This morning I woke up from the most wonderful of dreams. It started out that I was dancing with a gay guy. It was one of those dances where I could just close my eyes for the whole song and he could lead me perfectly through all of the moves. Neither of us being overly keen on the opposite gender, we were shocked that we'd made such a good dancing couple. After the song he left my hotel room and went to head to the next one, but the whistle blew - meaning it was time for another dance with the same partner - and we both peaked our heads out from our doors at each other, shrugging but delighted to have one more dance together.
Flash to the Amazon river. A majestic Great Dane is guiding me through the trails until we reach a secluded part of the river. He gently guides me forward until I'm waist deep in the water. And then he nuzzles me until I'm floating on my back in the water. He's guiding me and keeping watch for anything that could harm me. For a moment I think, "But what about the fish and the creatures that could be in this water!? Or what about the humans who are near by and do not know who I am?!" But one glance at the dog and I know I am safer than I've ever been before. He will protect me from anything and everything. I can see in his face the concern he has for me - how seriously he's taking this responsibility he's been given. He's looking everywhere all at once, all while making sure I feel as serene as can be. The water is sparkling, the trees are gorgeous, the sun in shining down on my skin and warming it ever so sweetly. I'm floating there, safe and relaxed; secure and serene. I could float there forever, but knowing that I have to go soon makes it all the more magical. And that dog, he just keeps watch, with a face so serious I know that there is nobody more trustworthy than this creature in front of me.
And then my alarm went off.
I drifted out of the dream flawlessly. I remember the dog nudging me, as if to tell me it was time to go. He began to lead me back. And before I knew it I was back in my bed.
It was the most relaxing way to awaken to a Monday morning ever. <3
All day I felt like that dog was still near me, watching out for anything that could disrupt my serenity. The scene of the glistening water and lavish greenery flashed behind my eyelids when I'd blink.
Operation: LOVE MONDAYS was well underway
;)
Of course, it helped that I wore my favorite outfit. And it also helped that the first class of the day was 11th grade and the song presentation of the day was Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." Oh yeah!
The rest of the day I was given even more authority in my classes than last week and I really enjoyed it. After hearing the horror stories from some of the schools this past weekend during my Master's classes, I felt so grateful to be at my school! The teachers are all very nice and respectful towards me. The kids all run up and hug me all the time. I can be myself in class and generally get their attention without having to scream or slap books against the desk or wall. Good behavior and respect is a big deal at my school - and I'm so happy it is! Also, many people in my program aren't allowed to speak a word of Spanish to their students, whereas my school does not regulate that at all. It's so much easier to be able to say:
"Oh! You have the hiccups?"
*blank face of incomprehension*
"What do you call *fake a hiccup* in Spanish?"
"Oh! Hippos!
"Haha. Cool. In English it's called a 'hiccup.'"
"'Hiccup!' Jajaja!"
During writing activities students are always asking me "How do you say ... in English?" When I know the word I will translate it for them and verbally spell it out for them (letters in English vs. letters in Spanish are actually pretty tricky, and it's good practice for them!). If I genuinely have no clue what the word they're asking me for means, I'll simply shrug and say, "Can you explain it to me?" This makes them frustrated for a split second, and then when they realize I actually can't understand them, they get a little excited to explain it to me in MY language to find out the correct word for it. It's pretty adorable. :)
One thing I've taken to doing is when I ask for everybody's attention and there are one or two people who are "looking at the moon" as one teacher puts it, I go silent and start making fish faces at them. The whole class and I see how long it takes them to notice that the teacher (Me!) is staring directly at them with big, puffy fish lips. By the time they figure it out, everybody has had a good chuckle and is ready to move on to the next task.
Also, kids here in Spain are expected to take the strangest things seriously. Their penmanship must always be perfect and in cursive (no joke - even the 5 year olds only write in cursive!); their notebooks must be perfectly color-coded; their drawings must actually resemble the object which they were told to draw. For example, tonight the 5 year old girl I tutor had an emotional breakdown because I messed up "traffic light" and "street light" and had her color the wrong light the wrong color on her homework. She seriously lost her sh*t and started crying and screaming and saying it wasn't perfect anymore and the teacher would be cross with her. WHOA.
So when I come around and say, "Wow! Good job!" the kids actually genuinely give me a huge smile of pride. Haha. I learned the other day (from my favorite, and in my opinion, the best teacher in the school) how to correct tense issues. When a kid says, "Last weekend I go to a wedding." I wave good-bye at them and say, "Oh! You have to go to a wedding RIGHT NOW? Okay! Bye bye!" They start to giggle and say, "NO! Last weekend!!" And I look all confused and say, "Last weekend you WENT to a wedding??" And by this time their classmates are giggling, too, and squeal, "Yeah! Last weekend she WENT to a wedding!" It's pretty adorable. :)
I think I learned this other trick from being a waitress: when I have to correct a student, I tell them, "Good job!" and then I repeat what they said, but STRESS the correction I'm giving them and smile and nod my head. They're so happy that they're not being yelled at, but at the same time hear my correction, but see my happy nod, that they quickly correct it on their paper and give me a huge grin. Aww... so cute.
It's only been a few weeks, and I clearly still have soooo much to learn. But at this point, I'm very happy with where I am. I feel like I'm treating all the kids with that certain "adult respect" that I always think is necessary to really relate to kids. One of the teachers at my school who is the sweetest, most friendliest person to me, is a crazy scary bitch to the students. When I have to teach with her, I seriously begin to cower in the corner when she begins going off on them. Her tough-ass teacher image is kinda cool, but I don't think she understands that it's totally self-defeating. Granted, her classes do seem totally out of hand, but I'm starting to wonder if it's not them, but her, that makes them that way. She has no respect for them and in turn they show no respect to her. I would like to avoid such things, myself, as a teacher. I feel like the first day I'd lay out the rules: I'll treat you how you treat me and each other. Screaming at them, taking away all their recess for the week and slamming books against a desk just isn't cutting it. My favorite teachers were the ones who I wanted to impress because they were so wonderful - not the crazy ones who I was petrified of.
Anyway, by the end of the day I was ready to be home with my roomies. :) I've never really felt like I belonged with a group of girls like I feel I do here. It seriously feels like a mini sororiety here and I adore it. We're always giggling, someone is always drinking wine, we're always cooking and eating each others' food, we're always talking about our crazy days. Tonight I got to help them with their homework (yay Spanish lingusitics!!) and their gratitude was pretty adorable. As I'm writing this (with a freshly poured glass of wine), they're watching the Titanic on TV (in Spanish, of course), while the other is in her room, Skyping her boyfriend as usual. :)
So, yeah... day one of kick-ass October: SUCCESS! ^_^
XOXO
No comments:
Post a Comment