St. Pius X and St. Josephs

Day two of tackling the Dublin transit system. I caught the 15B again at 8:15 and headed out of town in search of St. Pius X Girls National School. My directions were to ring the bell after the boat sign and past the 2 intersections after Bushy Park. That should stop the bus right at the Morgue (remember from yesterday: pub not dead people). It's amazing I find my way anywhere! When I got off at the Morgue I got my bearings and remembered an alley that we cut through in my other visit to St. Pius. I went down the alley, through a cul de sac and back to the main drag a few blocks closer than if I had gone to the light and turned left. From there, I just had to follow the masses (and strollers) since school was just starting. (NOTE: see yesterdays posting on strollers.) St. Pius is tucked away behind a row of five or six stores in a strip mall, and consists of a number of small buildings interconnected, boys on one side and girls on the other. With a little assistance, I found my two student teachers in a 5th grade class. This was only their second day with this class and they were team teaching today's lesson. They had the girls work in groups of six, focusing on the book they are reading (Amelia) and the news reports they have written in the past. Their goal: two students act as reporters and the others provide the acting, based on a chapter determined by the teacher. The girls were all actively involved and seemed excited about the project. I left before the actual production took place. I think that might be later in the week.

It was about a 10 minute walk as I made my way back to the Morgue where I picked up the 15B again to head back towards the city, and St. Joseph's Boy's National School. I rang the bell at Vaughn's Pub and the bus stopped right across from the church/school. Out of the nine schools I visit, this is the only one right at the bus stop and thus very easy to find. First I observed a female student teacher in a class of 30 3rd grade boys, with a male cooperating teacher. She admitted that it was very daunting in the beginning (an abundance of testosterone in the room!). She did a nice job with the boys and their reading assignment, "Six blind men and the elephant." After she finished it was time for the boys to have yard (recess) and the teacher to have tea. They have a couple of breaks each day just for tea. It is a very cool custom! After tea I went to find the primary infants. My student teacher taught a lesson on patterns. Big, small, big...blue, red, yellow, blue, red.... You get the idea. At least I hope you do because the four year olds got it. After they colored the correct pattern on their worksheet they were permitted to create a pattern with manipulative's (pegs, blocks, etc.). They did very well. Imagine 30 four year old boys in a very small room creating various things with patterns. Oy vey! I would have to do heavy drugs if I taught this age level.

I took Bus 15 back to the city since it arrived before 15B. I was really hoping it was going to take me to the same drop off spot on Dawson, but figured if I got to city center I could find my way home (optimistic, I know). As luck would have it, I got off right near the Starbucks on Dawson and made the 20 minute walk home from there. I survived another day in the 'burbs.