Welcome to First Grade!

The first two weeks of my time at TASIS were more about getting to know the school, its policies, and each other. However, these past three weeks I have been in my first grade classroom with my kiddos…and I LOVE it! 

This is the sign in front of the main TASIS campus.

Sunday (September 6), we had an open house for the parents and their children so everyone could meet their teacher and the children could see their classroom. I met most of the children that evening and talked (or tried to) with them and their parents. Some of the families were not very fluent in English, making conversation a bit challenging at times! It was obvious how different the expectations and lifestyles of the parents here are compared to an “average” family back in Minnesota. One day, a student came into class and informed us he (his family) bought a boat that past weekend – and you knew it wasn’t a fishing boat.

I actually felt nervous on the first day of classes (September 7)! Many of the parents were outside in the playground area waiting to take a picture of their child lining up and going inside for their first day of school. There is no bell system where I am teaching so the teachers have to always keep track of the time in class, outside, and during lunch. For outside, the school has an old handbell someone rings to let the children know it’s time to go inside. When my cooperating teacher told me about this, I got so excited she “made” me ring it that first day to kick off the school year. It was great!

The first week consisted of getting to know the children and the children getting to know one another. We also did some math and English testing to figure out what the children did and did not know. I am teaching in Focolare (Fō-cō-lŏ-rā) which is the building for preschool through first grade students. It is about 1 km away from the main campus of TASIS, but only 5 minutes away from my apartment – so it’s perfect! I can sleep in until 7:15 and still get to school on time. School starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:20 most days and Wednesdays I’m done at 2:30 because there are faculty meetings afterwards.

Focolare.

Road to Focolare.

Yes, there are palm trees here. :)

My classroom!

Part of the children's playground.

The other playground area.

The second and third week of school both flew by! We had a Founder’s Day celebration to honor Mrs. Fleming and her vision to begin an American school in Switzerland. Unfortunately, it was raining the day of the celebration, so the outdoor picnic and student hikes had to be cancelled. Fortunately for my roommate and me, extra chaperones were needed for the hikes that had been rescheduled for Monday (September 21). I spent the day hiking with 6^th grade students and they were great! The weather was perfect, I saw a maple tree!, and the Alps were beautiful as usual. This past week was busy because I had my first observation on Tuesday (September 22), which couldn’t have gone better! 

Each classroom received yellow roses after the celebration because they were Mrs. Fleming's favorite flower. The older grades were able to throw these rose petals into a fountain on campus in honor of Mrs. Fleming.

While I have been busy with my first grade kiddos and teaching, I have also had time to see more of Switzerland and even Italy! Below are some of the things I have been up to since my last post.

Saturday, September 12

TASIS had a boat dance for its 9th - 12th grade students, as well as the new faculty (if they wanted to attend). It was an overcast day, so the view of the Alps wasn't as good. Two boats were taken out on Lake Lugano and then connected once we were further out from the lake shore. One boat had the dance area and the other was for people who just wanted to hang out. It was so much fun!

(Picture 1: Bernadette (my roommate), Lynn (school nurse), and me in the photo booth area. Picture 2: Me with the captain of one of the boats!)

View of the Alps from the boat.

View of the boat and a fountain in the background.

Saturday, September 19

My roommate and I decided to travel to Como, Italy! It's pretty much like crossing the border into North Dakota so it wasn't too much of a journey. We bought our train tickets, found our connecting train in Chiasso, and made it to Como all on our own (we were pretty proud of ourselves). While in Como, we went up a funicular and saw an awesome view of the city and the Alps. It was a beautiful and sunny day (until that evening). After we came down the mountain, we shopped and walked around the city. A gymnastics show was going on, so we watched that for a short amount of time. My goal was to buy gelato because it is very expensive in Switzerland. There were many gelato places around so we picked one and I got a cone with one scoop of dark chocolate and one scoop of coffee gelato...for only 2.50€! Once it started raining, we ducked into a restaurant we found on the corner of a street to eat dinner. I got a huge plate of spaghetti (because how can you not if you're in Italy?) and ate it all! It was delicious! The menu was translated into English, but when they put "Main Courses" they accidentally put "Main Curses" - it was so funny! After our dinner, we found our way back to the train station and got back to our place by 11:00 that evening. It was a busy, but very fun day in Italy!

