It's spelled "colour" not "color"

I am heading into my second full week at Beaconhurst and am very pleased with where I am at now and how much I am getting to teach. The children have accepted me as their new teacher and have very quickly bonded with me...perhaps because they are curious about where I come from (not a bad thing, curiosity)!! This past week I have started to take over math by doing a ten minute warm-up that corresponds to the lesson that Claire will be teaching that day. It has prepared me nicely for this coming week, where I will take over the whole subject of math completely - the warm-up and the lesson itself. I also did an art lesson with kids this week which entailed mixing the primary colors to create the secondary colors. It was a good, messy lesson that they enjoined very VERY much! Most of them created two pieces of art so I would say that it was a great success. I have also been teaching a few random pieces, such as health and well being and some interactive, storybook math where we read a story and then play some math games. Next week I will be taking on a few more subjects, one being creative writing. My social studies unit this term is going to be America (of course) and so we are going to be writing to pen pals back home which I have set up. So that was a bit of the teaching side...it's getting more and more busy every day and my teacher is not shy at all when it comes to handing over her classroom. She is very good at giving me feedback and making sure that she is doing her part in the program - which I very much appreciate! There is so much to learn when it comes to the standards and sometimes I get afraid that I am teaching them wrong or that they are going to look at me with a blank stare because they don't have any idea what I'm talking about. There is no language barrier, however, it's JUST different enough that sometimes I don't have a clue - I can't imagine the kids in my class if ever THEY don't have a clue. We do have spelling tests and, hence the title of my blog this time. Children come to me and ask how to spell a certain word. I have never had a problem with spelling...until now. Color and favorite and others of the like have an extra letter in them. I have to actually think about things before I tell kids to spell things the "wrong" way. This week in school, music lessons also have begun, as well as Scottish Dancing. I joined in on Scottish dancing on Friday which was great fun! Those kids definitely have a wide variety of knowledge starting at a very young age! Another event that happens on occasional Fridays is the student council meetings. One student from each grade level asks their classmates of things that they would wish to happen or to be changed in their school. The representation then goes to the meeting and voices the opinions to the teachers, the head of the junior school, and the headmaster. The staff then talks about reasonable solutions! I thought that this was a very good way to apply student voice. On the non-teaching side, I have been settling into Bridge of Allan/Stirling quite nicely and getting to see a bit of the area. Meeting lots of new people and, just the same as before, everyone is very nice and actually interested in what you might have to say. Last weekend I went to see the Stirling Castle! It was amazing to see a view of Scotland from up higher. The castle was much smaller than I imagined it would be, but it is probably one of the most important ones in the area. Today I was able to go see Loch Katrine, which is part of the Trossachs. It was absolutely beautiful out there!! The whole reason I went to Scotland was for the beauty of it all...got to see a bit of it today! We then drove to Aberfoyle, a cute little town a bit south of the Loch. We ate fish and chips (of course) and saw a show that was happening on many birds of prey! They eagle that lives here is about twice the size of the bald eagle!! Scary! Next weekend I will be going to Edinburgh....so stay in touch! :) P.S....I miss everyone at home!!! But I have to say that I am loving it here as well!