First Day at Community School

Hi,

This is Joao once again... And, I am really sorry for talking about past things. But, that's just because I didn't have the time before.
As I'm in the Residence Hall, our breakfast starts at 7:15 a.m., and I generally have a sandwich or a bagel. Then, Jenny, who is one of our Residential advisors, take us to the school in her van at 7:45 a.m.
Anyway, our Tuesday was our first day at Community School which was an exciting brand new experience. First of all, the students have and advisory period in their first time. And, because I was following one of my roommates' schedule, Perry's, I got to meet his advisor Bob, who was really polite and kind with me.

Perry Boyle, from Connecticut

That day, I had History, Geometry, English, Photography, and Writing classes. In my point of view, the students are motivated to think by themselves and make up their own conclusions, and the teachers are the means to achieve this goal. In Geometry classes, Mike Wade, for instance, made lots of questions and induced the students to come up with the solution; Chauncy Pogue, at English classes, took notes of their observations on Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and had a discussion on them.

Moreover, I have noticed that the school gives a especial emphasis on the SAT, that is a test American students to test their knowledge on Mathematics, Reading and Writing skills, in order to go to college.

Teacher Mike Wade

In the afternoon, we went to the Elementary School building, where we would make a presentation on Brazilian legends, teach the kids how to play some Brazilian childish games and one typical dance.

Elementary School building entrance

So, we told the second and third graders some tales such as Cuca, Emilia, Saci, and Iara. An interesting part was that they had already did a paper on Curupira a week before. Then, we taught them how to dance Quadrilha, a typical Brazilian dance.

In the end, we had lots of fun playing Cabra Cega (Blind Goat, in English).

Joao Gabriel.