It finally happened: I had my first day feeling like an actual semi-good teacher!
It all began during my lunchtime class with the 7th graders - the group of children that even the toughest of teachers absolutely dreads. They are known throughout the school as the horror class because there are SO many of them (30ish?) and they are ALWAYS talking and ignoring the teacher and just being generally disrespectful and obnoxious. They were the class that I accidentally let and F-bomb fly with a few weeks ago when I was put in this same lunchtime class and told "Good luck!" as the teacher ran out the door.
The class began just as all the others had - no direction, nobody paying attention, everyone talking over each other, yelling, just a disaster. Fifteen minutes into it all, though, I finally got their attention and got them ALL to stop talking for a few moments. In that precious and rare window I told them that we would be having a Christmas party in this lunchtime class in which I was the teacher for the two classes preceeding Christmas Break with cookies and a movie. They all cheered and started talking about it with each other. I hushed them and told them, "BUT for each minute that you are being loud and disrespectful and talking over each other and not paying attention, one minute will be subtracted from the party." They all GASPED. "This starts today, so mind your behavior so that we can have an awesome two full days of parties."
I expected some protesting out of them, but to my shock they all nodded, SILENTLY. That's right. They were SILENT and nobody was yelling at them or threatening them or otherwise scaring or belittling them. They were being silent on their own accord.
Rewards and punishments. Every teacher had tried the punishment side with these kids - no recess, detention after school, notes home to parents, extra homework, etc. But no teacher had thus far tried an incentive/reward. I didn't even think it'd really work, to be honest, and I was totally surprised and in awe.
During the rest of the class they all did their work and raised their hand and spoke English. I only had to take four minutes away from them (any other class I would have had to take the full 45 minutes away), and each time I took one away, they gasped and went silent immediately. o_O
Ah-MAY-zing.
My director asked how the class went later and when I told her what I'd done and what had happened she said it was a brilliant idea and she'd like to try it. TOO LATE. ;)
After school I was feeling so awesome from my small victory in the class that I decided it should be the day I turned around my private lessons with the girl. Up until that point she had refused to say more than two words per class in English and instead would be disrespectful and rude.
I went to a store during my half hour break and bought Play-Doh and some wooden letters, thinking I could use them during classes with those kids if the didn't have any homework to study with me. I just needed to feel a little prepared. And it totally worked, even though we never even got to the new supplies.
As soon as I walked into the girl's room, I asked her all about her birthday (she'd turned 6 on Saturday). She told me all about it in Spanish as I asked her more and more questions in English (which she can more or less totally understand). Then, after she'd finished telling me about it, I said: "Guess what!? Now that you're SIX years old and such a BIG girl, you get to start speaking in English! You're finally big enough to be able to speak English - it's a really big responsibility - but you're so smart and good at it, I know you'll be great!"
She stared at me with wide eyes, totally entranced by what I was saying. I kept repeating it in different ways to let her have time to figure out the gist of what I was saying and fully digest it. And then all at once she said, "Yes! Okay!"
O_O
WHAT!?
All I needed this whole time was to burst through the door totally animated and excited and build up her tiny kid ego and she would have done whatever I wanted this whole time!? >_< Ohhhh man.
Better to learn all this stuff later than never, I guess! ;) Hence, "Student Teaching." Rawr.
We proceeded to study the months of the year and go over what important thing happened in every month and memorize and practice the order of the months. This girl is actually really cute when she starts to understand something, because she gets so excited and the biggest, proudest smile ever! :oD
Things went well with the boy, as we discussed all sorts of animals and food, and we both had a generally good time, too. :)
I was feeling so successful and was happy to get home to share my successes with my roomies. :) I showed them the brightly colored, painted wooden letters I'd bought to help with the 1st graders' phonics, and they loved them. They loved them so much that it somehow turned into our entertainment for the whole night. We literally sat/stood around the kitchen bar for two hours spelling things out and trying to find the prettiest color/pattern combinations - first names, then English words, then Spanish words, then made up words. HA! A few of us had a beer and just kept working on it, so focused, and giggling all the while.
It was like my dream night at home, all of us huddled together, working on building pretty colored words. :oD I ADORE having fun, nerdy friends. It's like a FOR REAL dream come true!!! ^_^
XOXO
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Days 69-70: Immaturity FTW
Saturday was my 10 hour class marathon. :) Although I did not learn much (I think at some points I knew more about Linguistics than the teacher herself did), I did have a good time. The teacher was a really funny lady from England who said "Bloody!" a lot and made us giggle a ton while she cussed and gave her true opinion on everything. She also provided us with PlayDough, which I took full advantage of. ;) At first I made a lovely coiled pencil holder, but as class wore on and we approached hour 13 within a 24 hour time period, I started making a clay stripper and a clay cupcake. Hahaha.
