and from one Amanda to another :)...
I hope you had a wonderful day!
"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else"
-- Judy Garland
-- Judy Garland
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Happy Birthday Jo!
Feliz Cumpleaños Amanda, from Primero B...
and from one Amanda to another :)...
I hope you had a wonderful day!
and from one Amanda to another :)...
I hope you had a wonderful day!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Up and Down
These week has been such a roller coaster ride and my emotions have been all over the place. I've had some really great moments and some really bad ones. I'll start with the crazy things that have happened because I like to end things on a good note :)...
My week started off with an awful drawing by one of my little boys. During Science class I saw that he was doodling so I cruised over to his seat to see what was more interesting than my Science lesson -- I was so disturbed by what I saw. This little boy drew a man (who's face was scarred and mauled) holding a dead small child by the neck in one hand and a pistol in the other. He even drew bullets coming out of the gun. At the bottom of the page there were two tomb stones with crosses coming out of both of them. On the crosses he had written the names of two other students in the class. Yikes!! So Wendy went over to question him in Spanish about the drawing. He told her that it was a bad drawing about a demon and that the demon man had just killed his girlfriend. His mom (who works at the school) was then informed and she also talked to him. After she was finished talking with him she told Wendy that he thought it was normal and didn't see anything wrong with the drawing. Ayiyi!
My students witness and hear about so much violence it's insane. They show dead bodies in the newspapers, on the news, and some of my kids have witnessed it first hand. The other day when they were at recess two of my boys lined up 5 or 6 other students and then whipped out their fake guns and shot them all dead. It's so disturbing to see them play like that. It makes me sick to my stomach and my heart ache. Whenever I see them acting out those kinds of things I encourage them to play something else and tell them I don't like seeing it, but the truth is I don't have a lot of control over what they play during their free time.
The worst part of all of this is that I've seen that violence spilling over into my classroom. I have kids viciously hitting one another daily. On Tuesday a little boy in my class wanted to draw in another little boys journal and when the child refused he hit him repeatedly in the face until the other kid was in tears. He was put on red and sent to the office. After he calmed down he was sent back in only to get into a fight with Miss Varela (Wendy). He wanted to get water and when she told him he needed to wait he proceeded to get up and tip his desk and chair over. I'm just speechless when this stuff keeps repeatedly happening. I've had endless conferences with parents and talks with the students but it still continues.
Well today was the straw that broke the camels back. One of my little guys today bit another child so hard that he had an instant, very visible, bruise. Our Honduran directora Flavia called me, Wendy, Rosita, Yohely, and Silvia (our "dean") into her office to discuss the aggression issues with the first grade class. She is very concerned and is calling a meeting with all of the parents next Thursday night. We're going to meet as a group again next Tuesday to discuss how we will address different issues at the meeting. One of the major problems we're having is that parents don't punish their kids at home.
For example -- during my after school tutoring session on Wednesday one of my little boys wanted to use the bathroom. I let him go and 5 minutes later when he still wasn't back in my classroom I knew I needed to go down to the boys bathroom and hurry him along. So I wrote some math problems on the board for the other 7 students in my classroom and ran down to get him. When I got to the bathroom I quickly realized he wasn't there. So I figured he was playing in another classroom or doing something else he shouldn't be. So I start checking nearby classrooms as I'm yelling for him. As I'm making my way back towards my classroom I pop in and ask both Anne and Jackie if they've seen him. When they both say no I start to panic. Jackie could tell I was freaked out so she went into to my classroom to make sure the other kids were doing their work as I continued to search for this kid. Then before I knew it Jackie, Peggy, and Brenda (the other prepa teacher) are all looking for him. After about 10 minutes we still couldn't find him. I just started to well up with tears because the first thing that popped into my mind was that he was kidnapped and it was my fault. By this time his dad is at the school to pick him up. Just as I'm about to go into the office to talk to his dad one of my other kids yells "Here he is Miss King!" OMG--I can't even begin to describe to you the relief I felt when I saw his face, but shortly after I was just furious with him. He had hidden in Rosita's room and heard us calling for him but chose not to come out. When Peggy talked to his dad about it he basically just acted like it was no big deal and they went home. It's just ridiculous! They let a lot of things go and that makes every day in first grade a battle!
But it's a battle worth fighting, because...
