Well it has been a while since my last solid blog post. I know letting you all know that I’m officially captain awesome was big news, but that didn’t fill you in on the week’s events. So while I illegally stream mad men I’ll get you updated on what is up.

Sad to say that captain awesome has not caught on with any of the other grades, although I think I could get the 5th graders to call me it if I made more of an attempt, but I think I’m alright with one grade (so are Megan and Chris) calling me captain awesome. What am I saying, I’d like all students to call me captain awesome, who wouldn’t?

Let’s go in order; the 5th graders are totally awesome, I get to help them with an inquiry project into the world of reducing, reusing and recycling. The 6th grade, where I’m known as captain awesome(I'm going to keep pushing this) has been by far my favorite class, not only are they fun, but they are intelligent and highly motivated. We are learning (I say that because I learn something every day) about ancient Greece and I have had the chance to create a variety of different lessons from debates to jigsaws. Way fun, which helps make up for the frustration and challenge of teaching the 7th years who continue to be a thorn in my side. I never thought I would see a group of students so into themselves, but that they are. I’m going to stop talking about them otherwise I might throw something at Chris (sorry Chris). The 8th graders are a good group, not as interested in learning as the 6th graders, but a good time to have in class none the less.

It is too bad no one over here has any idea what baseball is (other than a boring sport to them), I’m getting antsy to get a chance to watch a game.

This past weekend we had a three day professional development workshop brought to us by Mr. Burns.

Well not that Mr. Burns, but another guy who was incredibly knowledgeable about the brain and the development of the mind. I learned a number of helpful things to use in my classroom as well as some stuff to help me in my own life. Hearing about the stages of development and how different brain waves affect how you are best suited to learn was fascinating. After going on a Journey with Professor Dan I never thought I’d have wanted to learn about the brain again, but now I have a long list of books to pick up when I get back. I think I’m going crazy. My favorite part of the workshop was working with memorization. He placed a list of 20 words on a board and we had a limited amount of time to memorize it. Then we were expected to write all 20 down once he took it away. I did alright the first time, but then he gave us tips to help us improve. Here is the list, give it a try and the next time you see me bring it up and I’ll fill you on how I remember the list.

Give yourself a few minutes and then close the screen and try and write down as many as you can. Good Luck
1. Sun
2. Eyes
3. Triangle
4. Stove
5. Fingers
6. Stick
7. Can
8. Octopus
9. Line
10. Hen
11. Fence
12. Eggs
13. Black Cat
14. Heart
15. Fame
16. Drive
17. Magazine
18. Vote
19. Remote
20. Vision

After the workshop we had the rest of a beautiful weekend (upper 60s low 70s) to do what we wanted and that we did. I wondered off alone going on a few hikes around the huge downtown park (Man I love having a park right in the center of a big city). Chris had two friends come into town on Sat from England, Grace and Ben. I've met them a few times when Grace studied in Duluth for a year and it was a great time getting to know them a little better. Sadly, they both got a little sick (maybe of us) and ended up heading back to the UK a bit early, but nevertheless it was nice have a few more English speakers around for a few days (a little packed in our room with a mattress on the floor, I was often scared I’d trip over Grace in the morning).

Nothing too big going on this week, the school has a talent show tomorrow, 6th graders are doing a play on the Trojan war for my class and our principle is going to tour us around outside of the city. We are hoping for Bled (a beautiful city with a big lake with an island in the middle where there is a castle) or Postonja Caves which have a castle that reminds me of Helmsdeep (Is that nerdy?) built right into the rock.

Almost forgot, we went to a football (soccer) match the other day at their new stadium which happens to be real close to our place. It was pretty empty, but they had a solid contingency of avid fans who kept up some solid chants. It was a disappointing 0-0 tie (they were a man up for over half the match) and near the end of the match the fans were getting quite frustrated with the way they were playing. Next week apparently is the final four for former Yugoslavian counties in basketball. I’m thinking of attending, mostly to see the stadium, but also in hope of some crazy hooligans from Serbia. Hopefully its better than the NCAA final four, boy am I glad I wasn’t home for that Championship game, even though I called UCONN and was in the 97% for my bracket (Holla!).

Well I hope I distracted you from something important (work, homework, letting the dogs in). Although this is fun and all I want to do is find a teaching job abroad I’m pretty excited to get back home. See you all in a jiffy (pop).

GO DAWGS!

Captain Awesome signing off

Injured soccer player(who'd have thought) and hooligans chanting


Sienko I found you a job!


The Pitch


Sunset over the city


Ben, we fly back the 2nd. I'll snag some pictures of the park next time I'm there. I'm usually running (up to 10 miles!), but I'll see what I can do. Any other requests?