The highlight of the class was certainly when we learned about Jolly Phonics (how to teach sounds to 3-6 year old beginning readers) and we had to spell a word using the appointed gestures and sounds while picking from the first list of six sounds. Everyone else did "pin" or "tip," etc. - but not my group. My group was myself and two guys, who didn't seem very interested in it all. When the teacher called on us to stand up and do our word, I told the guys to just follow me. I then did the gestures and sounds and spelled out:
T - I - T - S
HAHAHAHA. The class sounded it out with us and then all at once began giggling. This is why I'm awesome. Think out of the box, people. Fifteen hours of class is far too long to hold it together and be just another mature, boring person. Rawr.
We then had to do a story using one sound. I felt like I was on a roll and wasn't just about to stop. Thus my story: Sexy strippers swung sweetly and swindled senile seniors. The boys in my group thought it was brilliant. The one girl in my group was too embarrassed by it and made us change the whole thing to "Silent snakes slithering." UGH. Come ON. I think I left this weekend's session with everyone thinking I'm the crayfish of the class - but at least I kept myself entertained for 15 hours while hearing about stuff I'd learned the first day of my Intro to Linguistics class five years ago.
This must be why some of my students like me. Look at the types of teachers they could have gotten stuck with!! >_< I'm the first person to tell them the truth and be funny. The other day the 16 year olds were telling me about their weekend and they all said they "played with their friends." By the fifth person saying this, I had to stop the class and inform them that this did not sound appropriate and they needed to be introduced to the lovely phrasal verb "to hang out with" FOR REAL. They all giggled and learned that verb quickly. ;)
Anyway, after class I met up with Abby and Kaitlyn at a cute little tapas bar and we drank buckets of beer and ate yummy food (I'm obsessed with salmon tostas - OMG!!!). Abby ordered the "bruchetta de chuches" which we thought would translate to "candy bruchetta," but instead she got a styrofoam cup full of random candy. HAHAHA. And so she had no choice but to eat her cup 'o candy with her beer. ;)
When we got home, everybody was getting all dressed up to go out. Abby and I stayed around for a bit, pregaming and giggling over a covert mission of breaking a certain seal on our bottle and talking about life. Finally, we got to the bar.
Going out with my roomies is the best! We go bar to club, drinking and talking and giggling. Last night it was Abby, Katie, Mariana and me! Mariana, our newish roomie from Italy who is gorgeous and so sweet, spoke to me in Italian for half the night, helping me practice! ^_^ Yay!
Sunday was the only day this week to sleep in, so I took full advantage of it and spent the rest of the day being a lazy bum on Pinterest and hanging on the couch with roomies and eating here and there. :) YAY for lazy days!!! The night finished wonderfully with the Abby Chelsea Roomie Date with our hookah and SNL. Let me just say, Rihanna's new song, "Stay" is gorgeous!!
XOXO
The highlight of the class was certainly when we learned about Jolly Phonics (how to teach sounds to 3-6 year old beginning readers) and we had to spell a word using the appointed gestures and sounds while picking from the first list of six sounds. Everyone else did "pin" or "tip," etc. - but not my group. My group was myself and two guys, who didn't seem very interested in it all. When the teacher called on us to stand up and do our word, I told the guys to just follow me. I then did the gestures and sounds and spelled out:
T - I - T - S
HAHAHAHA. The class sounded it out with us and then all at once began giggling. This is why I'm awesome. Think out of the box, people. Fifteen hours of class is far too long to hold it together and be just another mature, boring person. Rawr.
We then had to do a story using one sound. I felt like I was on a roll and wasn't just about to stop. Thus my story: Sexy strippers swung sweetly and swindled senile seniors. The boys in my group thought it was brilliant. The one girl in my group was too embarrassed by it and made us change the whole thing to "Silent snakes slithering." UGH. Come ON. I think I left this weekend's session with everyone thinking I'm the crayfish of the class - but at least I kept myself entertained for 15 hours while hearing about stuff I'd learned the first day of my Intro to Linguistics class five years ago.
This must be why some of my students like me. Look at the types of teachers they could have gotten stuck with!! >_< I'm the first person to tell them the truth and be funny. The other day the 16 year olds were telling me about their weekend and they all said they "played with their friends." By the fifth person saying this, I had to stop the class and inform them that this did not sound appropriate and they needed to be introduced to the lovely phrasal verb "to hang out with" FOR REAL. They all giggled and learned that verb quickly. ;)
Anyway, after class I met up with Abby and Kaitlyn at a cute little tapas bar and we drank buckets of beer and ate yummy food (I'm obsessed with salmon tostas - OMG!!!). Abby ordered the "bruchetta de chuches" which we thought would translate to "candy bruchetta," but instead she got a styrofoam cup full of random candy. HAHAHA. And so she had no choice but to eat her cup 'o candy with her beer. ;)
When we got home, everybody was getting all dressed up to go out. Abby and I stayed around for a bit, pregaming and giggling over a covert mission of breaking a certain seal on our bottle and talking about life. Finally, we got to the bar.
Going out with my roomies is the best! We go bar to club, drinking and talking and giggling. Last night it was Abby, Katie, Mariana and me! Mariana, our newish roomie from Italy who is gorgeous and so sweet, spoke to me in Italian for half the night, helping me practice! ^_^ Yay!