José Alberto, who is one of my more challenging students came into my classroom on Tuesday and straightened all of my desks for me. The desks are always sliding across the floor and end up all over the place by the time recess rolls around. Many of the kids see me straightening them multiple times a day so they're starting to know how I like them to be. It was just so sweet of Alberto to come in during his free time to do that for me. That's what I hold onto when he refuses to take his spelling test, punches another student, or just flat out tells me he isn't going to do something.
My kids are speaking more English everyday and it's so exciting! Many of them are activity trying to read English words and during Journal time more students are asking me how to say and write things in English. It's so wonderful to see that kind of progress!
In Science we've been talking about plants and animals. The lesson on Tuesday was all about how animals with flat teeth eat plants and animals with sharp teeth eat other animals. The kids seemed pretty bored with it so I decided to show them the 5 minute clip I have from my safari in Kenya. That way they could see some of the animals we had been talking about. They all sat on the floor in front of me and watched it from my laptop. As soon as the video started their little faces just lit up! They were oohing and aahing and shouting excitedly when they saw an animal they thought was particularly interesting. I was so overwhelmed with joy in that moment. It felt like coming full circle in a small way. It was incredible to me that I was bringing a small piece of Africa to my students in Honduras. What a blessing!
Yesterday we were practicing for the spelling test that I gave the students today. Kimberly who struggles A LOT with her letters and letter sounds came up to the board to spell the word "mow". Usually I have to really emphasize the sound and spell the letter with my finger so she can then copy it with the dry erase marker. Yesterday she seemed to understand what she needed to do so I let her try it on her own. I watched in awe as she wrote "m--o--w". I couldn't believe it! I just looked at her and said "KIMBERLY!!! GOOD JOB! You did such a good job!" and then out of no where the whole class clapped for her. As she walked back to her seat with a smile on her face and her head held high a few girls came over to hug her and give her a pat on the back. Gosh it makes me cry just retelling it. It was a moment I will never forget!
Today the journal question was "How are people and animals alike?" Most of the kids drew pictures of an animal and a person and tried to write the name of the animal they drew to get their sticker for the day, but Alejandra wrote "Weat" and when I asked her what that meant she said "We eat". I was ecstatic. That's the first thing she's written in English in her journal and it made perfect sense. We both eat :)!
Lastly...
Most days some of my girls come into my classroom to give me a small flower or weed, but yesterday they brought me this beautiful little bushel:
I had it on my desk for the rest of the day and it just made me so happy. I live for those little moments!
"Life's not always beautiful but it's a BEAUTIFUL ride"...
My week started off with an awful drawing by one of my little boys. During Science class I saw that he was doodling so I cruised over to his seat to see what was more interesting than my Science lesson -- I was so disturbed by what I saw. This little boy drew a man (who's face was scarred and mauled) holding a dead small child by the neck in one hand and a pistol in the other. He even drew bullets coming out of the gun. At the bottom of the page there were two tomb stones with crosses coming out of both of them. On the crosses he had written the names of two other students in the class. Yikes!! So Wendy went over to question him in Spanish about the drawing. He told her that it was a bad drawing about a demon and that the demon man had just killed his girlfriend. His mom (who works at the school) was then informed and she also talked to him. After she was finished talking with him she told Wendy that he thought it was normal and didn't see anything wrong with the drawing. Ayiyi!
My students witness and hear about so much violence it's insane. They show dead bodies in the newspapers, on the news, and some of my kids have witnessed it first hand. The other day when they were at recess two of my boys lined up 5 or 6 other students and then whipped out their fake guns and shot them all dead. It's so disturbing to see them play like that. It makes me sick to my stomach and my heart ache. Whenever I see them acting out those kinds of things I encourage them to play something else and tell them I don't like seeing it, but the truth is I don't have a lot of control over what they play during their free time.
The worst part of all of this is that I've seen that violence spilling over into my classroom. I have kids viciously hitting one another daily. On Tuesday a little boy in my class wanted to draw in another little boys journal and when the child refused he hit him repeatedly in the face until the other kid was in tears. He was put on red and sent to the office. After he calmed down he was sent back in only to get into a fight with Miss Varela (Wendy). He wanted to get water and when she told him he needed to wait he proceeded to get up and tip his desk and chair over. I'm just speechless when this stuff keeps repeatedly happening. I've had endless conferences with parents and talks with the students but it still continues.
