Cows on the Hills...

I am loving my time here at ICEC (International Christian Educators' Conference)!  I am amazed at how God has provided for me -- meeting people, learning more about what my position will be like, seeing the town, learning from the conference presenters...  What an amazing opportunity!

Yesterday I was unable to post because the internet stopped working at our apartment... I had some time after dinner tonight, so I decided to share a little bit about yesterday...

One of the biggest highlights was visiting Sitzenkirch, the neighboring town where the elementary school is located.  It was so great to SEE the classrooms and the area.  Here's where the title of the blog post comes in... There are cows on the hill right next to the elementary school!!  There is also a castle up on the hill within view of some of the classrooms.  It's almost unreal!  What a beautiful, quiet town to work in.

During the afternoon sessions, I heard about some best practices in education (sounded familiar from my GCC education classes, so that was good!), as well as transformational Christian education (presented by the principal of BFA).  The teaching in small sessions and larger meetings has been so good!

Today I got to meet with the 5th grade teacher to talk more about what my position will look like next year.  I'll be teaching third grade in the morning, and then my third graders (only 4 of them this year in 2nd grade!) will join the fourth grade for a combined afternoon class while I teach one subject (probably science) for the fifth grade in the afternoon.  The current second graders have been combined with the next grade above them since they entered the school, so that won't be anything new.  Although it's still up in the air, that is the plan for now.  It was so helpful to hear more about the resources, schedule, student population, and mission of the school from him.  I'm excited to work with him, as well as the others, beginning in August!

All in all, the people here are great!  I'm so excited to be a part of this encouraging, supportive environment next year.

With joy,
Heather

P.S.  Pictures aren't working right now, but hopefully I'll have more coming soon!