Hey Hey Hey!
So, yesterday was my last day teaching in South Africa...I was sad to say good-bye to my grade 6 class and I think they were sad to see me leave. Three weeks went by much too quickly. I had a lot of fun with them and I definitely learned a lot. They threw me a little party in the afternoon. It was a total surpise; I thought it was very nice of them. They made me a big poster that said "Thank You Miss Julie" and they drew a big picture of the Canadian flag on it.

The teacher in the class, Mrs. Volmink, gave me a beautiful present as well. She gave me hand made beaded hoop earrings. They were made by the Ndebele tribe from KwaZulu Natal. I was very touched.

I know many of you have sent messages asking me to post photos from the trip and I would love to but unfortunately, I will not be able to until I am home in Canada. I only have access to computers at internet cafes and I am not allowed to upload pictures from my camera at the cafes. I come home on May 15, so you won't have to wait too much longer to see my pictures. I will hopefully have some posted within a few days of being home.

Good luck with Track and Field for those who are involved!
Miss Dixon
PS. Rebecca, the students here do not have organized Track and Field until high school (high school begins in grade 8 here).

Hello to the students at CJB!
First of all, thank you soooo much for all the wonderful postings you've left on my blog. I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing well and I just wanted to let you know, I miss you too. You are a group of amazing students! Congratulations on the success in math and history that I have been hearing about.
I'm sorry I haven't posted on the blog for a while...there was a period of time when I did not have access to the internet. So, I'll try to give you a brief update on what I've been doing. The students I have been working with are great...so kind and so entertaining. They have many interesting questions about Canada, myself and other classes I have taught. There are 41 stundents in the grade 6 class I am teaching. It can be stressful, especially when they get a little hyper but they are usually very well behaved. I'm teaching them math and more speficially, fractions. It's great for me because I get to teach many of the same lessons to them that I taught to you. I've also been doing some lessons that are a bit more Canadian...for instance, tomorrow I'm hoping that we will create dreamcatchers...I'm looking forward to it. There aren't many extracurricular activities at the school, no sports besides Phys. ED. However, there is a dance class that many of my female students take part in.
I've been doing lots of sightseeing...next week I get to go on a safari so I'm very excited about that! The weather has been great...not too hot, not too cold...it's about the same as the "normal" May weather at home. South Africa is heading into its winter now. Obviously it doesn't snow but it gets much cooler. But it's still warm...I usually wear pants and a t-shirt (so yes Hayley, I'm working on my tan haha).
I'll write again soon!
Miss D

I went to the school I will be teaching at and met the class I will be working with. I am in a grade 6 class. The students were great!...Routines are a bit different here though. When I enter the room they all stand up as a class and greet me in unison...and they won't sit down until I tell them to.
I was only at the school for the morning yesterday so in the afternoon, me and the other Brock students went to Table Mountain and rode the gondolla to the top. It was so high up that my ears popped as we travelled! I could see all of Cape Town from the top of the Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean looked like it stretched out forever! (the next time I have access to the internet I will try to add a picture of the Mountain for you to see)
I hope the plans for Earth Day are going smoothly,
Miss Dixon

Hello grade 7's and 8's!
Well my first day in Athlone, South Africa is coming to a close and I love it here! The youth centre where I am staying is very nice...there are supermarkets all around us and an internet cafe close by. The people here are very nice...very welcoming and excited to learn about where we are from. To answer Mac's question...I have not seen any white Europeans yet...I am staying in what they call a "coloured" town, so it is all people of mixed heritages.
We went on a walking tour of the area today and I saw the school where I will be teaching (I start on Monday). I just want to let you know that while the school is nice, you are all very lucky to be attending school in Canada. The teachers are happy and kind but they do not have a lot to work with in terms of resources.
Athlone is very busy...hectic streets with busy people, but the youth centre where I am staying is very peaceful. All I hear when I am outside is birds chirping and the students on the other side of the fence playing soccer at recess!
I will write again soon!
Miss Dixon

I have found out that you need a Google account in order to post on the blog. Also, you need to be invited by me (I have to send invitation emails). So I can do this, I need each of your email addresses.

Here's what we need to do:
1) Collect a list with each person's email address on it. Ask Mr. Digweed if he could please email me the list.
2) Once I have the list, I will send the invitation email to each of you.
3) When you receive the email, create a Google account if you do not already have one. (Go to www.google.ca to create your account)
4) Start blogging! :-)

Welcome to my blog grade 7 & 8 students! I hope you will enjoy this page that I have created. Think of this blog as a way for us to continue to communicate while I am in South Africa. I encourage you to post messages and share interesting information that you come across. Perhaps you find an interesting fact about South Africa that you would like to share with me and the rest of the class. Or maybe something exciting is happening at Colonel John Butler that you think I would like to know about; I welcome any updates on the school and class. Also, I invite you to post questions and I will do my best to answer them.

Good luck with the Spoken Word Festival!
Talk to you soon,
Miss Dixon