Visiting our schools for the first time!

Today we got to visit our schools that we'll be working at all year for the first time! We're not actually starting to teach until October 10th, but today we went for an 'Observation Day.' No other city of ITF (Israel Teaching Fellows) got to observe their own school...Irit's just a boss like that. Basically, I absolutely loved it. The principal was so nice and invited me and Nicole (my partner-there are two people per school) to go with her folk dancing and salsa dancing. We learned that:

1. She founded the school herself 22 years ago
2. There are 400 pupils in grades 1-6
3. The kids start learning English in 4th grade, taking it 4 hours a week, but have a small introduction to it in 3rd grade for only 2 hours a week
4. There are 37 kids in every class

But we also learned more interesting things, like THEY DON'T HAVE A LUNCH PERIOD AND NO CAFETERIA!! Apparently this is an Israel-wide thing. They get a few 5-15 minute breaks throughout the day in which they eat snacks in the classroom. Very different from the US, in which I spent my elementary years looking forward to lunch so I could talk about important things with my peers, like American Idol. Also very different in that they don't have to experience the Mean Girls-like panic of trying to decide who you'r going to sit with in the cafeteria (or a bathroom stall, as the case may be). They do get outside breaks, which is good, because brain breaks are important, especially because these kids are crazy enough already. That was the other biggest difference. The schools here are literally mass chaos for the whole day. They don't acknowledge the teacher when she walks in, they call her by her first name, and they run around the entire time. They do stand when the principal walks in though which was interesting. But this poor girl was trying to read a passage from their workbook out loud and I could barely hear her because the other kids were talking the whole time. And they only got marginally yelled at...it's just the culture here. You can see why they grow up not standing in lines and pushing/running into each other why it's no big deal. They are raised in chaos. And by the time I come back, I will probably think America is way too systematized and orderly and boring, but right now it's wonderful acclimating to a new culture.

All the teachers were extraordinarily nice, inviting us to their houses for the upcoming Jewish holidays and just generally being excited to meet us and help us. And, in true Jewish fashion, find us husbands so that we will stay in Israel forever!! Just kidding, but if it was up to them, we would. There are safe rooms in the school, another difference from the US as I don't know too many schools in America that have steel walled rooms that have huge iron doors to them underground in case of an attack (apparently there have been some rockets in Ashdod in the past three years, but have never hit anybody). They talk about things like that very non-chalantly. It's just their life, but they don't let fear of attack keep them from living happy and fulfilled lives. I kind of think like, here, yea its rockets, but there aren't crazies bringing guns into movie theatres or drowning their kids like there are in the US. It's just a different kind of danger. I've honestly felt safer here than I have about seeing the Dark Knight before I left. 

They weren't able to give us too much detail now about what they want US to do i.e. work one-on-one with kids, work with a small group, be a co-teacher in a classroom, etc... I think they want us to decide, but I think it would be more beneficial if they found what would be most helpful for them. It's not like I've done this before. 

All in all it was a wonderful day that made me even more excited to start teaching. The kids absolutely adored us and didn't want us to leave. They kept coming up to us to show off the English they knew and telling us we were beautiful. They even prepared a welcome speech for us in English. It was pretty adorable. 

Now we're off to go on a bike tour of Ashdod with the new bikes we all bought yesterday! And tomorrow I'm going to Jerusalem with one of my main gal pals, Rosie, to see an old friend get sworn into the army. The hostel looks pretty baller and we're planning on going to some really cool place so I'm sure I'll be posting about that soon! Have a good night!