In Finland, there is one week every school year called swimming week. This is where the students are taught how to swim in grades 1-5. Everyday the students will arrive to school have a short math lesson and then they will pack up and go to the swimming pool. To get to the swimming pool the studnets will have to ride a bus.After they have arrived and changed into their bathing suits they are ready to swim.
The teacher was teaching in Finnish today so I am not exactly sure what he was telling the students to do but the students would swim from one side of the pool to the other, they also practiced floating on their backs, and walking in the water fowards and backwards. After they had had a lesson for about 30 mins the students were then allowed to swim and play in the water for about 15 more minutes. This was something that the studnets really enjoyed doing.
After this we changed back and headed back to school where we had lunch and then another lesson on character traits and then it was time to head home.
This was something that we had heard about since we arrived in Finland and at OIS, and so today I was very excited to see what swimming week was all about. Tell me what your thoughts are about what it would be like to have a swimming week at the schools in the United States.
Brooke
Monday, April 15, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Santa's Village
Yesterday was the day that I had been waiting for the WHOLE trip, we went to Santa's Village!!
We had a very early start to our day to see Santa because we had to take a bus to the train station, then a three hour train ride, and then another bus to Santa's Village. Our train ride there was fun, we had a whole car alomst to our selves. Below are some pictures from the car and the train ride.
Throughout the train ride we were about the see the country of Finland. We were all hoping that we might see some wildwife on during this trip but no such luck. We were able to see a huge lake that was completely frozen over and lots of tress that wer snow covered.
Once shopping had been completed it was time to head back home. Belew are a couple final pictures of Santa's Village.
We had a very early start to our day to see Santa because we had to take a bus to the train station, then a three hour train ride, and then another bus to Santa's Village. Our train ride there was fun, we had a whole car alomst to our selves. Below are some pictures from the car and the train ride.
Throughout the train ride we were about the see the country of Finland. We were all hoping that we might see some wildwife on during this trip but no such luck. We were able to see a huge lake that was completely frozen over and lots of tress that wer snow covered.
This is what the inside of the trian where we were sitting looked like.
Another train that was at the track that was hauling cars.
The forest that were covered in snow that we saw a majority of the way there.
We were able to see a windmill farm on the way. This is just a couple of the windmills that we were able to see. At one point we could see five or six at the same time.
A train that was hauling wood. There were about 30 cars full of wood like this.
This is the lake that was completely frozen with ice and snow on top.
After the three hour train ride and the bus ride we finally made it to Santa's Village. Once we had arrived the first thing that we did was mail out letters to our families from the North Pole. This was special because you get a neat postage stamp and then once it gets mailed out it will get a special Arctic Circle Stamp.
Welcome to Santa's Village
Santa Claus's Post Office
Letters from Santa that are ready to be sent out to good boys and girls all around the world!
Mail that can be sent out from anyone who visits the post office. The orange one is to be sent out now and the red mail box is for letters to be sent out at Christmas time.
While I was in here I found a very special elf that I was able to give the letters that our class wrote. She told me that she would make sure that Santa got the letters and that he would read every one of them.
After we had written out postcards to our families members we went to ride reindeer. We were able to get in a sleigh that was pulled by a reindeer and we went through the forest on a reindeer ride. We had a very friendly reindeer that was about 7 years old. Thats almost as old as you!!
The driver that rode with us was very friendly and he even let me drive!! It was very fun to be able to drive the reindeer with the reins. I wonder if that is how it feels with Santa?
After the reindeer ride we went to visit Santa!! Sadly I was not able to take any pictures during this part, Santa's strict rule. It was very neat to be able to meet Santa and talk to him. He even knew why I was in Finland and that I was going to be coming back to North Carolina to teach!! Santa is a very smart man and knows a lot, so you better watch out!
In Santa'a Village there is the line for the Arctic Circle and where it actually begins. This was very interesting to see and be able to experience.
After Santa it was time to do a little shopping for my family and get them some souvenirs from the Arctic Circle. While I was shopoing I found one of the sleds that we used when we went sledding in Oulu in the city center.