Sunday was the only day this week to sleep in, so I took full advantage of it and spent the rest of the day being a lazy bum on Pinterest and hanging on the couch with roomies and eating here and there. :) YAY for lazy days!!! The night finished wonderfully with the Abby Chelsea Roomie Date with our hookah and SNL. Let me just say, Rihanna's new song, "Stay" is gorgeous!!
XOXO
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Day 68: Jet-set Fairytale
I was writing an email today when it hit me: I feel like I will have countless opportunities to see the people I love, but a
girl only gets so many opportunities in which she finds herself in Europe for two weeks, free to explore and go on adventures!! :) Why am I sitting here feeling bummed about nobody coming to visit me and not going home for Christmas Break when I should be jumping up and down at the fact that something so incredibly amazing has fallen into my lap - something that I could have only dreamed of just months ago.
I've been pinning things on Pinterest about not waiting for your dreams to come true but to take action to make them come true now. I've been blogging about how I want to take control of the things I can and make my life wonderful. And so I decided to take my own advice and do something daring: use my 17 days off and to myself to travel Europe.
Yeah, I had toyed around with the idea of going to London for a few days over break if I could find a cheap enough ticket, but why stop there? There's a Pinterest quote I came across that says: "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."
So I did.
As soon as I got back from Linguistics class I began my research and in the end found five flights between Madrid, London, Dublin, Brussels and Amsterdam for a total of 220 euro. Factor in the fact I set up a CouchSurfing account today and that hostels are very cheap, and it's on!
Yeah. That's right. I'm going to travel to four countries over Winter Break and explore the shit out of them like the little wanderlust, jetset, sanguine girl I am. ^_^ I swear this will be one of those things I look back on and say to myself, "OMG - You did that? You are SO awesome. I love being you!" It's been a little while since I did something so epic that it even impressed myself, and boy will this be epic. Mak'n my dreams come true - oh yeah! ;)
And so commences Operation: She lives life in her own fairytale. <3
XOXO
I've been pinning things on Pinterest about not waiting for your dreams to come true but to take action to make them come true now. I've been blogging about how I want to take control of the things I can and make my life wonderful. And so I decided to take my own advice and do something daring: use my 17 days off and to myself to travel Europe.
Yeah, I had toyed around with the idea of going to London for a few days over break if I could find a cheap enough ticket, but why stop there? There's a Pinterest quote I came across that says: "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."
So I did.
As soon as I got back from Linguistics class I began my research and in the end found five flights between Madrid, London, Dublin, Brussels and Amsterdam for a total of 220 euro. Factor in the fact I set up a CouchSurfing account today and that hostels are very cheap, and it's on!
Yeah. That's right. I'm going to travel to four countries over Winter Break and explore the shit out of them like the little wanderlust, jetset, sanguine girl I am. ^_^ I swear this will be one of those things I look back on and say to myself, "OMG - You did that? You are SO awesome. I love being you!" It's been a little while since I did something so epic that it even impressed myself, and boy will this be epic. Mak'n my dreams come true - oh yeah! ;)
And so commences Operation: She lives life in her own fairytale. <3
XOXO
Friday, November 9, 2012
Day 67: Skype'n J
I was kinda nervous to Skype J after her big bomb last weekend (kinda nervous may be an understatement... I may or may not have drank two full wine classes of vermouth and then bought wine to top it off... oops), but she'd txted me for a Skype date, and who am I to turn that down!?
The initial awkwardness lasted all of five minutes before we were back to our normal, giggly, sarcastic, adorable selves. :) I was relieved she'd somehow transformed into a new human being, but I quickly realized I was being pretty ridiculous. We did finally reach a point in the conversation, though, in which it was finally stated she wouldn't be coming to visit me in December.
I'd known this all along. Honestly, I'd known this before either of us even boarded our planes the last day we saw each other. I'd held on to a fun-size candy bar amount of hope, but deep down felt like it wasn't the right thing to happen right now. The feeling was mutual. I think we were both a little sad, but both a little relieved in some inexplicable way.
The truth is, this is just the way we fit together: we're together for awhile, and then we diverge paths to go do our own thing for awhile. Each and every time this happens I worry I'll never ever see her again or she'll fall out of my life for forever and we'll become people neither of us can even recognize anymore. When ranking my fears in life and how much time they take from me daily, this is without a doubt - and by a staggering margin - Fear #1.
But it's time to examine the facts and realize that we've been doing this ever since we met four and a half years ago. We've been in other relationships, we've been an ocean apart, we've even gone three months without speaking, but time has shown that no matter what happens, we'll always be of paramount importance to the other one and no relationship, ocean or amount of time can really change that. <3
I'm really great at visualizations and changing my perspective, etc. I think that's the one I need to work on next. It's been Fear #1 for FOUR and a HALF YEARS and it's completely and utterly unwarranted and has so been EMPIRICALLY proven over and over and over. Two lines from The Little Prince are important here: "It is the time that you have spent on your rose that makes your rose so important." "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose."
