10.31

Today is Helloween as well as the first day after half term. Children went back to the school quite blissfully. I wish I had this energy. After 9 days of travel in the U.K., I felt that I was totally drained.  Children walked passed me and I again realised that they didn't greet me. I believe something has to be done. In this class, I am getting less attention and help from the teacher. This position makes me feel unwanted and dispensable. I think I have to be more active to try to blend into the class and also me being too inhibited is not helping as students can sense it.

Unexpectedly, the teacher didn't give any motivational speech in the morning. I was actually anticipating one as it felt to me that it would be rather essential. Instead, she just gave some normal 5 a day (math drills) to learners. After that, she did ask about the holiday and she gave emotional responses to most of the replies, which is, as a matter of fact, very tiring and I definitely admire her effort. After that, it was story time. Children gathered around a table and listened to the story that they didn't finish before half-term. (learners were super excited even though they didn't get dramatic activities, thus it is imaginable how bubbly they were). this story kind of nicely linked back to the real life problem---the destruction of nature, including the ozone layer and the burning of coal. Following that, they were asked to fill in quadrants with questions.

in the Assembly, they talked about the firework and guy Fawkes, here are some information:

Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain. 

1. Guy Fawkes did not die from being hung, drawn and quartered:

As he awaited his grisly punishment on the gallows, Fawkes leapt to his death - to avoid the horrors of having his testicles cut off, his stomach opened and his guts spilled out before his eyes. He died from a broken neck.

2. Guy Fawkes was not the Gunpowder Plot's ringleader:

There were 13 conspirators in the plot, which was masterminded by Robert Catesby, a charismatic Catholic figure who had a reputation for speaking out against the English crown. But it was Fawkes who gained notoriety after the plot was foiled, for he was caught after sneaking into the cellar beneath the House of Lords to ignite the explosives.

3. Guy Fawkes won the unlikely admiration of King James I:

Fawkes withstood two full days of torture and expressed his regret at having failed his mission. His steadfast manner earned him the praise of King James, who described Fawkes as possessing "a Roman resolution".

4. Guy Fawkes has an island named after him:

He is one of Britain’s most infamous villains, whose effigy has been burned and whose demise has been publicly celebrated for more than four centuries. Yet to the north-west of Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, a collection of two uninhabited, crescent-shaped islands is named Isla Guy Fawkes, or Guy Fawkes Island.

5. The Houses of Parliament are still searched once a year to make sure there are no conspirators hiding with explosives:

Before the annual State Opening of Parliament, the Yeomen of the Guard search the Houses of Parliament to make sure there are no would-be conspirators hiding in the cellars. This has become more of a tradition than a serious anti-terrorist precaution.

6. The cellar that Fawkes tried to blow up no longer exists:

It was destroyed in a fire in 1834 that devastated the medieval Houses of Parliament.

7. The gunpowder would have done little damage to Parliament:

The 36 barrels of gunpowder that Fawkes planted in a cellar below the Houses of Parliament would have been sufficient to raze it to the ground, while causing severe damage to neighbouring buildings. However, some experts now claim that the gunpowder had “decayed”, and would not have properly exploded even if ignited. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/bonfire-night-2016-who-was-guy-fawkes-and-why-do-we-celebrate-wi/)

Assembly sometimes does feel like a big classroom, in which teachers impart knowledge of culture.

The most impressive one is the science class. Again it was ipad time. they are given time to search online for information about the "amazing journey", which is the journey made by animals why they migrate, for instance, the ones of humpback whales, wildebeests, swifts and sea turtles. After they have found information , they made posters and marked down key points on map.

When they left, T's mom seemed to have forgotten to pick up T and her little sister, so I waited with her . During the waiting, she asked me who I lived with. When I said my classmates and my boyfriend, she was puzzled since she couldnt understand why I am not living with my parents. I didnt explain much, and how could I? How could I tell her that after you grow up, you will fly away the nest and build your new home.