Once shopping had been completed it was time to head back home. Belew are a couple final pictures of Santa's Village.
This is a tree that was in the middle of Santa's Village and it had a flag from almost every country in the world.
The map of Santa's Village. It was a huge place.
This was such a FUN day trip that we were able to take. I hope that you enjoyed reading about my trip to visit Santa.
Brooke
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
New Adventures
Finland is a very different country than America. Everything is different over here and so of course that makes for great adventures in a new country!!
I have loved every minute of being able to explore and learn about these new things.
One of the first new experiences that I had was eating reindeer meat. Someone had ordered this on pancakes at breakfast one morning and so I tried it. It was not what I was expecting it to taste like. I was thinking that it would taste like hamburger meat but it tasted more like bacon with a lot more salt on it. Also on the reindeer meat was a Finnish cheese. That was one thing that I tried that I did not like. It had a funny texture to it and tasted bad to me.
Another thing that I have tried new while in Finland is getting into the sauna. This is where you go into a very hot room dressed in your bathing suit and you sit in there and sweat. This is good for your body because it helps to relax you and open up the pores in your skin.
This picture below is similar to what the suna in our building looks like. There are seats that are similar to this and there an area where you can piur water over the coals to "adjust" the heat. If you look in the bottom right corner of this picture you can see see the coals.
I was hestiant to try this last night but I did and loved it. I loved it so much that I will be going again soon.
Hopefully there will be a lot more new things that I will be able to try while I am over here.
Stay posted to see what happens next,
Brooke
A quick update on Santa's Village: We were unable to get train tickets so we were not able to go visit Santa last weekend but we are going to be going this weekend!! There will be a blog posted about
that.
Here is a link to Santa's Village to check it out. http://www.santaclausvillage.info/
I have loved every minute of being able to explore and learn about these new things.
One of the first new experiences that I had was eating reindeer meat. Someone had ordered this on pancakes at breakfast one morning and so I tried it. It was not what I was expecting it to taste like. I was thinking that it would taste like hamburger meat but it tasted more like bacon with a lot more salt on it. Also on the reindeer meat was a Finnish cheese. That was one thing that I tried that I did not like. It had a funny texture to it and tasted bad to me.
Another thing that I have tried new while in Finland is getting into the sauna. This is where you go into a very hot room dressed in your bathing suit and you sit in there and sweat. This is good for your body because it helps to relax you and open up the pores in your skin.
This picture below is similar to what the suna in our building looks like. There are seats that are similar to this and there an area where you can piur water over the coals to "adjust" the heat. If you look in the bottom right corner of this picture you can see see the coals.
I was hestiant to try this last night but I did and loved it. I loved it so much that I will be going again soon.
Hopefully there will be a lot more new things that I will be able to try while I am over here.
Stay posted to see what happens next,
Brooke
A quick update on Santa's Village: We were unable to get train tickets so we were not able to go visit Santa last weekend but we are going to be going this weekend!! There will be a blog posted about
that.
Here is a link to Santa's Village to check it out. http://www.santaclausvillage.info/
Monday, April 8, 2013
Day One in the Schools
Today was a very exciting day, we were able to spend our first full day in the classroom here at the Oulu International School.
I was very excited this morning to arrive. I had been told that things were different here and we were able to see some of the differences when we visited last week but I do not think that prepared me for what I saw today.
It was such a completly different classroom envionment that what I am used to teaching in. The students are very respectful of the teachers but they seemed to be allowed to do whatever they wanted to do. While the teacher was teaching some of the students were talking to a friend next to them or some even had their feet ont he desks!! This was very new.
Even when the students were working independently their was still lots of loud noises that were going on in and around the classroom. This was somewhat of a distraction to me but the students seemed to do just fine with it and not even notice.
Another thing that is very strange is how short each lesson is. The students are only in each lesson for about 45 minutes, after the 45 minutes they are then allowed to go outside for a 15 minute break. This is somewhat similar to our recess in the states. Once the students returned back inside they seemed to have a hard time settling back down into the routine of the classroom but this is something that my students in the states had trouble with as well.
