed because after he finished he kept asking me "how fast did I go." Sometimes I wonder how accurate some of these literacy test really are. I just don't understand how students can all around the world can be ranked in a certain number. Although I do think they are necessary because students need to be placed in accurate reading level. Hmm...I dunno...clearly I am still forming opinions about these tests.
On Wednesday, my students had a orchestra recital. It was adorable! There were all different skill levels but they all did a wonderful job! There were violinists, pianists, and a trumpet player and singer! Just the fourth grade classes were there and there parents of the kids who were performing. Following the recital, the students worked on letters and they continued to work on their news reports about an event from school. They have to get quotes from various students and teachers. I think this is a very cute idea. I also think it would be fun if they ended up placing them in a newsletter format just for the class! Then we played "Sporkle" This is a game to learn their spelling words. The students are standing in a circle and then I give them the spelling word. The first student says the word, the second student says the word in a sentence, then each student around the circle says one letter to spell out the word. I love this activity and students get really into it! Then during math, we worked on cylinders, spheres, triangular prisms, square pyramids, and triangular pyramids. We were finding the faces, edges, and vertices.  Then I got to make a math test for the students! That was really fun, and it made me get a real feel for what it is like to be a teacher to make a test!

Pooped on, Bones in my mouth, and Gondola Rides

Welcome to my weekend in Venice!

Just riding on the train was soo cool because once we arrived to Venice it was just surrounded by water! I was in shock the whole time I was walking around and noticing how water basically surrounds everything! I just couldn’t ever imagine living there and thinking oh let me go to work…and getting on a boat to get there! There are no cars there! That’s something I am not use to! 

So we got to the hotel Perone Gerone (I think) to set our luggage down and then we were off to find a place for lunch! On they way there we walked through a fish market and we were going on our merry way when a seagull came flying by kind of low. And next thing I know I had poop on my shirt and on my new purse! It was disgusting! Dana also got pooped on at the same time…I am pretty sure it was going everywhere! Of course everyone stood around and took pictures of us freaking out about getting pooped on and I have yet to see those photos! But supposively if you get pooped on you are suppose to get lucky! So hopefully this is true! Then we made it to this cute restaurant called Osteria  Trattoria. It seemed pretty hipster. Like the menus were handwritten on recycled paper. We ate outside underneath a tree and lanterns! It was really very cute and so peaceful! I got the Max pizza which had gorgonzola and sausage on it! (Another side note about the birds….there are pigeons EVERYWHERE! And they legit will just walk right up to you. Like at lunch, there were pigeons just under our seats!) Then after the relaxing lunch we went to a jewelry shop that had beautiful glass jewelry! I got two pairs of earrings! Then we decided that we wanted to go find this little bakery that we had seen as we were trying to navigate through the tiny streets to find the hotel. (Another side note: there are so many turns and little tiny streets all throughout and all of the building are so close to one another!) So we got to the bakery and I got a cream puff…it was alright because it had a chocolate inside and I was really hoping for just cream. But oh well!) Then Alissa, Dana, Kelly, Kara, and I just wandered around by the main canal and we decided to just pop a squat and watch boats go by. So we first sat down on this dock and then some of the girls got worried that they were getting a splinter in their bottoms so we changed spots! We stayed there for a long time just relaxing and soaking up the views of Venice. Then we decided to take a little gondola for fifty cents across the canal to get to the other side. This was very interesting! Because once we got to the other side, the gondola guy taking our money fell in love with Kara. He was like “stay with me” as he was holding her arm and then he started to fake kiss her arm. It was really very strange and all we could do was laugh! But after the adventure with the gondola man we went into lots of shops. We went to a mask shop called Ta Kala, and then we went to stopped at this cute stand selling paintings of Venice. It was such a perfect afternoon! Then we successfully navigated back to the hotel and we changed and went out for dinner. We again sat outside (basically we couldn’t get enough of the wonderful weather) and we got these veggie pizza roll ups and we got Belini’s. (which supposivly Venice is known for!) They were both very good! Then after dinner we went to a jazz bar. There really was no jazz to be heard and there were bras hanging from the ceiling. But the bar was supposedly known for having great mixed drinks…but I didn’t get one.  Then I headed back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep because I knew I was going to get up early the next morning.

