I was blessed with opportunities to visit a day-care center, an elementary school, and a middle school. My BFF kindly arranged my visits, so everything went smoothly. As you know, I am particularly interested in education. I had visited several universities in the U.S. before, but this time I was able to visit earlier educational institutions. I was grateful for the help of my BFF in arranging these visits with the educational institutions and their welcoming hospitality during my visits.
In the day-care center, the children ranged in age from infants to school-age children. Some rooms had pets, including rabbits, which were well-cared for. The children looked happy with their friends and caring teachers there.
As for the elementary school, my BFF and I visited the school cafeteria at lunchtime, and then the library, and a classroom. First, I was impressed with the design of the school building. It has only one story, which I think is good for students (K-5) and teachers to meet and communicate with each other. Inside the building, I liked the playful color scheme. The walls along the hallway were decorated with students’ art works. They showed each student’s individuality. I enjoyed looking at them.
The school library was the perfect place for children. There were several places to sit and relax, which you could choose depending on the age or on the feeling on that day. The layout and design were intended to inspire children’s curiosity.
There was a good counseling system, too. If students had a relationship problem, school counselors were there for them. They had good methods to encourage any students in need, including shy or very young students, to turn to the counselors.
We visited a reading class. The teacher was wonderful. She encouraged students to think and express themselves freely. I also liked the classroom. There were positive messages and quotes put up on the walls. Some were words of encouragement, while others were those of empathy and compassion. I noticed Luca was proactively engaged in class. I was impressed!
The middle school was also a very good school. What I was happiest about was that we had lunch with Miss Fairy in the conference room! I was delighted to see her at school.
We went to the public library, too. It had a good atmosphere and was equipped with many PCs for visitors to use. The library has many books, but provides downloading and streaming services as well.
Back at home, my BFF showed me Miss Fairy and Luca’s yearbooks. They helped me to understand what their schools were like and what the students were interested in. Furthermore, she showed me children’s books, which might be useful for my teaching, and several good websites of schools and continuing education.
Miss Fairy showed me her homework. Now that she goes to middle school, she does her homework and submits it on her PC. If she has any questions, she contacts her teachers online. She also showed me a vocabulary quiz from her English class and some handouts from her chemistry class. They were very interesting.
Luca showed me his homework, too. In his English class, he was learning how to spell words. He categorized the words into several groups and wrote them in his notebook.
Both of them were very good students! I am proud of them!
