My Last Weekend in Ireland
I had a great weekend this last weekend. There was great weather and NO RAIN for once!!! I was very excited. On Friday morning we left for Dublin at 9:30am and we were supposed to arrive in Trim at 4:40, but with some complications we did not get there until 7pm. We had a great trip from Listowel to Limerick and from Limerick to Dublin. But when we got to Dublin everything kind of came crashing down! We got in to Dublin right at 3:30, which just so happens to be the exact time that our bus for Trim was leaving...aka we missed the bus. The next connecting bus to Trim didn't leave until 5:30pm. So we had to wait for 2 hours in the freezing cold bus station. We made of the best of it. We talked and did some people watching it was pretty fun. When 5:00 came around we decided it was time to start looking for our bus so we would not miss this one.
When we started to look for gates and things we soon realized that Trim was a very popular place to be because there were 3 buses leaving from Dublin to Trim at 5:30. We thought that this last portion of our trip to Trim was going to be the easiest, but we were completely wrong. We found the queue (line) to wait in and it was already really, really long. We couldn't believe it. There were supposed to be two gates between the three buses. Well when the first bus arrived the two lines kind of merged into one and everyone was pushing and shoving trying to get on this first bus. And to make matters worse a bus that was supposed to leave for Galway at 5:00 arrived late at our gate so there were people trying to get on to the Galway bus while there were already a ton of people trying to squeeze onto this one bus for Trim. Eventually the first bus left for Trim, then about 10 minutes later the bus for Galway left. So it started to quiet down a bit, but then when the second bus arrived for Trim people were again pushing and shoving. Ali and I were one of the first people in line for this bus and we ended up being half way back on the bus because people were being so rude and pushing and shoving and budging. At least we got on the bus and we made it to Trim but it was much more interesting than we had expected it to be.
When we got to Trim around 6:45 we found Angela's place and we met the girl she was living with, Claire, then we went to get some supper and some wine. We ate pizza and caesar salad and drank some wine while talking and watching movies. It was a nice and relaxing night. When we woke up in the morning we got ready and Ang gave us the tour around Trim. I thought Listowel was small but Trim is really small. There is only one main road in all of Trim and it only has 1 internet cafe. I have decided that the way to tell how big a city is you need to count how many internet cafes it has. Listowel has 3, Trim has 1 and Dublin has about 1,000...so you do the math. Anyway, Ang took us down the one main road and we got to see everything that her town had to offer. It was actually a very cute town and very clean. On our tour we also got to see the Trim Castle.
The Trim Castle is one of the best kept up and most well known castles in all of Ireland. It was used in the filming of the movie Braveheart. It was built in 1174 by Hugh De Lacy
The front ofTrim Castle
The back of Trim Castle
The Boyne River
After walking around Trim we took the bus into Dublin. After arriving in Dublin we found our B&B. This B&B was much closer to the town center than the last B&B that we had in Dublin but it was a lot more ghetto! The lady who answered the door did not have any teeth and the buildings around the B&B were not very well kept up. Our room though was pretty nice. We had a tv and beds so we really couldn't complain. We set our stuff down and we were immediately off. We left our room around 12pm and we went shopping and walking around Dublin until 8:30pm. Now if any of you know me at all, you would realize that this is not a typical Katie Hallet thing to do. For me to go shopping for over 8 hours was insane!!!! But I did fine. We didn't shop the entire time, we did a lot of walking around and seeing the city so it was nice. We also, in our adventures found some really cool sites in the city and some really neat shops!
The Brazen Head is Ireland's Oldest Pub!!!
The church in the background was built in 1030
After shopping and walking around all day we walked back to our B&B and relaxed. We all got into our PJ's and watched movies and TV all night. It was great because we were all beat from the day. Sunday we woke up and ate our LAST full irish breakfast. I am going to be so glad to go home and be able to eat pancakes and french toast and no more fried eggs with bacon (aka ham) and sausages, etc. After breakfast we got ready and headed into Dublin once more. We found an internet cafe and hung out until our bus left at 11:30. We had a much better bus ride on the way back to Listowel than we did on the way there. No missed busses and no outrageously long lines. So everything worked out really well. I had a great last weekend and am really glad that I got to see Angela before I left for home and that I got to see everything that I wanted to during my time in Ireland.