The Little Prince has been my favorite book ever since I first read it in French at 15. I couldn't exactly explain why - I just knew I absolutely adored it. But the other day I was thinking about it when I realized it: the story of The Little Prince is the story of my life! Let's be honest, his rose is a bit of a selfish priss, and he gets sick of it and says, "Hey, eff this, I'm going to go travel to as many places I can in order to find out who I truly am and to figure out what to do with my life." The whole time he misses his rose, but he learns lessons and grows in ways he never would have had be just stayed on his asteroid alone with his rose.
And so I am the Little Prince, only I intend to be much more optimistic about my journey and find places and people I adore and grow into the girl I've always dreamed of being. But like the Little Prince, my rose will always be of utmost importance and my journey to explore and find myself will not last forever, either. <3
XOXO
The initial awkwardness lasted all of five minutes before we were back to our normal, giggly, sarcastic, adorable selves. :) I was relieved she'd somehow transformed into a new human being, but I quickly realized I was being pretty ridiculous. We did finally reach a point in the conversation, though, in which it was finally stated she wouldn't be coming to visit me in December.
I'd known this all along. Honestly, I'd known this before either of us even boarded our planes the last day we saw each other. I'd held on to a fun-size candy bar amount of hope, but deep down felt like it wasn't the right thing to happen right now. The feeling was mutual. I think we were both a little sad, but both a little relieved in some inexplicable way.
The truth is, this is just the way we fit together: we're together for awhile, and then we diverge paths to go do our own thing for awhile. Each and every time this happens I worry I'll never ever see her again or she'll fall out of my life for forever and we'll become people neither of us can even recognize anymore. When ranking my fears in life and how much time they take from me daily, this is without a doubt - and by a staggering margin - Fear #1.
But it's time to examine the facts and realize that we've been doing this ever since we met four and a half years ago. We've been in other relationships, we've been an ocean apart, we've even gone three months without speaking, but time has shown that no matter what happens, we'll always be of paramount importance to the other one and no relationship, ocean or amount of time can really change that. <3
I'm really great at visualizations and changing my perspective, etc. I think that's the one I need to work on next. It's been Fear #1 for FOUR and a HALF YEARS and it's completely and utterly unwarranted and has so been EMPIRICALLY proven over and over and over. Two lines from The Little Prince are important here: "It is the time that you have spent on your rose that makes your rose so important." "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose."
The Little Prince has been my favorite book ever since I first read it in French at 15. I couldn't exactly explain why - I just knew I absolutely adored it. But the other day I was thinking about it when I realized it: the story of The Little Prince is the story of my life! Let's be honest, his rose is a bit of a selfish priss, and he gets sick of it and says, "Hey, eff this, I'm going to go travel to as many places I can in order to find out who I truly am and to figure out what to do with my life." The whole time he misses his rose, but he learns lessons and grows in ways he never would have had be just stayed on his asteroid alone with his rose.
And so I am the Little Prince, only I intend to be much more optimistic about my journey and find places and people I adore and grow into the girl I've always dreamed of being. But like the Little Prince, my rose will always be of utmost importance and my journey to explore and find myself will not last forever, either. <3
XOXO
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Day 66: Election Results
I woke up four times in the middle of the night to check my Fox News Election Updates on my phone. By 5:30 am, I had read the results. In my disappointment and half-asleep state, I began to freak out and couldn't get back to bed for a bit. >_< Rawr.
Upon arriving at the bus stop, one of the third graders from my impromptu election class ran up to me (nobody EVER talks to me in the morning. I usually arrive late and keep my distance because it's just too gosh darn early for professional human interaction in a foreign language gosh darn it). "Chelsea! Obama won! That means that he'll be president for EIGHT years." She smiled, excited and proud of herself. Although the last thing I wanted to hear about that early in the morning was the results of the elections, the fact that that girl had taken it upon herself to find out the results and knew what they meant made me feel a little warm and squishy inside. :) Just then, her mom came up to me and said, "Oh yes, she was very excited about it after having learned all about the elections in your class yesterday! She woke up and wanted to know what happened and told me all about it! It's just amazing how much English she can understand and how much she learns!"
The warm and squishy feeling grew exponentially.
ME? Making an impact? As a teacher?
Awesome possum, style, yo!
Who woulda guessed!? And here I thought I was sorta just wasting everyone's time with English ramblings and pointless coloring sheets. Perhaps not!?
When I arrived at school all the teachers felt the need to tell me Obama won, as well, clearly expecting my response to be positive, and looking really confused when it wasn't. One teacher (the one I seriously dislike) said, "Thank God for Spain that this was the outcome. Imagine what could have happened to Spain if the other guy got elected! Now Spain had a chance!"
O_o
Uh... hello??? If who the president of America affects you guys in Spain at all, then let's look at how well your country has done in the past four years... when they fell into a serious and awful economic crisis. You're happy that the president we've had through all of that is going to remain president? There isnt' even an ounce of logic in any of that. That same guy had told me the day before that the president of America strongly influenced Spain because when America went to war, Spain supported the US and it was totally stupid. I wanted so badly to point out the numbers of troops that have died under each presidency and tell him that the news in Spain is so biased that he has no chance of having even a remote idea of what he's talking about and is really making himself look like the idiot he is. But instead I just stared at him blankly, which, in the end, I think bothered him more.