Well today was the straw that broke the camels back. One of my little guys today bit another child so hard that he had an instant, very visible, bruise. Our Honduran directora Flavia called me, Wendy, Rosita, Yohely, and Silvia (our "dean") into her office to discuss the aggression issues with the first grade class. She is very concerned and is calling a meeting with all of the parents next Thursday night. We're going to meet as a group again next Tuesday to discuss how we will address different issues at the meeting. One of the major problems we're having is that parents don't punish their kids at home.
For example -- during my after school tutoring session on Wednesday one of my little boys wanted to use the bathroom. I let him go and 5 minutes later when he still wasn't back in my classroom I knew I needed to go down to the boys bathroom and hurry him along. So I wrote some math problems on the board for the other 7 students in my classroom and ran down to get him. When I got to the bathroom I quickly realized he wasn't there. So I figured he was playing in another classroom or doing something else he shouldn't be. So I start checking nearby classrooms as I'm yelling for him. As I'm making my way back towards my classroom I pop in and ask both Anne and Jackie if they've seen him. When they both say no I start to panic. Jackie could tell I was freaked out so she went into to my classroom to make sure the other kids were doing their work as I continued to search for this kid. Then before I knew it Jackie, Peggy, and Brenda (the other prepa teacher) are all looking for him. After about 10 minutes we still couldn't find him. I just started to well up with tears because the first thing that popped into my mind was that he was kidnapped and it was my fault. By this time his dad is at the school to pick him up. Just as I'm about to go into the office to talk to his dad one of my other kids yells "Here he is Miss King!" OMG--I can't even begin to describe to you the relief I felt when I saw his face, but shortly after I was just furious with him. He had hidden in Rosita's room and heard us calling for him but chose not to come out. When Peggy talked to his dad about it he basically just acted like it was no big deal and they went home. It's just ridiculous! They let a lot of things go and that makes every day in first grade a battle!
But it's a battle worth fighting, because...
José Alberto, who is one of my more challenging students came into my classroom on Tuesday and straightened all of my desks for me. The desks are always sliding across the floor and end up all over the place by the time recess rolls around. Many of the kids see me straightening them multiple times a day so they're starting to know how I like them to be. It was just so sweet of Alberto to come in during his free time to do that for me. That's what I hold onto when he refuses to take his spelling test, punches another student, or just flat out tells me he isn't going to do something.
My kids are speaking more English everyday and it's so exciting! Many of them are activity trying to read English words and during Journal time more students are asking me how to say and write things in English. It's so wonderful to see that kind of progress!
In Science we've been talking about plants and animals. The lesson on Tuesday was all about how animals with flat teeth eat plants and animals with sharp teeth eat other animals. The kids seemed pretty bored with it so I decided to show them the 5 minute clip I have from my safari in Kenya. That way they could see some of the animals we had been talking about. They all sat on the floor in front of me and watched it from my laptop. As soon as the video started their little faces just lit up! They were oohing and aahing and shouting excitedly when they saw an animal they thought was particularly interesting. I was so overwhelmed with joy in that moment. It felt like coming full circle in a small way. It was incredible to me that I was bringing a small piece of Africa to my students in Honduras. What a blessing!
Yesterday we were practicing for the spelling test that I gave the students today. Kimberly who struggles A LOT with her letters and letter sounds came up to the board to spell the word "mow". Usually I have to really emphasize the sound and spell the letter with my finger so she can then copy it with the dry erase marker. Yesterday she seemed to understand what she needed to do so I let her try it on her own. I watched in awe as she wrote "m--o--w". I couldn't believe it! I just looked at her and said "KIMBERLY!!! GOOD JOB! You did such a good job!" and then out of no where the whole class clapped for her. As she walked back to her seat with a smile on her face and her head held high a few girls came over to hug her and give her a pat on the back. Gosh it makes me cry just retelling it. It was a moment I will never forget!
Today the journal question was "How are people and animals alike?" Most of the kids drew pictures of an animal and a person and tried to write the name of the animal they drew to get their sticker for the day, but Alejandra wrote "Weat" and when I asked her what that meant she said "We eat". I was ecstatic. That's the first thing she's written in English in her journal and it made perfect sense. We both eat :)!
Lastly...
