Joy: Fly Swatters, Food, and Flashcards

Thanks to my good friend, Lynn, who was a PC Volunteer at a different school in Plovdiv the past two years, my school-year toolbox is full! Not only have I been playing with my new little princess, Liza, over the past month, but I've also been working on materials, games, flashcards, etc. for my students.

I wanted to give you a glimpse (this really is a GLIMPSE-I have made A LOT more stuff), but I also wanted to give you guys some specifics of what teaching will be like for me...

*I will teach Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students.
*There are 3 classes of each (pro: 1 lesson plan goes 3 ways!)
*Interesting: Kindergarteners only know Turkish (meaning: Bulgarian isn't going to be a bridge)
*I am team-teaching with my counterpart for 2nd-4th grade.
*My school finishes at 1 pm.  Score!
*I have 18 classes each week.  Since I've never been a teacher before, I have no idea if that's good or bad.  Don't think I want to know...
*I don't have my own classroom - I visit my students' classroom.
*I will have around 200 students, total.  Lots of names!
*All this has brought me back to my home school days!

Now for some of the finished products:

- Food Bingo -
I love pictures, since my kids' first language isn't Bulgarian, they eliminate a lot of misunderstanding

- Veggie Flashcards -
they are all pairs & that means we'll play "Memory," "Go-fish," and they'll also be my call-cards for Bingo

- Placecards -
This is specifically for my first Kindergartener lesson.  We'll color the sunshine, learn "Good Morning," and they'll write  their name on the other side & put it on their desks (maybe I will have to?).  I will have roughly 200 students, so I gotta learn their name somehow! :)

- Rules -
I still need to come up with consequences for breaking these rules FAST, but here they are plain and simple.  We'll see!

- Fly swatter Game -
I didn't make these, obviously, but they will serve me well during a good classroom competition.  When we get to  learning English numbers, they will have to run up to the board (which will have #'s written on it) & "swat" the correct answer.  I'm excited about this :)

- Dice -
Not sure yet how these will come in handy, but I KNOW they will.  I couldn't pass them up @ 1/2 a lev

So, yeah, that's what I've been up to.  And, tomorrow's the first day!  I am going to take lots of pictures, because... it's not going to be like the first day of school in America.

You'll see why soon :)

Joy