Relaxing Week 7
Week 7 was the most relaxing week that I have had since my time in Ireland. Last weekend Ali and I just stayed in Listowel, Ang, our friend who is student teaching in Trim, came to visit us. She came in Friday evening but because of complications with weather and the buses she did not get in to town until 11pm. After she got here we just went back to the house and talked for a while and then we went to bed.
On Saturday we decided to go shopping in Killarney. We took the 11am bus and were planning on going shopping all day and hanging out in Killarney. Before the bus stop we finally took some pictures of Listowel's town square and some pictures of the Listowel Castle. I have been living in Listowel for the last 7 weeks and have not taken one single picture of the place to remember it. So on the way down to the bus stop on Saturday we decided to take some pictures of our 'hometown'.
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Listowel Castle
Listowel Town Centre
St John's (Church) Arts Centre.
(St John's has established itself as the focal point of visual and performing arts in North Kerry with a monthly programme of drama, music, dance, film and exhibitions. The centre is now rightfully regarded as "the premier venue for touring theatre in Ireland". )
When we finally got to Killarney, as the Irish weather would have it, we got poured on. When we left Listowel the skies were blue with a few clouds. But when we arrived in Killarney 1.5 hours later the skies were completely grey and it was down pouring! So instead of leisurely shopping just bopping in and out of stores we had to sprint between stores so that we did not get completely soaked. Oh well, we still found some good deals, but it was not the day that we had expected. I am beginning to realize that we do not have it quite as bad in Wisconsin as I had previously thought. Yes our weather changes rather quickly, but nothing like it does here in Ireland. It is truly amazing how it can be bright blue skies one minute and literally the next minute the sky is black and there are 60 mph winds with hail stones and rain pelting you in the face. It is pretty amazing. Saturday after we got back from Killarney we picked up a few bottles of wine and we sat in Ali's room and drank it and talked all evening. It was a very fun and relaxing night after our cold and stressful day.
Sunday we woke up and everyone was gone to church so we sat and ate breakfast, Ang left around 11:30 because it is a 7 hour bus trip from Listowel to Trim. After Ang left Ali and I sat at home and did lesson plans and watched movies. We had a good afternoon, we had the whole house to ourselves, we made lunch when we were hungry and we got to make what we were hungry for. Basically Sunday was a lay on the couch and watch movies day. Because that is all that Ali and I did.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty normal days. But after school I had some great experiences. On Monday night me, Ali and the girls (Abigail and Lisa) made chocolate chip cookies. We had a great time!!!
Abigail (right) and Lisa (left) helping make the cookies...they are great bakers!
Ali and Lisa stirring the dough
You can't forget the chocolate chips!!!
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Isn't it obvious that Lisa's favorite part of baking is clean up?!?!?!?!
The girls enjoying the finished product!
Tuesday night was very interesting. It was my first parent teacher conferences. When the conferences started I was really nervous. I didn't know how the parents were going to react to a young, STUDENT teacher who was from America telling them how their child was doing in school. But after the first two sets of parents my nerves were completely settled. The parents were amazing and nice. Granted I have great students so I didn't have to relay any bad news...and that always helps. But the parents were great. Some of the parents asked me how my time was going and how this school is different from the schools at home. Some of them asked how I liked Ireland and what I have all seen. The parents were so nice. There was also serious talk about the girls and how they were doing in my classes. One of the parents said that their daughter was wondering if she could have a little extra help outside of class but she didn't want to ask me in front of the class so her mom and I talked about it and we got it all sorted out. One of the parents was concerned with behavior, but definitely should not have been. I had a great time with the parents. It was nice to see where the girls came from and to meet their mom, dad or both parents. I enjoyed the openness and honesty that the parents had. I really liked that they felt comfortable to ask for additional help and that they felt confident in my ability and my teaching to ask me questions and my opinion on how to best handle their child's situation. I am not going to say that I want parent teacher conferences all of the time, but the next time that I encounter them I will definitely not be as nervous.