Anyway, the day continued on and happily it was my day of only three classes (with my two favorite teachers who aren't stupid enough to talk about politics with me). When I got to the last class of the day - my absolute FAVORITE class in the whole school comprised of 23 adorable and intelligent and well behaved first graders with the best teacher in the school (and perhaps all of Spain), I was ready for them to understand nothing I had to say about the elections. After all, the first graders in Idiot's class didn't even know what a president was... so maybe this was just a little to advanced for them.
But of course, it wasn't. The AMAZING teacher helped me to explain it all and before long every six year old was all about it! She held a mock election in the classroom to vote on a class president for the day, she pulled up pictures of Romney and Obama on Google for them to all see, she wrote cute campaign slogans on the black board for them to write on their buttons, she made them giggle, she told them to make sure Obama was brown, beacause that's just what color he is, etc. It was beyond adorable how into it they all were. :oD
Then the teacher went to another class and came back with a sash. She then told me how a girl from the third grade class from yesterday had taken her voting button worksheet home, finished all the buttons, cut them out, and taped them on a scarf that she tied into a sash. She cut out the reasons she would be a good president and hid them in the pockets of the taped buttons so she could pull them out and tell everyone why she was the best choice. She wore it all day at school and called herself "Sofia Obama." :o) AWESOME!
I swear before today I had no idea anybody was listening to anything I said, or that I was even teaching anything valuable that anyone would remember. But those two third graders today and those first graders being so excited about it... well... today changed my mind. Maybe I don't totally suck at this? Huh...
After school I had my private classes I detest so much. Okay - to be fair the boy is actually getting a lot better and impresses me daily... like today he could tell me all the parts of a fish, a mamal and an amphibian, plus about 30 different creatures' names!! But the girl... UGH!! Today I ripped up her birthday crown and threw it away because she was p*ssing me off so badly. It got her attention, but she still pretended not to give a crap. UGHHHH.
I then boarded the bus home, but at some point during the ride, decided "Why go home and play on the internet all night when you are thirty minutes away from one of the most amazing cities in Europe?!" I think I owe the credit for this epiphany to a pin I pinned on Pinterest today saying something like, "Live your life - don't waste it in front of a screen." Lol.
Anyway, I walked around, bought a confetti sweater I had wanted that went on sale, visited a friend and set up a time to see him next Tuesday before tango, got my delicious pizza and decided instead of taking the train from Sol to Atocha to home, I would continue my exploration of the Letters' District and find my way back to Atocha and then board the train. Brilliant idea! ^_^ The neighborhood is just so beautiful and I found quaint bars, cafes, clubs, restaurants, buildings, fountains, shops and hookah lounges on every street! I can't wait to go back when I have more time, when things are open and I have my camera!! ^_^
XOXO
Upon arriving at the bus stop, one of the third graders from my impromptu election class ran up to me (nobody EVER talks to me in the morning. I usually arrive late and keep my distance because it's just too gosh darn early for professional human interaction in a foreign language gosh darn it). "Chelsea! Obama won! That means that he'll be president for EIGHT years." She smiled, excited and proud of herself. Although the last thing I wanted to hear about that early in the morning was the results of the elections, the fact that that girl had taken it upon herself to find out the results and knew what they meant made me feel a little warm and squishy inside. :) Just then, her mom came up to me and said, "Oh yes, she was very excited about it after having learned all about the elections in your class yesterday! She woke up and wanted to know what happened and told me all about it! It's just amazing how much English she can understand and how much she learns!"
The warm and squishy feeling grew exponentially.
ME? Making an impact? As a teacher?
Awesome possum, style, yo!
Who woulda guessed!? And here I thought I was sorta just wasting everyone's time with English ramblings and pointless coloring sheets. Perhaps not!?
When I arrived at school all the teachers felt the need to tell me Obama won, as well, clearly expecting my response to be positive, and looking really confused when it wasn't. One teacher (the one I seriously dislike) said, "Thank God for Spain that this was the outcome. Imagine what could have happened to Spain if the other guy got elected! Now Spain had a chance!"
O_o
Uh... hello??? If who the president of America affects you guys in Spain at all, then let's look at how well your country has done in the past four years... when they fell into a serious and awful economic crisis. You're happy that the president we've had through all of that is going to remain president? There isnt' even an ounce of logic in any of that. That same guy had told me the day before that the president of America strongly influenced Spain because when America went to war, Spain supported the US and it was totally stupid. I wanted so badly to point out the numbers of troops that have died under each presidency and tell him that the news in Spain is so biased that he has no chance of having even a remote idea of what he's talking about and is really making himself look like the idiot he is. But instead I just stared at him blankly, which, in the end, I think bothered him more.
