so i had really intended to have some pictures to post before now of my classroom... and i actually brought my camera to school twice this week. but didn't take a single photo. next week, i hope.
so yeah, i'm teaching now! it actually feels like i've been teaching for weeks and weeks now... but it's only been 4 days. day one started out really great. i had my homeroom group first. there was a little name game action - to help me out with everyone's names. we did some other intro type stuff. talked about rules - what does respect mean? what does responsibility mean? they were more or less well behaved and amusing. and then....
my other group (there are two classes of 4th graders, i teach english to both). yeah. they wouldn't shut up during my name game. i asked them to be quiet so many times that i had to follow through on my threat "if i have to yell one more time, we're sitting down and you're writing". and i still don't know all their names. on thursday i had half the class trying to convince me that they HAD to go to the bathroom- that it was an emergency. (i didn't let any of them go)
i realize they're trying to test me. and i know i just have to be strict with them. (and i am for the most part). unfortunately i think what they need is boring assignments and super structured classes. it's the only time we ever get anything done. my big plan is to have a "rule of the day". so say, it's raising your hand to speak. or listening when other's are talking. or doing your homework. and we'll work through the rules one by one until i feel that the majority of the class has followed the rule during the class. and then we check it off the list. when we've checked off all the rules, game day (well, game english class anyway). we'll see how it goes.
the other frustrating thing is that i feel left out a little on my "team" (the fourth grade teachers). i've been told that the costa rican way is sort of like an overprotective mother. instead of showing you how to do something that you are supposed to be doing, they will just take care of it. so you don't have to worry about it. it's terribly frustrating. as an example. the kids had to bring in these forms signed by their parents for the extra-curricular activities they want to do. i had them putting them on my desk. but i didn't know what to do with them, so i put some on my paper tray. today i asked one of my companeras what i was supposed to do with them. and she told me that she already took mine, don't worry. well, she had taken some that were on the desk, but that was not most or all of them. i had to badger her into telling me where they went. she just kept telling me not to worry. all this actually bothers me more than my obnoxious class....
but for the most part i feel pretty good about the first week. i've decided i'm going to read to the kids a few mornings a week. purely for listening purposes. and i've chosen "the magician's nephew". and next week we're actually sort of starting stuff. we'll see how they do with structure.
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