Most days some of my girls come into my classroom to give me a small flower or weed, but yesterday they brought me this beautiful little bushel:
I had it on my desk for the rest of the day and it just made me so happy. I live for those little moments!
"Life's not always beautiful but it's a BEAUTIFUL ride"...
"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Parent Teacher Conferences (Round 2)
Last Thursday and Friday I had my second set of parent/teacher conferences. I'm always pumped about them the day before and usually the morning of but as the day wears on I get so tired. I have a huge class so I had conferences straight from 7a.m. to 2p.m. with one fifteen minute break. Thursday all of my parents showed, but on Friday I had a few who didn't. It was nice to have that down time between conferences.
Most of parents wanted to talked about the silliest things, as usual. One parent complained that I numbered my Math tests. My Math tests look similar to this:
1. 2 + 3 =
2. 4 + 5 =
So this parent told me that his son was reading the numbers as 12 + 3 and 24 + 5 and getting confused. BUT even if that were the case this kid wasn't answering 15 and 29 on his test. Actually he left 13 out of 15 answers blank, after being asked repeatedly to finish his test. So I told the parents I didn't have to number it, but that their child didn't understand the content. I thought they were pretty ticked off with me but they sent him to my tutoring session on Saturday where he proclaimed to me in Spanish "Miss, I studied addition a lot last night and now I understand it better". WHOO HOO! So something I said must have gotten through to them. I made sure to thank his mom for the extra effort she put in.
Another parent in my class who has NEVER spoken a word of English to me, proceeded to speak to me only in English during the conference. His son is by far the worst student in my class. This kid steals, lies, hits other students, refuses to do his work, and just knows how to push my buttons. I have had a few conferences with his parents and Miss Peggy and the man never spoke English to either one of us. That would have been very helpful as I was trying to figure out possibly solutions for his son. Some of these people are strange birds I tell you!
But over-all the conferences went well. No one was too terribly angry at me and I had one parent even tell me how much he appreciates the time and effort I put into teaching his daughter. That's always nice to hear :).
On Friday Ella (Anne's counterpart) comes up to me and calls me a "pinguina". I asked her why she said that and she said it was because I walk like a penguin. Then she imitated my walk and it was HYSTERICAL! After that I imitated Rosita walking her students down the hallway and then Rosita imitated me, Arlington, and Ella. I have most of it on video and I was so excited to show it to all of you, but al my pictures and videos are currently trapped in my memory card. Another teacher at school had me take some pictures for her and then she took my memory card to print out a few. Well she reformatted my memory card in the process and now my computer won't read it. It's a huge bummer but hopefully I'll find a computer soon that can read the images so I can get them onto a CD.
I hope the weather doesn't get too bad there -- it sounds like things could get crazy! If you're off from work or school today enjoy it :)
Most of parents wanted to talked about the silliest things, as usual. One parent complained that I numbered my Math tests. My Math tests look similar to this:
1. 2 + 3 =
2. 4 + 5 =
So this parent told me that his son was reading the numbers as 12 + 3 and 24 + 5 and getting confused. BUT even if that were the case this kid wasn't answering 15 and 29 on his test. Actually he left 13 out of 15 answers blank, after being asked repeatedly to finish his test. So I told the parents I didn't have to number it, but that their child didn't understand the content. I thought they were pretty ticked off with me but they sent him to my tutoring session on Saturday where he proclaimed to me in Spanish "Miss, I studied addition a lot last night and now I understand it better". WHOO HOO! So something I said must have gotten through to them. I made sure to thank his mom for the extra effort she put in.
Another parent in my class who has NEVER spoken a word of English to me, proceeded to speak to me only in English during the conference. His son is by far the worst student in my class. This kid steals, lies, hits other students, refuses to do his work, and just knows how to push my buttons. I have had a few conferences with his parents and Miss Peggy and the man never spoke English to either one of us. That would have been very helpful as I was trying to figure out possibly solutions for his son. Some of these people are strange birds I tell you!
But over-all the conferences went well. No one was too terribly angry at me and I had one parent even tell me how much he appreciates the time and effort I put into teaching his daughter. That's always nice to hear :).