            On Saturday I woke up at 7:00 because I was going to go to the Doge’s palace. I went to get a great breakfast. Yogurt and a roll with cheese and actual American coffee! Yah! Then I left with Alissa, Kelly, and Kyle to the palace. Since we left so early, they was no one there! St. Marc’s square was empty!! It was really very cool to come out of the museum and see if filled with people. We walked around the palance and saw many rooms! Every room had really gaudy ceilings with paintings and the walls all had fabric on them. We learned that there was a fire throughout the building during the 1500’s  and many of the rooms were ruined and many of the paintings had to be redone. To complete many of the new paintings there was a contest to see who would get to be commissioned to do the work. We also saw the largest oil painting in the world! It was HUGE!! There were many rooms throughout the palace that really had no purpose. How would that be to be so wealthy that you can build rooms and not have a purpose for them. I was also amazed by the massive fire places. Then we got to go into the prison which is basically attached to the palace. I thought that was strange to have a huge prison connected to a massive palace. And we walk through the bridge of sighs; this was where the prisoners would get one last look to the outside world and they would look to their family on a bridge across the way. This was a very interesting experience! When we got out of the palace there were tons of people there! It was around 11 so we headed back to the hotel.  Outside our hotel there is this huge market of people selling fruits and veggies! It looked so good!! So we decided to all get some for lunch that day! It was great to be eating fruit! I had forgotten how much I love summer fruits!

             Once we met back up with the group, we were off to find a water "bus" to take us to the glass island of Marano. Being on the boat was a great way to see the beautiful city of Venice! It was kind of a long process getting to the island just because the boat had to make stops so people could get off at certain places. Once we got to island is was very small and all the shops had the exact same things in them! So I kind of had mix feelings about it...it was beautiful and cute but I just can't believe they all had the same stuff (necklaces, wine stoppers, glass figurines). When we first got there we watched a glass blowing demonstration. They made a beautiful vase and a horse. And then for the finale, they guy was blowing up the glass until it popped and shattered. The ending was very shocking! haha! We wandered around the island and got lots of gifts for friends and family. Then we stopped for lunch. Lots of people shared a pizza but Dana and I shared a Carazi salad. We didn't want to eat too much because we were saving up for our delicious fish dinner that we had planned! Paying for our group lunch was very interesting because everyone split meals and we all had to pay with coins. We ended up counting the money like seven times and we ended up leaving a mound full of coins. The waiter was probably not too happy to get that! After lunch we took the water bus back to Venice and we all got ready for our fish dinner we had planned. (we had seen this cute little fish restaurant when we were wandering the streets and we were determined to go back to it!)

          Dinner was an experience. First off, we walk in and the waiters and waitresses all have on tuxes. So that got us a little worried. Then we get to our tables and it has a tall red candle, flutes of champagne, and a red rose. Then we were REALLY worried! Everyone was staring (not that that is anything different!). Then we really didn't know what to get from the menu. I got grilled sole. I figured since it is a white fish I would be fine....so the food comes out for four of the people at my table. Katie and I were forgotten about I am pretty sure. So by the time everyone finished we received our meals. Then I took my first bite sole and was FULL of bones. It turned out to be o.k. I felt very healthy eating it so that's a good thing! But the funniest thing happened when the waiter came to pick up by dish. He said "how was it?" and so I replied "good but kinda boney" and he responds "thank you" and walks away. Clearly he did not understand what I was saying! So since it was basically just the fish we decided to get taramasu to split. That was delicious!!! I couldn't get enough! haha!  After dinner we went to this little square that was such a happening place below our hotel! It was very fun and we ended up getting drinks for free! And we got to meet some cute Italian guys! But we left them to go hang out by the water. After hanging out by the water we headed just upstairs to go to bed! That was such a busy day!
      Then on Sunday, we all got up at around 9 and were up and out the door by 10:30/10:45! Gotta soak it all in! This was such a relaxing day! And it was so nice to be in the sun all day by the water. It really just made me feel like it was summer! The day consisted of Kelly, Dana, Kara, Alissa, Jo-Elle, and me wandering around the shops that we wanted to go back to. Then we headed to St. Marc's square and just sat by the water and watched people, boats, and gondolas. I got a huge TOM'S tan. haha! We also bought little ham,pizza rolls and we decided to sit on some steps at St. Marc's square. So we were almost done with our food and then some man who patrols the area came up to us and told us that we couldn't sit there. haha good thing we were almost done! Oh and I forgot to mention that in Venice there was a huge rowing race on Sunday! People from all over were there! People from France, Switzerland, Holland, Ireland and many more! It was so cool to see them row by! So we watched them for a lot of the day! But after relaxing by the water we headed back to the hotel to head back to Rome! We left Venice by 4:15 and we made it back to Rome by 9:30! 

