Week 6

Wow, it's been a whirlwind of a week - we've been to so many places and experienced so much in the classroom. 

Spent the final few days of our Winter Break in San Francisco: 

The winds were so bitterly cold there - here's our outfit of the day: 

We also visited Yosemite National Park (the temperature there was -12 degrees and we all had on numerous layers of clothes). We were a tad disappointed that there wasn't any snow there, even though there was ice on the ground and on the trees. 

We begun our homestays with our respective families upon our return to Santa Barbara. 

Lynn and I are are currently staying with the Findlays, a family with 2 daughters who attend Ellwood Elementary School, and they have been absolutely amazing and inclusive thus far. We're so blessed to be able to be hosted by them. 

We visited the Santa Barbara Mission: 

They also have a dog named Lucky: 

And Lynn, Peng Tiong and I went whale-watching last weekend at the Channel Islands: 

Our host family also brought us horseback-riding: 

And today, they took us on a day trip up one of the mountains in LA for tubing in the snow! This is Lynn and I with their two daughters. 

Over in the classroom, I had the opportunity to carry out 3 lessons with my first-graders this week. These are the lanterns which they made during one of my lessons! 

I was also quite impressed by their computer lab lesson - they were really quiet and orderly throughout the entire time in the lab. Figured that this probably helped: 

Whenever they encounter problems or needed help with their computers, they would put up this red sign on the top of their computers and wait quietly for an adult to help them. I find that this strategy works well for the younger students - instead of raising their hands and calling out for help, this really helped to maintain order in the lab. Should probably try it out in a Singapore lab lesson (with specific instructions given out to all the students). 

Moving ahead, it is definitely going to be a busy time ahead as we roll into our final days here in Santa Barbara!