Anyway, the day continued on and happily it was my day of only three classes (with my two favorite teachers who aren't stupid enough to talk about politics with me). When I got to the last class of the day - my absolute FAVORITE class in the whole school comprised of 23 adorable and intelligent and well behaved first graders with the best teacher in the school (and perhaps all of Spain), I was ready for them to understand nothing I had to say about the elections. After all, the first graders in Idiot's class didn't even know what a president was... so maybe this was just a little to advanced for them.
But of course, it wasn't. The AMAZING teacher helped me to explain it all and before long every six year old was all about it! She held a mock election in the classroom to vote on a class president for the day, she pulled up pictures of Romney and Obama on Google for them to all see, she wrote cute campaign slogans on the black board for them to write on their buttons, she made them giggle, she told them to make sure Obama was brown, beacause that's just what color he is, etc. It was beyond adorable how into it they all were. :oD
Then the teacher went to another class and came back with a sash. She then told me how a girl from the third grade class from yesterday had taken her voting button worksheet home, finished all the buttons, cut them out, and taped them on a scarf that she tied into a sash. She cut out the reasons she would be a good president and hid them in the pockets of the taped buttons so she could pull them out and tell everyone why she was the best choice. She wore it all day at school and called herself "Sofia Obama." :o) AWESOME!
I swear before today I had no idea anybody was listening to anything I said, or that I was even teaching anything valuable that anyone would remember. But those two third graders today and those first graders being so excited about it... well... today changed my mind. Maybe I don't totally suck at this? Huh...
After school I had my private classes I detest so much. Okay - to be fair the boy is actually getting a lot better and impresses me daily... like today he could tell me all the parts of a fish, a mamal and an amphibian, plus about 30 different creatures' names!! But the girl... UGH!! Today I ripped up her birthday crown and threw it away because she was p*ssing me off so badly. It got her attention, but she still pretended not to give a crap. UGHHHH.
I then boarded the bus home, but at some point during the ride, decided "Why go home and play on the internet all night when you are thirty minutes away from one of the most amazing cities in Europe?!" I think I owe the credit for this epiphany to a pin I pinned on Pinterest today saying something like, "Live your life - don't waste it in front of a screen." Lol.
Anyway, I walked around, bought a confetti sweater I had wanted that went on sale, visited a friend and set up a time to see him next Tuesday before tango, got my delicious pizza and decided instead of taking the train from Sol to Atocha to home, I would continue my exploration of the Letters' District and find my way back to Atocha and then board the train. Brilliant idea! ^_^ The neighborhood is just so beautiful and I found quaint bars, cafes, clubs, restaurants, buildings, fountains, shops and hookah lounges on every street! I can't wait to go back when I have more time, when things are open and I have my camera!! ^_^
XOXO
Day 65: Election Day
I looked at the clock. I had ten minutes before class started and I had nothing prepared. Nothing. I logged onto education.com - my worksheet savior site - and saw the banner promoting "Election Day Printables!"
"Hmm..." I thought. "It IS election day, and I AM these kids' only connection to America and American current events. Why not!?"
I looked through the pages and found one where the kids could color their own "Vote for Me!" buttons and create slogans and draw pictures, etc. I rushed down to the copy machine and rushed to the classroom. I didn't really know what I'd say about it all, but I figured it would come to me.
And it did.
I went over what a president was, who the two candidates were, what an election was, how often elections take place in America, how long a person can be a president for, etc. The kids were actually really into it all and a lot of them knew all about Obama. A few separate students even informed me, "Obama is BLACK, but he lives in a WHITE house!" Hahahaha. Awesome.
A few also informed me that: "NOBODY likes Romney. Obama is going to win." o_O Just smiling at them and says, "Oh?" was pretty much the trickiest thing I had to do all day. Anyway, before designing their campaign buttons, I had them write the top three things they'd do if they were president.
The most epic (strange/dumb) ones:
- I would close all women's accessory and boutique stores. ( o_O wtf?! )
- I would only let people eat veggies! Yum! ( eww )
- I would cancel school on Mondays and Tuesdays, but people would have to go to school on Saturdays and Sundays. ( uh...?? )
- I would give everyone free phones. ( haha - at this one I informed the boy that actually in America, the government did give you a free phone if you were poor. He thought this was the coolest thing he'd ever heard of and declared he would move to America. I tried to explain it was actually not a good thing, because that meant other people who worked had to pay for them... but he cared about as much as any grown up Liberal would upon hearing my explanation!)
For first grade, I knew they wouldn't really understand what I was talking about, so I gave them a two-sided coloring sheet. On the back was a picture of Romney and Obama to color in. It was way amusing to see the kids coloring Obama a peachy/pink color. :)
None of the kids said they'd ever heard of Obama, and yet somehow four of the 21 students actually colored him brown and black. I was impressed, and amused. :) There was an American flag on that sheet, too, and a surprising number of kids colored it correctly with the colors red and blue, and that made me a little proud, admittedly. ;)
After school, it was off to Nacho's and then Madrid. While changing trains in Sol, I heard someone yelling my name. o_O Turned out it was one of my fellow teachers at school! We rode the train together and he took me on a circuitous route through the Letters District in order to show me a new pizza restaurant. :) I was grateful for a native guide for a change and thanked him. The pizza was definitely artisan and gourmet, but the cheese was too strong for me and the lettuce on it was too bitter. Meh.
