TGIF

This Friday we took our kids on a field trip to what was essentially an international science fair.  There were booths set up for each of the countries represented, some manned by local students who had studied the country, and some by actual students from there.  Our vice principal set up the trip and ordered taxis to take us there after breakfast at the school. 

The thing is, they timed it so that we arrived during the opening ceremonies, which was nice for not losing the kids in the crowd, but it also meant that no one was in the booths to talk to us and explain things.  So we walked up and down the aisles trying to keep them from touching things.  The school wanted us to take a lot of pictures along the way (I suspect the photo ops were an important factor in choosing this particular field trip) and you can see the progression in the pictures below.

First picture



Sixth picture

Teacher!  No more pictures, please!

Last picture, on the way out the door

Those poor kids!  Despite all that, though, we did manage to get some good ones.

Those are some of Rachael's high school students running the South Africa booth

Farida!  Don't touch!

After 30 minutes of this, they were DONE!  But the taxi wouldn't be back for another half an hour, so we took them upstairs to the cantine.  Along the way we discovered... bouncy castles!!!  Thank goodness!

Now this is what I call a field trip!

Getting the kids off of them when it was time to go was an ordeal all of its own.  We got back to the kindergarten in time for a late lunch ("No, Nasreddin, the tea and cookies we had at the cantine don't count as lunch") and then it was our class' turn to have the logic puzzles the school bought recently.  The kids love them.  They have to use logic (and sometimes basic math) to match pictures.  Then they put numbered tiles in the right places, and if they did it correctly when they flip it over, it will show a pattern.

Here's a short video I took of Muhammed working on one.  I love it because it's not just him figuring out the puzzle, but talking through it entirely in English!



He was so into it that when it came time to go, he refused to leave.  He wanted to finish the last one.  We had to physically carry him out the door, put his coat on, and walk him down the stairs. 

I'll tell you what.  For a day in which we didn't teach a single lesson, we sure were exhausted.  In fact, this is what happened as soon as all the kids were gone:


Not staged at all: this is what Peri found when she walked in the door.
And we definitely stayed like this until it was time to go home!

What a day! 

T.  G.  I.  F.