Everyday seems to be a new adventure here and one that is always funa nd interesting . I cant wait to see what tomorrow and the rest of the week hold. Check back later for more updates.
Brooke
I was very excited this morning to arrive. I had been told that things were different here and we were able to see some of the differences when we visited last week but I do not think that prepared me for what I saw today.
It was such a completly different classroom envionment that what I am used to teaching in. The students are very respectful of the teachers but they seemed to be allowed to do whatever they wanted to do. While the teacher was teaching some of the students were talking to a friend next to them or some even had their feet ont he desks!! This was very new.
Even when the students were working independently their was still lots of loud noises that were going on in and around the classroom. This was somewhat of a distraction to me but the students seemed to do just fine with it and not even notice.
Another thing that is very strange is how short each lesson is. The students are only in each lesson for about 45 minutes, after the 45 minutes they are then allowed to go outside for a 15 minute break. This is somewhat similar to our recess in the states. Once the students returned back inside they seemed to have a hard time settling back down into the routine of the classroom but this is something that my students in the states had trouble with as well.
Everyday seems to be a new adventure here and one that is always funa nd interesting . I cant wait to see what tomorrow and the rest of the week hold. Check back later for more updates.
Brooke
Friday, April 5, 2013
Finland- Week One
This has been a very interesting first week here in Finland. I am very thankful that we have finally arrived safe and sound.
Everything is so much different here than back home, from the food, drinks, language, buses, money, to the outlets. It has been intereting trying to adjust to the differences.
Since the first few days here we have just been able to get aquainted with the town and our area we have been exploring the city of Oulu the past couple of days. We have found some very fun and neat places.
One of the places that we have found was a hill to sled down in the middle of the city!!! The city creates the hill every year out of snow. There are then sleds left at the top of the hill and anyone can slide down. Below are pictures of Suzanne and I sledding down the hill!!! It was a blast!!
Across the street from the sledding there was a very famous statue. Its of a police office. The reason that its here is because police officers used to watch the docks and ferries when they would come to the city. There used to me very many of them patrolling around the area. Once the ferries stopped coming in many all the police officers left the area. This statue was put up in their honor by the towns people.
Everything is so much different here than back home, from the food, drinks, language, buses, money, to the outlets. It has been intereting trying to adjust to the differences.
Since the first few days here we have just been able to get aquainted with the town and our area we have been exploring the city of Oulu the past couple of days. We have found some very fun and neat places.
One of the places that we have found was a hill to sled down in the middle of the city!!! The city creates the hill every year out of snow. There are then sleds left at the top of the hill and anyone can slide down. Below are pictures of Suzanne and I sledding down the hill!!! It was a blast!!
Tomorrow is a very big day, we are going to see SANTA!!! This is one part of the trip I have been looking forward to the most!!! But for now that means going to bed early so I can sleep.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Finland
It is five days before my trip to Finland and I am finally starting to get excited about it. I completed my student teaching last Friday and then things started to feel more real. Since we had two snow days this week I spent my time packing and preparing to leave. This made things feel really real. I am finally starting to feel like I am leaving the country in five days for a month!!!
This is just a friendly reminder that I will continue to update my blog with all the fun things that I will be doing while in Finland, so make sure that you check back!
Brooke
Saturday, March 16, 2013
March 18-22
What happened this week?
This past week was a very fun week in
room 127. We continued learning about subtraction. This
week
we also learned about the moon. We learned about the phases of the moon
and how it changes very day.
This week, we will be learned more about
subtraction and addition. We will also be
learning
about Finland, since Ms. Cannon will be traveling there in April. We will also
be learning
about
where Santa lives since its near Finland.
Since this is my last week full- time
teaching, this will be the last newsletter. During the last three months I have
really enjoyed getting to know and teach your children.
Important Dates
March
25th-
Curriculum Fair
March
29th- No
School!
(Good
Friday)
April
1- April 5- Spring Break
Math Practice
20-____=19
19-____=16
3-____=0
12-____=6
14-____=
8
6-____=5
~Ms.
Cannon
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