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