(Picture 1: Riding the train to Como, Italy. Picture 2: The funicular we rode up to see a panoramic view of Como, Italy.)

 

(Picture 1: At the top after getting off of the funicular! Picture 2: The Como Cathedral - stunning.)

The beautiful view overlooking Como, Italy.

(Picture 1: My delicious spaghetti dinner! Picture 2: Gelato for the win.)

Monday, September 21

I went hiking with 6th grade students from Lugano to Gandria. After hiking to Gandria, we took a boat back across Lake Lugano to our meeting point with the bus. The day was perfect for hiking - clear and warm. Our afternoon was spent at the UBS - a area near TASIS with a soccer field, outdoor swimming pool, sand volleyball court, and a playground area. 6th - 8th grade students went hiking at all different areas near Lugano and then met up at the UBS to hang out together and enjoy the outdoors. It was an awesome day!

(Picture 1: 
I had to take a picture with the maple tree! #MNfall. Picture 2: 
My view while waiting for the boat to arrive.)

View of the Alps from the boat. #nofilter
Wednesday, September 23
It was a chilly day (60°F) and IT SNOWED on the Alps! It was so pretty and I loved it. My inner MN came out and I was happy all day! :)

Saturday, September 26

I took a spontaneous hiking trip up San Salvatore with three other girls. This is a mountain in the Lepontine Alps above Lake Lugano. Its elevation is about 912m and the distance from where we started to the top is 7.5 km! The hike up was a really good workout and the scenery reminded me of my woods back home (without the steep incline up a mountain of course). The path consisted of stone or wood steps, rocks, and more rocks. There were various resting areas on the way up with benches and as we got closer to the top, there were more lookout points to see Lugano and Lake Lugano below. At the top, there were a couple of museums we didn't check out and an old church that had a viewing platform on top. This is where the best pictures of the Alps, Lugano, and Lake Lugano can be taken. We spent some time enjoying the scenery and taking pictures before heading back down. It only took about 40 minutes to walk down but maybe twice as long for us to walk up the mountain. It was a fabulous day because I was able to hike a mountain in Switzerland and go to a place I knew I wanted to see before I left.

(Picture 1: 

Near the base of the mountain - it didn't take us 2h and 25min to hike up though!

Picture 2:

The beginning steps of our 7.5 km hike.)

 

(Picture 1: 

Some of the steps on the hiking trail. 

Picture 2:

More steps!)

On top of the church at the top of San Salvatore. What a view!

(Picture 1:

On the rooftop of the church. Beautiful.

Picture 2:

Cross on the outside of the church.)

That view though...I can't get enough of it!

(Picture 1: 

Selfie on top of San Salvatore!

Picture 2:

The hiking trail.)

On my way down the mountain!

Below are some random pictures of things and views I like in Switzerland!

Gentilino is where I live. My apartment is further down from this sign.

Dangerous for children...perfect for Krista. This slide was so much fun!

Switzerland crosswalks.

The most addicting chips I've had here. They taste exactly like Barrel O'Fun BBQ chips...no joke!

TASIS at night.

Sunset over the snow-covered Alps. 

It is crazy to think I have already been here for 5 weeks! The next five weeks will be very busy for me because my supervisor is coming to observe me teach October 6-7 (eeek!) and I will soon be taking over my classroom as the head teacher for two full weeks (eeek!). 

Best thing I heard this week from a student:

Teacher (during lunch): "It is getting too noisy in here so we are going to play a game. It's called the 'Quiet Game'."

Student: "(excitedly exclaims) I know that game!!" 

I couldn't help but smile and laugh to myself when I heard that one! You gotta love kids! :)

Ciao!