Back In The Schools! 5-25-15

Ciao! Today was another awesome experience! We started our morning off by visiting the mayor of  Modena!

Door to mayor's office!

She was very helpful to us and gave us a very warm welcoming! She brought us inside the area where they hold meetings for the city! She gave us an overview of the information of the city and provided us with some awesome snacks! Afterwards, she brought us out into the city and to a school!

Welcoming into their school!

The school!

Of course, when the mayor shows up to your classroom, you let the visitors in! We just had a small look in of the school before heading out. There was a man walking with us, who we all thought was just a translator, but ended up being the headmaster of the school we worked in for the day! When we left for the school, we were hit by an amazing scene! This was the most warming welcoming I have ever experienced! The children from the school were all outside and started singing when we walked up!

Welcome in Italian!

They sang three different songs for us! We could tell that they had worked very hard and it made us all feel very special! Once we were inside, we had a quick look inside some of the classrooms before lunch! The classrooms were very similar to the others we have been too. The walls all were lacking very much decoration and art work like you may see in an American school. After the brief look in, we sat down for lunch, Lunch in Italian schools are much different than in America. In America, you pay $1.75 for a tray of food that no one wants to eat. In Italy, we were served a three corse meal! First, we had a noodle dish with a meat sauce, then we had trays of meat and cheese, and finally, we were served a peach pie for dessert! The kids at lunch were much different than those at an American school also. Amercans schools, from what I have seen lately, don't allow students to get up or even talk. These kids in Italy were running around and extremely loud.

First corse of meal!

The tables had jugs of water for students to pour their own drinks, instead of milk like in America. After lunch, we headed to recess. At recess, I interacted with a group of students and played what seemed to be volley ball without a net.

Working with a small group!

It seemed just like an American school at recess! Boys played together in the soccer field and girls all hung around together doing other activities. After recess, we started our lessons with the kids. We broke into groups and I started to feel extra special. All of the students were wanting to be in my group. I know its probably because I am a male and they don't see very many males in the school. It still made me feel extra speical! In our groups, we worked with Where's Walrus again! The students still really enjoyed the book. We made them do the same activity as well. When asked to draw the walrus somewhere in their community, they all jumped right on it. I've noticed that in Italy, when you are given directions, you listen and follow them, Usually in America, you have to give directions multiple times. These children also acted the same as previous children in the other Italian classrooms.

Student work!

Class two!

They drew walrus in the biggest places in their community. The studenst in Aosta drew walrus in the moutains and the students here in Modena drew walrus in the Panaro River. After we finished with the first group, we switched for a new one. These students were a little less well behaved than the ones before but were still good. We did our walrus activity and got similar results from the students before. After the activity was over, the students prepared to leave for the day. The students stayed in school until 4:30, unlike in America, they would have gotten out at 3:15. After we left the school, we went back to our hotel for a rest.  That night, we headed to our adoptive grandparents house for dinner. The food was fabulose! They served us a three corse meal! It was the first time I \actually thoroughly enjoyed my meal while being in Italy. After dinner, we were shown their Balsamic vinegar they they were making in their attic. It is an awesome process that takes years to make. Un fortunaley, I do not like the taste! Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel for the night!