Week 5:

We were meant to have the science workshop review this week, but we had to postpone it because the lead teacher Steph was busy. So, we are yet to make the changes to the curriculum. We have a call scheduled for the end of week 6, so I will be able to make the changes after then in week 7.

There was an adulting workshop running this week for all students who are soon turning 18. There is a great need for this because once a refugee turns 18 they lose all of the help/resources from their shelters and from social services. This is on top of receiving a few weeks notice that they will have to leave their shelters when they turn 18 and have to find somewhere else to live. Their shelters cook for them and do their washing so when they suddenly have to find their own housing and live independently this is a big change that a lot of the students struggle with. It was a 5-day workshop that covered all sorts of topics regarding being an adult, such as cooking, cleaning, how to book a doctors appointment and how to access resources to find work. Most of the pupils in the school attended this workshop instead of their normal classes.

 I was meant to be part of this workshop but two new students wanted to join the school which we became aware of the week before this took place. Because they were both at the level I was teaching, it was agreed that I would teach the new students instead of helping out with the workshop. With the aim of trying to catch them up to where the rest of the class was. So this week has been more of the same on the teaching front with the two new pupils. They were engaged and learnt quickly. It was another good week of teaching. One of the students was a really quick learner and his level was actually too high, so he moved up to a higher class. The other student also managed to catch up to where the rest of class were, but he stayed at this level. So it was a successful week. 

Week 6:

This week I have been giving the task of arranging the bookshelf...I searched for the book titles in an online search engine that identifies a 'Lexile number', which refers to the reading level of the book. I have colour coded the reading levels and once I have the reading levels of each book will put a sticker on the spine in week 7. Then the students will be able to go to the bookshelf and easily find a book which is at their reading level. It has been a fairly simple process but a time consuming one! I am still in the process of sorting this.

The highlight of this week was the monthly spelling bee, which took place on Friday. Where instead of class, all the students and teachers gather in the main room to partake in the spelling bee. Each student takes it in turn to spell a word based on their level of English. I was in charge of the spreadsheet  (big responsibility). I have a list of all the students, if they get their spelling correct they move up a level, if they get their spelling wrong they move down. There is a winner for each level of English in the school based on how many correct answers they have.

Regarding my teaching this week, one of my students in my first class has been away. We made really good progress with the students that were there, so I need to catch up this student in week 7. I’m really happy with the progress especially that the first class have been making. They joined around the same time that I started volunteering, and it is a literacy class (the lowest we have here) so they had a pretty basic grasp of English at that time. The guys have developed a good base of reading and writing skills so far. I am now focussing on getting their speaking up to the same level. 

 I finished the week off by visiting an island just off the coast of Athens called Aegina this weekend. It was amazing. There were some gorgeous beaches and hills. And was so nice to get out of Athens.