I cannot believe that I am now through with 7 weeks of my Ireland experience. Only one more week left. This weekend I am going to have to make the best of it, my last weekend in Ireland.
Week 6
This week went extremely fast. I feel like it was just Monday and I was complaining that I had to begin my week and now it is Friday evening and I am done with another week. This week I did a lot of things with my classes and I had a lot of new experiences at school.
On Thursday it was Open Enrollment night at school. This meant that we got done with classes early so that the students could help clean up the school. The girls each had to clean their own rooms and set them up so they looked nice for the evening. Open Enrollment night is when 6
th class girls, from primary schools all over the area, come to look at the Presentation Secondary School. In a way it is kind of like an audition for the secondary schools. In Ireland the students and parents have full choice of where they go to school. So all of the secondary schools are in competition to pull in girls from all over the area. At the presentation school there were a lot of cool things set up for the new comers to see.
For example, some of the older students were baking biscuits (in the US we could call these cookies). The smell of the baking cookies was amazing, you could smell them throughout the entire school. The sewing room, art room and history rooms were also set up with projects and activities that the girls had done throughout the year so far. The Presentation Secondary School is really cool in that a lot of the learning is done through projects. The students are always doing hands on activities. One room had all of the sewing that the students had done and the history room had a few of the family histories of the students from when they did their
genealogy unit. One of the coolest rooms that I really enjoyed was the science room.
This room had about 10 different mini labs set up from having a cows lung, where if you blew in a tube the lungs would inflate and then deflate. They also had an electricity lab, tuning fork lab, litmus paper lab and a human bone lab. It was really cool. I went through all of the labs and had the girls teach me about all of the cool experiments that they have done throughout the year. I was really fascinated. After going through the science projects I found the coolest room in the entire school, one that I did not know existed until the Open Enrollment Night.
The room contained a working and running beauty shop. The 5
th year and 6
th year
LCA's (Leaving Certs Applied) have a beauty salon where they can do people's hair, makeup and nails. It is amazing. There are two sinks in the room where they can wash hair, two tables set up to do nails and then a few salon chairs to do people's hair. I was completely amazed that a secondary school would have this type of room. It is great so that the students can go into the real world and learn about cosmetology but then they can come back to school and practice what they have learned so far. The line to get into this room was extremely long. Some of the incoming first years were waiting in line to get their hair and nails done. Some of the teachers were even getting things done. If I would have known about this before I would have signed up to have the girls do my hair but all of the spots were full by the time I got there. Oh well, I hear they take reservations. So next week I am going to see if I can get in. The girls are really talented. They do great up dos and things. I was truly amazed.
Other than that this week was pretty good. On Friday the school was almost dead. One of the teachers did not show up today so I had to teach some of her classes for her. When I walked into the classrooms I was amazed. In one class only 3 girls showed up. I asked the three girls that showed up where the rest of the girls were and they said their was a bug going around and that everyone was sick...ok...15 girls all out with a 'bug' on the same day. I think there is something fishy going on. Because there were so few girls and because the teacher didn't leave a note saying what the girls have been working on I let the girls ask me questions about America. It is really cool to hear what kind of questions the girls ask. Some of the questions are: Do you have a boyfriend? (Adam you are famous here...so you better be reading this!!!!) If I did have a boyfriend, is he in Ireland? Is your town close to New York? Boston? Have you met any famous people? and so on. The girls are so cute and so interested it makes it really fun to go to class. Maybe it is because I am foreign, but all of the girls that I have taught here have been great and have given me all of their attention, even when I am teaching them maths lessons. I could not have asked for better students.
Overall this week went really well. I got to see the girls outside of school in a different setting and I got to see the girls interested and excited about school. The coolest thing was seeing the girls show off their school pride when they were showing the school to the new incoming 1st years at the Open night. The girls really seem to love their school.
Killarney - What a GREAT Town!!!
This past weekend Ali and I went to Killarney. Our weekend in Killarney was my most fun and exciting weekend that I have had thus far in Ireland. We got to Killarney Friday evening around 6:30. We found our B&B, dropped off our stuff and went to dinner. We found this really cute place called the Danny Mann Pub & Restaurant. It had traditional Irish music and a very irish feel to it. We ate fish and chips there and stayed for a few pints.
