Hey all!
So week two (my official first week teaching!) has come and gone. :( But it was really fun! :D I suppose I'll start at the beginning...
On Monday, Bonnie and I got sent with a huge group of high school students to a chinchilla reserve. It was, by Chilean standards*, a fairly decent trip. We got a lot of sun time in, ate some decent food, got gawked at, walked around a little, and got some cute pictures of chinchillas in. :) The only bad thing was that I didn't get a chance to go and see the one class that I haven't seen yet (Chuchini). Apparently they actually wore their uniforms correctly and were extremely disappointed that I wasn't there. Super :*(.
Tuesday was a little better as I actually got in front of a classroom for the first time. The kids in Tahuinco crack me up simply because they're super duper touchy. They don't give me an opportunity to say no as they're always holding my hands, playing with my hair, and/or escorting me around the tiny school. The three classes that I worked with (7th, 8th, and 6th graders) all seemed to have a decent time. The exception was, of course, the kid in 8th grade whose phone I took away. He was still pretty grumpy with me on Wednesday but he'll either get over it or he won't. Oh! And the 6th grade girls have requested that I sing them an American song...? They want something from High School Musical or the Jonas Brothers but I'm pretty sure I'm going to sing them Thrice or Queen. I'm not sure which one, but it'll be one of them. :)
My Tuesday at Cumbres rocked! The 5th graders there are angels and, despite the fact that some of them were on losing teams, they all seemed to have fun and learn. :) I'm going to try some games that require a little more speaking interaction on their behalves, but everything seems like it'll work well there. :)
Wednesday was...interesting. I had 7th and 8th graders again in Tahuinco and everything went how it was supposed to. :) Fifth grade was where it got ugly. It's not that the kids are bad--it's not that at all! They've never had any sort of structure before and they're a rowdy bunch. All of them want to talk all at the same time which means that getting answers is both too easy and extremely difficult. Once I laid down some rules, they seemed to work pretty well, especially since I introduced cool stickers. I don't understand what it is about stickers and kids but I've found that I don't care. If it works, I'm a happy fat kid. :)
Thursday and Friday were, by far, my favorite days of the week. I taught 5th-8th grades in Chalinga, which rocked. :) The kids here were SUPER willing to take part in everything, including my stupid name tags (because I have ten distinct classes, I need some way to tell them all apart!). After having taught all of them once, I have a very good idea about what I need to be doing to make sure that a) everyone participates and b) everyone participates in English. The only major problem I had was with the 7th graders. In both of my sections, I ended sending one person into the hall. As I explained to them after class, if they want to have fun and be a part of class, then they have to act like a student, not a hooligan. Aside from those hiccups, everything went really well. :)
The fact that the whole teaching thing is going well makes me extremely relieved. I was never sure that I'd be able to teach but to see that I'm doing it on a little kid level is something else entirely. :) One happy fat kid. :D
In the early afternoon on Saturday (because that's honestly the only time anyone does anything around here), we all went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch (i.e. food coma). I took quite a few pictures and had some funny discussions about my "weird" views on love. Super lolz. :)
After lunch, Bonnie and I had our (what I'm sure will become a tradition) weekly vent/walk around session. We've both decided that it's impossible to get lost in Salamanca; this is something that freaks Bonnie out as it's never happened to her before. She's from Chicago, so the size of Salamanca (and corresponding lack of things to do) is proving to be difficult for her. I told her that she'll get used to it but neither of us really thinks that she will.
Today was my birthday and it was one of the best I've had in awhile. I woke up pretty early and worked on my lesson plans for awhile. Apparently, the fencebell rang but, since I had my IPod in, I didn't hear it. Around 8, Maite, my sister, woke up and decided that I should be up too. I helped her find the music that we had put on her phone and she was off. :) At about 11 or so, the rest of my family got up and brought me my birthday present: my very first grown-up, girly purse! I'm in love! I squealed and gave everyone hugs and was so happy I could hardly stand it. I took pictures of it and then started to transfer everything (all, like, five objects). :D After that, my family started in with the food--which included a trip to the only Chinese place in town, a huge amount of ice cream, and a ton of sweets. Finally, I talked to my family (Mom, Jay, and Daddy) through Skype--MUCH cheaper than with my cell!
All in all, it was a very good week, if slightly uneventful. :)
Loves to you all! :)
Cb.
P.S. If you haven't been to my Facebook page and checked out my awesome pictures, let me know. Or just stop being lazy and get on it. ;)
*Chilean standards include: not having enough vehicles which means absurd amounts of standing around either a)wondering how in the world this government functions or b) complaining about how much standing around is actually going on.
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