Greetings from the Teachers!

We have just spent the past three days in class with your children—and what a lovely bunch they are. Given the accelerated pace of summer-school, the kids arrived on the trip ready to work hard. All of them had completed their before-trip reading: 1984 and their ISP novel, which allowed us to really hit the ground running.

Classes are held both in the classrooms at the university (with beautiful, state-of-the-art technology), but also in the streets and parks of surrounding Galway. We’re working hard to connect the course material with the actual setting of Irish culture. After all, why else would we have come all this way?

Please contact us directly if you have any questions or concerns of an academic nature. We’d love to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Mr. Adrian Del Monte and Mr. Jaason Geerts

Mr. Geerts'  Class

Mr. Del Monte's Class

Mr.Geerts’s Class, Day Two

Coole Park by Aliya Rubin and Michelle Barbaro

July 5, 2011

 

On Tuesday, July 5th, our class went to Coole Park outside of Galway for the entire day.  This park was the home and heart of the Irish literary revival because of the many writers who visited this park between the late 19th and early 20th century, conversed with each other, and wrote poems based on their experience.  As part of our poetry unit, our class discussed many of William Butler Yeats’s poems who was a summertime guest at Coole Park for 20 years.  We learned that the park belonged to Lady Gregory, whose house was on the grounds, and that Yeats and she became very close friends in addition to Lady Gregory serving as Yeats’s patron.  We also learned that Yeats and Lady Gregory founded the Abbey Theatre together and that our play (The Plough and the Stars) was one of only two play to cause riots there when it first debuted.  The park itself is inspirational and in a letter, Yeats once described as the prettiest place in the world.  The class got to experience the natural settings Yeats spoke about in many of his poems and saw the famous tree that was signed by him and many others including George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett (three of Ireland’s four Nobel Prize for Literature winners), and Sean O’Casey (who wrote our play).

Our class started with another get to know you game before our nature activity.  Before reading Yeats’s “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” we had to find a quiet place somewhere in the forest, take in everything around us using all our senses, and compare our perceptions to those of city life.  Before going to lunch, we took a group picture in front of the autographed tree, and then ventured to a little tea house to eat.  Afterwards, a classmate did a presentation about U2, since we were studying two of their songs as part of our poetry unit.  Before leaving the park, we visited the museum about the Gregory family, the park, and the famous writers who visited.  Overall, our class had an amazing time and an experience we will never forget.

Mr. Del Monte's Class, Day One

Sniper Game by Rachel Brandolini


July 5, 2011

On Tuesday July 5th we read “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty. This story was about a sniper during the civil war that participated in guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla warfare consisted of men and women who fought without being seen, and in most cases didn’t know who the target was. To help with understanding this story the class was divided into two teams: the Republicans and the Free Staters. The aim of our game was to “snipe” (aks. take pictures) of members of the opposite team which were rewarded with points. Points were also rewarded for pictures of the teachers, buildings and statues from 1923 and anything else that related to our short story. Playing this game near the place where the story was set was a great experience.

 

Overall, the day was very interesting because we could see how hard it would have been to stay under cover back then and stay undetected; no one managed to evade a camera throughout the hour. This game also taught us how hard it would have been to avoid gunshots in the area as there was very little cover to dodge behind and many of us were left out in the open.

Mr. Geerts’ Class, Day One 
by Katie Coleman and Jessica Lu

July 4, 2011


Today was our first official day of English class! Instead of a traditional lesson in the classroom, we opened up our umbrellas and ventured outside into the mist.  First, we found an empty little castle in an open field near the university, around which we played our first set of get to know you games and discussed the course expectations.  

Today was our first official day of English class! Instead of a traditional lesson in the classroom, we opened up our umbrellas and ventured outside into the mist.  First, we found an empty little castle in an open field near the university, around which we played our first set of get to know you games and discussed the course expectations (see picture one).  

After a couple of hours of work, we were rewarded with a delicious lunch at a bistro in downtown Galway with our amazing teacher Mr. Geerts, during which everybody bonded over their food.

After lunch, we proceeded to visit some of the Galway shops, including the renowned Claddagh Shop, where Aliya made a presentation on the symbols and history of the famous Claddagh Ring.

We also were each instructed to purchase a postcard addressed to ourselves recording our expectations and fears for this trip. The purpose of this is for us to be able read what we wrote when we get home to realize how this experience has helped us to learn and grow. As we wrote our post cards, we strolled along the sidewalks towards the beautiful Corrib River beside which we sat on the grass and commenced our afternoon class. The class was relaxing yet effective, orderly yet engaging.  Being in the onetime town of Claddagh, we sat in a circle and explored a few of Shakespeare and John Donne’s famous love sonnets, which was fitting with the lovely environment surrounding us and the romantic history of the rings for which the area is best known.  

After we were dismissed, we explored more of the town and gathered for dinner back as the residence.  Overall it was a great day and certainly an awesome start to this course!