Pictures of the Danny Mann Pub and the live entertainment!
On Saturday we boarded the bus for our Ring of Kerry Tour at 10:30am. The bus was packed, but it was still nice. Again, we could not have asked for better weather. On Friday the weather was rainy and dreary, on Saturday the sun was out, a few clouds in the sky and a few quick showers throughout the day but for the most part we can not complain about the weather. Every time that Ali and I have gone sightseeing or touring we have had great weather! The one good thing about having a few rain showers is that most of the time there is a rainbow to follow.
These pictures of the rainbows do not give them justice, but they were so beautiful and brilliant. I have not seen that bright of a rainbow in my entire life! They were gorgeous
Along our tour we stopped at a few look out points and saw some amazing views. We stopped at a beautiful River.
PICTURE OF RIVER WITH ALI AND I
We saw some very beautiful mountains and lakes.
Beautiful scenery on the tour
On Saturday after our tour Ali and I did some shopping and then we headed back to our B&B. We hung out in our room and relaxed for a few hours before going out to see what Killarney had to offer. We ventured out around 8pm and we went to the Danny Mann again. We had liked the atmosphere the night before so we figured we would try there again. While sitting there we discovered a very interesting type of Scottish Whiskey.
PICTURE OF TEACHERS WHISKEY
After the Danny Mann we went to a pub that was also a hotel. This pub too had a traditional Irish band, but here people were dancing and singing around. It was very amusing and fun! We met a lot of people at this pub. There were people from Australia and also some girls who were studying in Scotland who went to UW Eau Claire. I was surprised to meet some people from Wisconsin in this small Irish pub. We talked to them for a while and they told us about a dance club that was right next door. Ali and I decided to check out the dance club. Here again we met many interesting people.
Ali doing the robot!!!
After the dance club we went to a bar called Mustang Sally's. This bar too was packed, but again very fun. Here we met some people from the US who were on an international basketball team. They were obviously very well suited for playing basketball.
Picture of the guys who played basketball. Yes, I am that short...or were they that tall?!?!?!?!
We stayed at Mustang Sally's for a while until we decided it was time to go back to the B&B.
The B&B that we stayed in while in Killarney.
On Sunday we were going to go shopping but did not feel up to it. It was raining and cold and we were carrying all of our bags, so we decided to head back to Listowel. I really enjoyed our time in Killarney and would go back there again if the opportunity ever arose. We had a blast!!!!
The Girls and Presentation Secondary School
This week at school has been very interesting and very hectic. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was observed by Neville. He is affiliated with St. Norbert College and he observes all of the students that come to student teach in Ireland, Scotland and England. He is a very nice man and I was very relaxed when he was in the classroom. When he was done observing me he said that I did very well. The one thing that he told me I could improve on is my use of the word 'ok'. He said that I use it a bit too often, so I should just watch myself. Other than that though he said that I did a great job controlling the three classes that he observed. He said I had great lessons and that I was very clear in my presentation of the lessons. I was very pleased with how my observations turned out. I was nervous in the beginning but everything turned out fine.
PICTURE OF ME AND NEVILLE
On Tuesday it was Presentation Day. This is a day to remember Nano Nagle, the lady who founded the presentation school. There are presentation schools all over the world, and the first one was founded right here in Ireland by Nano Nagle. She is a very well known woman and is celebrated every year on November 21. Because of it being Presentation Day on Tuesday we had a prayer service that the girls put on.
PICTURE OF GIRLS IN CHURCH
The girls were singing and dancing at the ceremony. They were also praying for all of the presentation nuns around the world who are helping people in many countries. There were even presentation nuns who went to New Orleans to help with the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In the final hour of class of the day another group of girls put on a play for the students and teachers. The teachers also got involved and were playing a game of Weakest Link in front of the girls. It was a very fun and entertaining afternoon.
