Book Character Costume Party

March is Book Month! Our school librarian threw a Book Character Costume Party this month to celebrate. I dressed as Ms. Franny Block, the librarian of the Herman W. Block Memorial Library, in the book Because of Winn Dixie. This is Jae Gyung, dressed as Captain Hook. I tutor Jae Gyung after school two times a week in English and enjoy working with her very much.

Here is a photo of the elementary teachers who dressed up for the costume party. On the left is the host of this fabulous party, Mrs. Dax. She came dressed as the caterpillar in Eric Carle's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Other teacher costumes included Amelia Bedilia, Minnie Mouse, and the Cat in the Hat!

After the students showed off their costumes, we ate a long caterpillar cake in honor of Eric Carle's 80th birthday. That's a lot of candles!

Sheila Comes to Vienna!

My friend, Sheila, came to visit over her school's Ski Week. Sheila teaches 4th grade in Prague. She brought a friend and fellow-teacher named Nicole with her. We had a wonderful time talking and laughing together. Sheila came to school with me one day to see what 5th grade at VCS is all about.

It's hard to take pictures of yourself while you're teaching, so Sheila caught me in action on the day she visited. I'm giving instructions for reading class and getting ready to pass out the books.

Later in the afternoon, we went to the computer lab to work on the non-fiction books that the students are writing. Mrs. Klein, our computer teacher, and I have teamed up to make this a digital (paper free!) project.

At home, we made delicious taco salad one night while Sheila and Nicole were here. In this photo, Nicole helps Sandi and I brown the taco meet and chop salad toppings while Sheila documents the fun of four cooking in our tiny kitchen.

Valentine's Party

The 4th and 5th graders had a joint Valentine's Day party last month. They made their own Valentine's cards and frosted heart cutout cookies. What a fun time!

London & Wales

During Energy Break, I travelled to London and Wales with a few friends from school. We arrived just hours before the snow and enjoyed the unique view of the famous landmarks covered in snow. Here's St. Paul's Cathedral, which is as beautiful inside as out.

A highlight of our time in London was a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. The theater has been fully restored and we learned a lot of fascinating history from our informative tour guide.

From London, we rented a car and drove to several towns in Wales, including Bath and Cadiff. This photo was taken on the coast near Fishgaurd, where we wandered through the remains of an ancient fort and hiked a path that bordered the Atlantic Ocean.

Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week

"Uncle" Jerry Jacoby returned to VCS this year for Spiritual Emphasis Week. He sang songs with us, told us jokes and shared stories from the Bible that illustrate God's character and His love for us. One of the songs we sang was really difficult to understand, so each day Jerry would ask a student to come up and explain a line of the song. That student became our Philosopher for the Day and got to sit on the special Philosopher's Stool. In the picture above, the new Philosopher for the Day - a 5th grade student! - shakes hands with the departing philosopher. What fun!

Jerry ate lunch with the students and brought lots of smiles, laughter and fun wherever he went!

Snowy Day

Christmas came and went without any snow to speak of, but we finally got a snowy day in Vienna today! The fifth graders were delighted to play outside amidst the freshly falling flakes. This is a light, powdery snow - good for snow angels and tossing fistfuls into the air. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the joy on the students' faces as they played in the snow!

New Year's Eve

This video was taken from my apartment balcony on New Year's Eve. People were setting off fireworks all around the city to celebrate the arrival of 2009!