On Friday Ella (Anne's counterpart) comes up to me and calls me a "pinguina". I asked her why she said that and she said it was because I walk like a penguin. Then she imitated my walk and it was HYSTERICAL! After that I imitated Rosita walking her students down the hallway and then Rosita imitated me, Arlington, and Ella. I have most of it on video and I was so excited to show it to all of you, but al my pictures and videos are currently trapped in my memory card. Another teacher at school had me take some pictures for her and then she took my memory card to print out a few. Well she reformatted my memory card in the process and now my computer won't read it. It's a huge bummer but hopefully I'll find a computer soon that can read the images so I can get them onto a CD.
I hope the weather doesn't get too bad there -- it sounds like things could get crazy! If you're off from work or school today enjoy it :)
"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls." -Audrey Hepburn
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Top 25 Things I Want to do Before I Die...
I could think of over a hundred things I want to do before I die, but here are the 25 that immediately come to mind:
- Start a photography business
- Write a children's book
- Learn how to play the guitar
- Run a Mini Marathon
- Scuba Dive
- Take my sisters to Africa
- Bike from Indiana to California
- Ride in a hot-air balloon
- Go on a cruise
- See the Northern Lights
- Hike the John Muir Trail
- Fly a kite on a beautiful windy day
- Read the entire Bible
- See Gorilla's in their natural habitat
- Go to Prince Edward Island (where they taped Anne of Green Gables)
- Be a size 6
- Learn how to snowboard
- Swim with a dolphin
- Become a proficient Spanish speaker
- Visit all 50 States
- Travel to all of the seven continents
- Marry the love of my life
- Have a baby
- Adopt a baby from Kenya
- Win the lottery :)
I didn't include surfing, riding a horse along the beach, seeing a volcano, going to the rainforest, or zip-lining because they are all things I plan on doing in Costa Rice with the T-bear in April!
What are your top 25?
“The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” ~ Author Unknown
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Random Thoughts
I always feel so much better when I wash my feet before I go to sleep
The Little Drummer Boy is now one of my favorite Christmas songs
I LOVE olives, but only the ones with the pits in them. Who knew?
It's crazy how much random people and acts of kidness can CHANGE your life
I need to be more disciplined
Nothing makes my day happier than having a student pick me a flower or randomly come in during recess to tell me how much they love me
I have a sick obsession with sugar and I don't think I could EVER kick my habit
I miss milk
I discovered I do actually like cabbage in some dishes...weird!! (I know Em, I'm always full of surprises!)
After a long hard day nothing sounds better than an ice cold coke and a cheeseburger
I love to say weird words
I truly think imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... I love it when people mock me :)!
I think all teachers would be happier if they took the time to have random dance parties every now and then
I wish American's were more affectionate with one another
I love music more than I love just about anything else in life -- it's always gets me out of my funks and inspires me
I really want to write a children's book...someone please hold me accountable!!!!!
I miss strawberries
I have so many things I want to go before I die...(which I'll mention in a later post. I've got a mad list goin' on)
I love that everytime I open skype it says take a deep breathe :)
I want to start my own photograpy business but I'm too chicken
I believe with all of my heart that if each of us stopped everyday and counted our blessings we wouldn't know a day filled with sadness.
GOD is SO good to me!!!
The Little Drummer Boy is now one of my favorite Christmas songs
I LOVE olives, but only the ones with the pits in them. Who knew?
It's crazy how much random people and acts of kidness can CHANGE your life
I need to be more disciplined
Nothing makes my day happier than having a student pick me a flower or randomly come in during recess to tell me how much they love me
I have a sick obsession with sugar and I don't think I could EVER kick my habit
I miss milk
I discovered I do actually like cabbage in some dishes...weird!! (I know Em, I'm always full of surprises!)
After a long hard day nothing sounds better than an ice cold coke and a cheeseburger
I love to say weird words
I truly think imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... I love it when people mock me :)!
I think all teachers would be happier if they took the time to have random dance parties every now and then
I wish American's were more affectionate with one another
I love music more than I love just about anything else in life -- it's always gets me out of my funks and inspires me
I really want to write a children's book...someone please hold me accountable!!!!!
I miss strawberries
I have so many things I want to go before I die...(which I'll mention in a later post. I've got a mad list goin' on)
I love that everytime I open skype it says take a deep breathe :)
I want to start my own photograpy business but I'm too chicken
I believe with all of my heart that if each of us stopped everyday and counted our blessings we wouldn't know a day filled with sadness.
GOD is SO good to me!!!
"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone"
Audrey Hepburn
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