I have never heard of Nano Nagle before but now having experienced my first Presentation Day I am somewhat educated on her life and her ambitions. The girls really got into the day and it was nice to see all of the artwork around the school
PICTURES OF NANO NAGLE INFORMATION
Thursday was Thanksgiving, but it did not really feel like Thanksgiving to me. Usually there are thanksgiving ads on TV and everyone is talking about their plans for Thanksgiving, but in Ireland Thanksgiving is not celebrated, so it felt odd when I walked into school and everyone was saying "Happy Thanksgiving Miss" Many of the girls were asking about our traditions and what thanksgiving is and in most of my classes we had a good discussion about traditions and thanksgiving. During short break in the morning Sister Nuala (the principal of the school) came up to me and handed me a present and a card. I was shocked, I was not expecting anything and here they gave me a present so I would remember my first thanksgiving away from home and my first Thanksgiving in Ireland. When I opened the gift I got a beautiful necklace with a Celtic knot on it. It was very beautiful and I was very greatful for the teachers kindness.
My first year class also drew me a thanksgiving card, wishing me a happy thanksgiving! I do not have the girls on Thursdays and they still thought of me I was really touched.
PICTURE OF MY THANKSGIVING CARD
Thanksgiving night I went to Jim and Toni Lynn Flemmings house. They are friends of JP and Fidelma's and they moved from Indiana to Ireland 5 years ago. They still celebrate Thanksgiving every year. Since they knew that JP and Fidelma had an American student living with them they asked us to celebrate thanksgiving with them. It was very nice, we had a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and of course pumpkin pie. It was very nice and I really appreciated the offer. The meal really made Thanksgiving real for me, I was very greatful.
This week I finally got around to taking pictures of my school and of my classes:
FRONT DOORS TO THE SCHOOL
Main Building of the school
My 1st Year Girls
My 2nd Year Girls and me
The 4th Year Girls
5th Year Girls (Mrs. O'Conner's Class)
Relaxing Weekend in Listowel
This weekend we decided to stay in Listowel. We have been leaving to travel every weekend since we have been here so we decided to take a weekend off and relax. On Friday night Ali and I went to the pub for a few pints. We sat and talked and had a great time. When we were walking to the pub around 8pm the weather outside was average, a little chilly and it was slightly misting. This is nothing unusual for Ireland, so we thought nothing of it and ventured out. Well, when we decided to leave the pub around 11 and we walked outside we realized that we may have made a mistake going out. The weather was horrible. The winds were gusting, it was freezing outside and it was hailing and raining. It looked like a winter wonderland with all of the hail all over, we were under the impression that Ireland hardly ever got to the point where the ground was white, but luckily, or should I say unluckily, we got to experience it.
Because of the conditions we were nearly running home, it was pretty horrible, I felt like it was the middle of January in Wisconsin. Once we were inside and warmed up we had a laugh over it. We had a great night, weather aside.
On Saturday Fidelma took Ali and I to Dingle Penninsula. We drove through the town of Dingle and through the mountains, and over Connor pass. We had a beautiful day and as luck would have it the weather was very cooperative. The hail and rain that began on Friday night did not quit until about 20 minutes before we left for Dingle, when we were going through Dingle the sky was clear blue with only a few white puffy clouds. The weather was perfect. As soon as we drove in the driveway after traveling all day it began to rain. It was amazing right before we left the weather was terrible and as soon as we got back the weather got bad again, but while we were traveling and sightseeing the weather was gorgeous. We could not have been luckier!
The snow covered mountains in Dingle Penninsula, Fidelma, my host mom, is in the picture as well.
The one lane road of Conor Pass...it is tricky to manuever through at times.
While driving through a small town in Dingle Penninsula we saw an 'Irish Traffic Jam'!!! It was hilarious!
Overall my weekend was great, we got to see a lot of sights and we also got to take a break from the traveling. The weather was wonderful, I just hope it keeps up for the rest of the time that we are here.
Irelands Schools Vs. American Schools
I knew when I signed up to come to Ireland that there were going to be differences between the Irish schools and the American schools that I have worked at. But I never even fathomed that they would be as different as they are. I have written about how the math is different, but the differences go well beyond
mathematical terminology and methodology.