Tango Tuesday was thus upon us. The first four dances I had to do with the one guy in the class who ROYALLY SUCKS. I had SO been hoping that he wouldn't sign up again for this month's block of classes, but unfortunately he was there with bells on and I got the short stick. This guy is just awful. Ridiculously awful. We've had FIVE tango classes. At least know your basic, dude. We only go over ONE step per class. That equals FIVE steps. And you can't even do one of them correctly? Why are you returning??? >_<
The teacher yelled "SWITCH!" again and everyone ran to another guy and I got stuck with that same idiot for the fifth time. And so I did the rational thing. I refused to dance with him again. I told the teacher I had danced with him for four songs and I wouldn't continue with the same partner. She had another girl switch with me and I never danced with him again the rest of the night. I had tried being friendly to him, but I'm paying for these classes and to actually learn the dance, not to have my toes stepped on and some guy trip over me constantly. UGH.
I did get to dance with a new guy - a crazy Irish man. I don't know WHO taught this guy "tango," but he was nutty. Nutty, but fun. Haha. It was a serious challenge to try to follow this dude, but it certainly kept me on my toes. It was a nice change of pace to be able to speak English during tango class for a few minutes, too. :) Anyway, not only did this guy dance like a crazy person, but he spoke Spanish like a crazy person, too!! I literally could not understand him - not because his Spanish grammar was off, but because his accent was just so horrible it was incomprehensible!!! Gave me a boost of linguistic confidence!!!
XOXO
"Hmm..." I thought. "It IS election day, and I AM these kids' only connection to America and American current events. Why not!?"
I looked through the pages and found one where the kids could color their own "Vote for Me!" buttons and create slogans and draw pictures, etc. I rushed down to the copy machine and rushed to the classroom. I didn't really know what I'd say about it all, but I figured it would come to me.
And it did.
I went over what a president was, who the two candidates were, what an election was, how often elections take place in America, how long a person can be a president for, etc. The kids were actually really into it all and a lot of them knew all about Obama. A few separate students even informed me, "Obama is BLACK, but he lives in a WHITE house!" Hahahaha. Awesome.
A few also informed me that: "NOBODY likes Romney. Obama is going to win." o_O Just smiling at them and says, "Oh?" was pretty much the trickiest thing I had to do all day. Anyway, before designing their campaign buttons, I had them write the top three things they'd do if they were president.
The most epic (strange/dumb) ones:
- I would close all women's accessory and boutique stores. ( o_O wtf?! )
- I would only let people eat veggies! Yum! ( eww )
- I would cancel school on Mondays and Tuesdays, but people would have to go to school on Saturdays and Sundays. ( uh...?? )
- I would give everyone free phones. ( haha - at this one I informed the boy that actually in America, the government did give you a free phone if you were poor. He thought this was the coolest thing he'd ever heard of and declared he would move to America. I tried to explain it was actually not a good thing, because that meant other people who worked had to pay for them... but he cared about as much as any grown up Liberal would upon hearing my explanation!)
For first grade, I knew they wouldn't really understand what I was talking about, so I gave them a two-sided coloring sheet. On the back was a picture of Romney and Obama to color in. It was way amusing to see the kids coloring Obama a peachy/pink color. :)
None of the kids said they'd ever heard of Obama, and yet somehow four of the 21 students actually colored him brown and black. I was impressed, and amused. :) There was an American flag on that sheet, too, and a surprising number of kids colored it correctly with the colors red and blue, and that made me a little proud, admittedly. ;)
After school, it was off to Nacho's and then Madrid. While changing trains in Sol, I heard someone yelling my name. o_O Turned out it was one of my fellow teachers at school! We rode the train together and he took me on a circuitous route through the Letters District in order to show me a new pizza restaurant. :) I was grateful for a native guide for a change and thanked him. The pizza was definitely artisan and gourmet, but the cheese was too strong for me and the lettuce on it was too bitter. Meh.
Tango Tuesday was thus upon us. The first four dances I had to do with the one guy in the class who ROYALLY SUCKS. I had SO been hoping that he wouldn't sign up again for this month's block of classes, but unfortunately he was there with bells on and I got the short stick. This guy is just awful. Ridiculously awful. We've had FIVE tango classes. At least know your basic, dude. We only go over ONE step per class. That equals FIVE steps. And you can't even do one of them correctly? Why are you returning??? >_<
The teacher yelled "SWITCH!" again and everyone ran to another guy and I got stuck with that same idiot for the fifth time. And so I did the rational thing. I refused to dance with him again. I told the teacher I had danced with him for four songs and I wouldn't continue with the same partner. She had another girl switch with me and I never danced with him again the rest of the night. I had tried being friendly to him, but I'm paying for these classes and to actually learn the dance, not to have my toes stepped on and some guy trip over me constantly. UGH.