Venice

Oh my goodness! Venice is amazing!! It is just so strange not seeing any cars and how all of the buildings are basically surrounded by water!
My first day here I hit all the stops! I rode a gondola ride, I bought glass jewelry, got pizza and had a belini! more to come for later....I am too busy now!!

What I did on the week of May 20 outside of school!

This past week was soooo rainy!! Supposedly the Italian aren’t really accustomed to having this much rain so early in the summer! So when we got home in the afternoons from school we pretty much just stayed inside! On Monday, we went to the market to stock up on groceries and we decided to make a chicken stirfry. I decided that I would make the rice since I eat and make it all the time at home. But it proved to be a little more difficult that what I thought. Due to our tour burners it was kind of hard and the rice ended up getting crunchy and not too good but we used it anyway! It kinda looks like tapioca in the pan. The chicken the veggies were much needed and tasted delicious! It was fun roomie bonding!  But on one night, Tuesday I got to meet up with the Giannasi’s. We went out to dinner (I got lasagna and it was delish!) and then I took them to Old Bridge! Jeff ordered lemon and he said the guy looked at him like “are you serious?” and after Jeff took a bite we could tell why! He said it was just like a war head! It was fun to see them in Rome! How cool!? Friends from elementary school and here we are in Rome! They gave me a lot of tips on things to tell my parents about the tour of the Vatican! Like the fact that it is worth it to pay the money for the Vatican museum tour because then they take you to two other churches! Then on Wednesday, we went to Campo di Fiori for dinner with four other JMU guys who were traveling around Europe and we met up with they guy who was backpacking (Aaron).  I shared eggplant (according to Dana it was “homestyle eggplant”) and ravioli and shrip risotto. We went to a fancy restaurant, so they put us in a back room but I guess that was good because we got pretty loud! The best part of the evening was when Aaron knew who JMU was simply by the fact that we beat Virginia Tech! haha! It was fun to meet up with him again and I am pretty sure we provided him with a lot of entertainment! Then we all went to Frigidorium (the gelato place). I think we are finally starting to figure out our way around the big city of Rome! Then on Thursday, we went as a huge group to the pasta place we went to the first big dinner together. We had delicious bruschetta and fried (do you believe it? Fried!) potatoes, rice balls, and something with an olive. Oh and their house wine is delicious! It has a little bubble to it! Then we had three different types of pasta. Carbanra with regattini, Regitoni with tomatoe and pork and Penna with pork and mushrooms. They were all delicious! Just like we remembered! While we there four police/military guys showed up and they were all very attractive! So we enjoyed trying to take sneaky pictures of them! Then it was time to leave and Dana and I were just rubbing our stomachs and then this guy walks up to us and says “Ciao where are you from?” So strange!! Luckily he quickly left! Then Alissa, Dana, Kelly, Kyle and I went to a bar  and we just drank it outside and then we ended the evening with gelato!!!! My new fave is Dolce Late and Caramel….mmmm….I want some now just writing this! Then we headed home for bed and we have an early wake up time at 6:20!