The students are broken up into three categories, higher, ordinary and foundation. The students that excel in subjects are placed in the higher category, the students that are average in their studies are placed in the ordinary category and the students that are weak at certain subjects are placed in the foundation category. Each course has a different outline depending on the category of students that it is for. Students in the higher level courses are expected to memorize more concepts and ideas and they are also expected to do more difficult level problems. The students in ordinary level courses are sometimes given equations and formulas instead of having to memorize them, and same with foundational level students. They are not expected to have to memorized as many of the formulas, equations and concepts as the ordinary level students.
In Ireland there are two certifications that a student needs before they are completed with their Secondary School. The secondary school is like our 7
th and 8
th grade combined with our high school. There are 6 years of secondary school, with the 4
th year being an optional or transitional year between the two certifications. This means that some students will graduate from secondary school after only 5 years and others will graduate after 6 years depending on if they choose to take the transition year. The first certification that a student needs to take is their Junior Certification and the second certification that the students need is the Leaving Certification.
The students take the junior certification exam after their 3rd year, which is like our freshman year in high school. The students take the exams based on the courses that they have taken and the level that they are in (higher, ordinary or foundational). The exams that are offered for the junior certification are :
Irish: Higher, Ordinary and Foundation
English: Higher, Ordinary and Foundation
Mathematics: Higher, Ordinary and Foundation
History: Higher and Ordinary
Geography: Higher and Ordinary
French: Higher and Ordinary
German: Higher and Ordinary
Italian: Higher and Ordinary
Art, Craft & Design: Higher and Ordinary
Music: Higher and Ordinary
Science: Higher and Ordinary
Science (with Local Studies): Higher and Ordinary
Home Economics: Higher and Ordinary
Materials Technology (Wood): Higher and Ordinary
Metalwork: Higher and Ordinary
Technical Graphics: Higher and Ordinary
Business Studies: Higher and Ordinary
Typewriting: Higher and Ordinary
Environmental and Social Studies (ESS): Higher and Ordinary
Technology: Higher and Ordinary
Spanish: Higher and Ordinary
Latin: Higher and Ordinary
Ancient Greek: Higher and Ordinary
Classical Studies: Higher and Ordinary
Hebrew Studies: Higher and Ordinary
Religious Education: Higher and Ordinary
Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE): Common
The students are given grades based on their written performance on the exam and are given grades accordingly:
Percentage Range Grade
85 or over A
70 but less than 85 B
55 but less than 70 C
40 but less than 55 D
25 but less than 40 E
10 but less than 25 F
Less than 10 No Grade
Based on the students performance as well as their dreams for the future the students have three choices of what higher level certification they go into. The three certifications that students have to choose from are The Leaving Certification Established Program, The Leaving Certification Vocational Program and the Leaving Certification Applied Program.
The Leaving Certification Established Program is for those students who would like to go on to Third Level education, namely college. The Leaving Certification Vocational Program is for those students who may want to go on to college but are not sure, so they are also taking some courses for those who choose to work right after secondary school. The Leaving Certification Applied Program is for those students who are certain that they want to begin working right after secondary school. Part of the application process for the leaving cert is based on the results of their junior cert exams, thus if a student performs poorly on their junior certification it would be much more difficult for them to get into the established program. Whereas if a student does very well on their junior cert exams they would be able to pick any of the three leaving certs programs.
The students would take their leaving certification exam after the 6th year of secondary school, the exam that the students take is based on the leaving cert program that they choose to be in as well as the courses that they took while in those programs. The students performance on the leaving cert exams reflects their eligibility for colleges and universities. If a student does very well on the leaving cert exams they would be able to go to almost any college, whereas if a student does poorly on the exams then they would have to appeal to the college or university of their choice or they would have to retake their leaving certification exams.
To me it seems like the leaving certificate exams would be equivalent to the high school graduation test that was proposed by the government a few years ago.
One thing that is completely different between the Irish schools and American schools is the fact that the girls at my school do not get grades on their homework or their quizzes or tests. They get a score and they are aware of their performance, but each year their entire grade is based on a test that they take half way through the year (usually around Christmas time) and then a test that they take at the end of the year in June. These two tests alone are what the girls are graded on. The homework, tests and quizzes that the girls are given throughout the year do not count toward anything. If one of the girls is absent she is not required to make up a quiz or test, she just needs to make sure that she understands the material by the time the midterm and final tests come up in December and June.
