We just finished our first three days of work in Iceland! We have been slacking on blogging because we are trying to squeeze in our workload and some fun and sightseeing on the side! The 24 hours of light situation is definitely messing with us. We don’t know when to go to bed or when to wake up. We have all woken up at least once in the middle of the night thinking we slept past our alarms.
The preschool experience has been really fun and interesting for all of us. We broke up into pairs and each of us is working with one student and all of the teachers they work with in the classroom.
Ashley and Riley are working on training table time to all of the teachers in one preschool. They helped teach sitting in a group during circle time, singing songs and playing with peers, taking turns with peers, pretend play, and transitioning between activities. They were even offered the lunch at the preschool and one included Skyr (a delicious yogurt-like food that is super popular here) and lamb’s blood and patte oat crackers. They were brave enough to give it a taste, but it isn’t likely to be a regular snack when they get home.
Julia and Lizzy are working with a little boy who is very young and doesn’t speak or use sign language. We want to help him with playground independent play, transitioning around the school, and most importantly teaching him a mode of communication that he can use long term! We are also helping him with his feeding program so that he eats more food during school time.
Greg and Hannah were assigned a young boy who was having trouble communicating and socializing with his peers. The boy’s teacher was very eager to teach him to talk more and communicate his needs. He’s a super sweet boy who loves praise and tickles and Greg and Hannah are already finding that is making progress in the programs that they created for him. They’re hoping to provide some recommendations for a toileting program that will help him transition from diapers to regular underwear in his daily life. Greg and Hannah are very happy with the interactions they’ve had with the boy’s teacher and believe she will do a great job with him in the future!
Our week has been a whirlwind for observing, training, and having our first experience consulting. Tomorrow is our first workshop where all of the teachers and the consultants from the diagnostic center will sit in on our training.
We have also had quite the experience in our hotel and getting to our hotel. We have been told police are uncommon and crime almost never happens. We came home Saturday night to our hotel filled with police. Our professors were sure that something bad happened to us or that we saw a spider and screamed too loud so someone called the cops, but we swear it wasn’t us! We still aren’t quite sure, but we found out the police come in larger numbers because they don’t carry guns. We were assured that all was well though and we were safe to go in our rooms. A couple nights later, we decided to save some money and make grilled cheese. Suddenly the fire alarms set off on 2 of the 3 floors. It was so loud that we went out to see what was going on and it was us and our smoky grilled cheeses. We had to wait about 15 minutes before the fire deparment could turn off the alarm. People came out of every room, but everyone was very sympathetic instead of getting angry! Half of us had class last night. We hopped on the bus and accidentally took it 20 extra stops. We like to think it was just us getting to see even more of Iceland than we had planned! We also had a breakfast mishap where the eggs on the egg sandwich fell three floors and splat on the ground right next to a hotel guest. I’m not surprised if the front desk people are waiting for us to get out of here….
We also got to watch the Iceland-England soccer game on Monday! We picked up some hot dogs which are quite popular here and plopped right in the middle of so many Reykjavik locals. Everyone cheered "Afram Islan" which we think means "Come on, Iceland!" They had a cool drum chant where they would wait for a beat of a drum and then clap over their heads and then the drum beat got faster and faster. It was such a cool chance to be a part of something so exciting for Icelanders and soccer fans alike! The square was so full of people who laughed, hugged, and cried when Iceland won! It was a perfect evening and some of us even stayed out to see the midnight sun, which is so beautiful to see over the mountain tops!
Time to head out and prepare for our workshops tomorrow… Wish us luck!! J
No comments:
Post a Comment