This weekend is going to be fun because I'm organizing a halloween party for the volunteers and the Honduran teachers at school. Brie sent me an e-mail with some costume ideas and I decided to go as a gypsy/fortune teller. I think it's fun but simple enough to pull off in Honduras. I plan on going shopping with Lacey tomorrow to get a skirt, shirt, and some awesome jewelry! I'll be sure to update the blog on Sunday and post some pictures of the party.
So many funny things have been going on at school:
A few days ago I brought a ham and cheese sandwich to eat for lunch. My aid was taken that day to help out in third grade so I couldn't leave my classroom to put it in the refrigerator. I quickly scanned the room to see who would know enough English to go and put it away for me. I asked a little boy who I was pretty confident would understand my directions. He said he understood and headed towards the teachers lounge with my lunch in hand. He returned to the classroom five minutes later and walked in with my lunch still in hand. I thought "Dang! He didn't understand. Let's see who else I could ask"...but as these thoughts are going through my mind he hands me my tupperware container, that is now scolding hot. I immediately asked if he put it in the microwave and he just said "I could not find it". As I drew a picture of a microwave on the board and acted out putting the container inside, he shook his head yes, and confirmed that he had indeed heated up my cold sandwich. Since I was really looking forward to that sandwich, I decided to have another student put it away for me. When I ate it for lunch I just pretended it was a toasted sub from subway that I couldn't finish and had to put in the fridge.
Yesterday a dog got into the school as they often do, but I was walking my students down to an empty room to practice our letter sounds when they saw it. They all started saying "dog, dog, a dog Miss King". I confirmed that yes it was a dog and made sure none of them tried to touch it. You never know what kind of condition a Honduran dog may be in. It just cracks me up that those kind of things happen in the middle of my school day. Actually at church last week a dog wondered in and just laid right below the alter for the entire mass. Pretty comical!
The journal entry today was "What would happen if animals could talk?" I encourage all of my students to try and write at least one English word and then draw a picture. Most of the kids today wrote down one of their vocabulary words. This week we are learning the words: jump, skip, skate, hop, spin, walk, run, throw, etc. I saw a lot of jumps and spins in journals this morning. One of my little girls though came up to me and had these letters written on her paper: "Glo". I of course read it as "glow" because that is how I recognize it phonetically. When I asked her what the word was she said "Hello". Then I thought "Of course! G in Spanish makes the H sound, so that would be how hello would sound to her." How cool!! My kids are doing inventive spelling in Spanish to create English words. They are still a long way from writing well in English on their own or reading anything, but they're making incredible progress!
Toni Layer, you are a saint and the most wonderful blessing! I wish you could have seen my face when I opened your box. I got it yesterday and I was beaming all last night and all day today. The kids love the folders and they went crazy when they saw the foam shapes and letters. One little girl came up to my desk and said "Oh miss, muy bonita (very beautiful)". I can't wait to use them for an activity in class or for one of their centers. I'm so so so excited to finally be able to put name tags on my desk with the contact paper. It'll help a lot with some of my behavior problems. I was using the scotch tape all day to tape some of the students books who had pages falling out. I can't believe you sent peanut butter and granola bars! I literally screamed out loud when I opened the box and saw those things. Thank you so much for your generosity and thoughtfulness, it means so much!
Incase you were wondering what teachers make:
Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see life with a clearer view again. - Alex Tan
3 comments:
A dog in school!! Remind me to tell you about the dog the tried to come in my classroom window years ago (pre-air conditioning days). LOVED the video! (by the way, because of copyright laws, I couldn't view the previous one...)
Can't wait to see Halloween party pictures!
The sandwich story was cute. It reminded me of the time I sent a student to the office to get a "fax cover sheet" and he came back with a 3-hole punch. When I asked Deb about it later, she said, "well, when he asked for a "paper kutch," I thought maybe he was trying to say paper punch." And he spoke English!! I can't imagine the challenges you're facing with not only their age, but the language difficulties, too!
XOXOXO ~ Karen
It sounds like you are definitely making a difference down there. (I had no doubts).
I bet that sandwich was pretty tasty.
Have a Happy Halloween! Looking forward to the pictures.
I also want to thank everyone for all of their generosity.
People are amazing!
Love Ya Bridge!
Mom
Awwweeeeeeesome video!!!
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