I did get to dance with a new guy - a crazy Irish man. I don't know WHO taught this guy "tango," but he was nutty. Nutty, but fun. Haha. It was a serious challenge to try to follow this dude, but it certainly kept me on my toes. It was a nice change of pace to be able to speak English during tango class for a few minutes, too. :) Anyway, not only did this guy dance like a crazy person, but he spoke Spanish like a crazy person, too!! I literally could not understand him - not because his Spanish grammar was off, but because his accent was just so horrible it was incomprehensible!!! Gave me a boost of linguistic confidence!!!
XOXO
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Day 64: Life Catalog & Abby Returns!
Today was the first day back. The Monday after a four day weekend. Woohoo! ;) Not really...
I was so bored in the many classes in which I just sit there and the teacher lets the children do whatever that I decided to do something that I had wanted to do since high school. At one point in "The Secret," one of the speakers suggests looking at life as though it were a catalog and deciding for yourself which experiences, etc. you would like to order from the Catalog of Life. I'd always wanted to make a physical copy of such a catauloge, but had never thought about doing it when I'd had the creative juices flowing.
Today, however, it finally happened. I created a mini rough draft of the catalog and included: Talents, Places, Jobs, People, Experiences, Personal Qualities and Things. I wrote out my top three for each catergory and wrote a little blurb on them. Pictures will be drawn tomorrow. ;) It was a really fun little project - seeing the top three things I want in life from each aspect. The idea is to pick crazy ones that you can't even necesarily imagine happening, and write those ones down. Perhaps when I come up with my final copy I'll publish it here on my blog. :)
I also want to make a version from the past - like a catalog of things I've already ordered and had delivered. After living and hanging out with my roomies and telling them stories, I'm beginning to see just how interesting my life really has been up to this point! o_O Who knew?! I don't think I did... Sheesh!
Anyway, I'm thinking of turning this into an assignment for my high schoolers. Have them take a few classes to plan out their lists, create their catalogues on the computer, print them out, bind them, write solid blurbs and find images, and then do a presentation on it. I think it'd be really fun for them - if not now, as something to look back on - and a good way to connect English to their lives and futures. :) We'll see!
Getting home after school today was the best - not just because it was Monday, but because ABBY WAS HOME!!! ^_^ Oh how I've missed her! We told each other ALL about our weekends and gave each other a huge hug. :) She brought us some good hookah stuff from Granada and we had the brilliant idea to do hookah while watch Saturday Night Live. Two minutes into the intro and we were giggling uncontrolably and high fiving. :) I ADORE Abby!!! Best roomie friend ever. ^_^
Tomorrow is the election and I'm getting a bit nervous about it. Almost wish (again) that it wasn't Tango Tuesday, but alas, it's my favorite day of the week and results probably won't even be near in by then anyway. Some of us here are thinking about pulling an all nighter to watch the coverage!! EEK!
XOXO
I was so bored in the many classes in which I just sit there and the teacher lets the children do whatever that I decided to do something that I had wanted to do since high school. At one point in "The Secret," one of the speakers suggests looking at life as though it were a catalog and deciding for yourself which experiences, etc. you would like to order from the Catalog of Life. I'd always wanted to make a physical copy of such a catauloge, but had never thought about doing it when I'd had the creative juices flowing.
Today, however, it finally happened. I created a mini rough draft of the catalog and included: Talents, Places, Jobs, People, Experiences, Personal Qualities and Things. I wrote out my top three for each catergory and wrote a little blurb on them. Pictures will be drawn tomorrow. ;) It was a really fun little project - seeing the top three things I want in life from each aspect. The idea is to pick crazy ones that you can't even necesarily imagine happening, and write those ones down. Perhaps when I come up with my final copy I'll publish it here on my blog. :)
I also want to make a version from the past - like a catalog of things I've already ordered and had delivered. After living and hanging out with my roomies and telling them stories, I'm beginning to see just how interesting my life really has been up to this point! o_O Who knew?! I don't think I did... Sheesh!
Anyway, I'm thinking of turning this into an assignment for my high schoolers. Have them take a few classes to plan out their lists, create their catalogues on the computer, print them out, bind them, write solid blurbs and find images, and then do a presentation on it. I think it'd be really fun for them - if not now, as something to look back on - and a good way to connect English to their lives and futures. :) We'll see!
Getting home after school today was the best - not just because it was Monday, but because ABBY WAS HOME!!! ^_^ Oh how I've missed her! We told each other ALL about our weekends and gave each other a huge hug. :) She brought us some good hookah stuff from Granada and we had the brilliant idea to do hookah while watch Saturday Night Live. Two minutes into the intro and we were giggling uncontrolably and high fiving. :) I ADORE Abby!!! Best roomie friend ever. ^_^
Tomorrow is the election and I'm getting a bit nervous about it. Almost wish (again) that it wasn't Tango Tuesday, but alas, it's my favorite day of the week and results probably won't even be near in by then anyway. Some of us here are thinking about pulling an all nighter to watch the coverage!! EEK!
XOXO
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)