Fiddle-dee-dum: Day Two and Waterfront

The second day at placement went rather smoothly. Last night, Paul, Emily and I brainstormed on a group activity that we could do with each level that would build up a sense of confidence and pride among the children (a goal that the teacher and the school also shares). After many failed ideas and plan A, B, and C's, we came up with the idea of a giant cumulative caterpillar and butterfly. The caterpillar's body would be split up into circles; each child would be asked to work in the circle on an image that describes what makes them SPECIAL (including who they love, what they are good at, what they are proud of, etc.). For some children this was an easier task than others, although in the end everyone completed something within their circles.

Most images centered around families, homes, self, mood, and soccer. The prevalence of family seems very strong to them and it could be culturally based as a sense of representation (if that makes sense). Fun story of the day, one of the 17 year old boys proposed to me and told me that he loved me. It amazes me how happy these children are that we are there with them and giving them special attention. There are the occasional class clowns, but even they are still very respectful. We also could not ask for a better teacher to work along with.

The second half of the caterpillar is the butterfly. The butterfly will be cut out as a puzzle and in each part the children will draw an image that represents their dreams for the future (what they want to do, who they want to be). I will keep updated on the project!

In other news, the second half of the day was a free day, so a bunch of us decided to go down to the V&A Waterfront. This is a beautiful area filled with restaurants, ships, a mall, and of course - the waterfront. I picked up some warm clothing because it is CHILLY here. I am talking chills all the time. Here are some images from the trip to the waterfront: