So, you may be wondering, how my first day teaching in Moscow went? Well, it goes a little something like this.....
I woke up around 6:30 and I am so cold, I can't remove myself from under my covers but I knew I needed to get moving before I would be late. I rolled out of bed and grabbed my jacket before I even found my clothes to wear. I went and checked the temperature and much to my surprise, a whopping 46 degrees! No sun and mega winds!! WHAT?! I am not ready for this just yet.. "a couple more days, a couple more days!" I picked my jaw up off the ground and finished getting ready. Off to school I went. When I made it to school, I had a red nose and wind burnt cheeks! I got settled in and made sure my last minute things were done before the children started to show up. I was getting excited and a little nervous.
Finally, the moment I had been waiting for all this time. And there they were, my little anxious Kindergartners. I only had one child cry at the beginning when mom left but she clinged to me for a little and adjusted very quickly! PTL!!! I also received flowers from one of my Russian students today. This is actually a tradition here, on the first day of school, the Russian students bring their teacher flowers. How precious?! But of course, I was unprepared for this action and I had to scramble around to find something to put them in so they did not die the first day! Thank you Natalie for saving my flowers! When we made it to the classroom, we immediately jumped into the name game so we could all get acquainted farely quick. All of my students picked up my name, "Miss Macomber" very well, I was impressed! I had six of my seven show up. Two boys and four girls. (Polina, Sadie, HaRin, Laurel, Evgeny, and Andrei) (Umida was missing today)! Polina, Evgeny, and Umida are all of my Russian children. Evgeny speaks pretty decent English but Umida and Polina do not speak English at all. That definitely made for an interesting day today! ;) I had to do a lot of pointing, signing, and acting for Polina today, but we made it together!! Andrei is my dual child, Russian and American, so he speaks very good in both languages! HaRin is my only Korean student and she went to a English speaking Pre-K so she knows English very well. Last but not least is Sadie and Laurel. These two little girls are my American children.
As many of you know me, you know how much of a planner and timely person I am. Well I do have to admit that my class was not only the last to make it to, "Beginning of the School Year Assembly" but we were also late!! I was so involved with getting to know my students, I completely lost track of time and was escorted to the cafe by another teacher, whom had to come and get me from my room. (Whoops)During Assembly, the Elementary Principal, Karen, gave the children a word to remember this school year and it was the word, "FIT". Each letter stands for something that she wants the students to be this year and she was asking the children what they thought each letter stood for. "F" is for friendly. When she got to the letter 'I' she asked, what do you think 'I' stands for and my little Laurel yells out, "IGLOO". It was too precious! I couldn't help but giggle in the corner. Well, "I" did not stand for Igloo, it stands for inquisitive and "T" stands for teachable!
Shortly after assembly was over, it was time for my students to split up from me and go to either Russian class (if they dont know Russian) or ESL (if they need help with English). During this time, it was my break time. I proceeded to move towards the stairs (which there are three stairwells in our school and all are three flights of stairs) Most of you are thinking, "oh no" and you would be right! Miss Macomber, in a dress might I add, tripped up the stairs and about went face first into the ground. A Russian staff member and tried to grab me but I jumped up and continued to laugh hysterically at myself. I looked at the lady and said, "Its ok, Im clumsy, and I do this often." She responded with, "Oh girl, it is only the first day." We both laughed and kept on moving in our own direction!
The day flew by from this point on. We did some math and Bible, and we played in our centers and on the playground. By the time I had the chance to really sit, it was time to get the children and all their belongings together and head for outside until it was time for dismissal. I think all the children got out their first day jitter bugs and are excited to come back tomorrow! I actually had 3 students who kept informing me that they were not ready to go home. Am I that much fun to be around? (I thought to myself- surely not) LOL
With all of this being said, my first day as a "Kindergarten Teacher" in Moscow was a success! I have a lot of memories already and I am excited to see what all this school year will bring me!
I woke up around 6:30 and I am so cold, I can't remove myself from under my covers but I knew I needed to get moving before I would be late. I rolled out of bed and grabbed my jacket before I even found my clothes to wear. I went and checked the temperature and much to my surprise, a whopping 46 degrees! No sun and mega winds!! WHAT?! I am not ready for this just yet.. "a couple more days, a couple more days!" I picked my jaw up off the ground and finished getting ready. Off to school I went. When I made it to school, I had a red nose and wind burnt cheeks! I got settled in and made sure my last minute things were done before the children started to show up. I was getting excited and a little nervous.
Finally, the moment I had been waiting for all this time. And there they were, my little anxious Kindergartners. I only had one child cry at the beginning when mom left but she clinged to me for a little and adjusted very quickly! PTL!!! I also received flowers from one of my Russian students today. This is actually a tradition here, on the first day of school, the Russian students bring their teacher flowers. How precious?! But of course, I was unprepared for this action and I had to scramble around to find something to put them in so they did not die the first day! Thank you Natalie for saving my flowers! When we made it to the classroom, we immediately jumped into the name game so we could all get acquainted farely quick. All of my students picked up my name, "Miss Macomber" very well, I was impressed! I had six of my seven show up. Two boys and four girls. (Polina, Sadie, HaRin, Laurel, Evgeny, and Andrei) (Umida was missing today)! Polina, Evgeny, and Umida are all of my Russian children. Evgeny speaks pretty decent English but Umida and Polina do not speak English at all. That definitely made for an interesting day today! ;) I had to do a lot of pointing, signing, and acting for Polina today, but we made it together!! Andrei is my dual child, Russian and American, so he speaks very good in both languages! HaRin is my only Korean student and she went to a English speaking Pre-K so she knows English very well. Last but not least is Sadie and Laurel. These two little girls are my American children.
As many of you know me, you know how much of a planner and timely person I am. Well I do have to admit that my class was not only the last to make it to, "Beginning of the School Year Assembly" but we were also late!! I was so involved with getting to know my students, I completely lost track of time and was escorted to the cafe by another teacher, whom had to come and get me from my room. (Whoops)During Assembly, the Elementary Principal, Karen, gave the children a word to remember this school year and it was the word, "FIT". Each letter stands for something that she wants the students to be this year and she was asking the children what they thought each letter stood for. "F" is for friendly. When she got to the letter 'I' she asked, what do you think 'I' stands for and my little Laurel yells out, "IGLOO". It was too precious! I couldn't help but giggle in the corner. Well, "I" did not stand for Igloo, it stands for inquisitive and "T" stands for teachable!
Shortly after assembly was over, it was time for my students to split up from me and go to either Russian class (if they dont know Russian) or ESL (if they need help with English). During this time, it was my break time. I proceeded to move towards the stairs (which there are three stairwells in our school and all are three flights of stairs) Most of you are thinking, "oh no" and you would be right! Miss Macomber, in a dress might I add, tripped up the stairs and about went face first into the ground. A Russian staff member and tried to grab me but I jumped up and continued to laugh hysterically at myself. I looked at the lady and said, "Its ok, Im clumsy, and I do this often." She responded with, "Oh girl, it is only the first day." We both laughed and kept on moving in our own direction!
The day flew by from this point on. We did some math and Bible, and we played in our centers and on the playground. By the time I had the chance to really sit, it was time to get the children and all their belongings together and head for outside until it was time for dismissal. I think all the children got out their first day jitter bugs and are excited to come back tomorrow! I actually had 3 students who kept informing me that they were not ready to go home. Am I that much fun to be around? (I thought to myself- surely not) LOL
With all of this being said, my first day as a "Kindergarten Teacher" in Moscow was a success! I have a lot of memories already and I am excited to see what all this school year will bring me!
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