Games

Mexican classes are not as accustomed to game-playing, cooperative learning, active participation as we are in the States.   In my school, twice since the year began, I've seen teachers outside with their kids doing something other than copying from the board.  In any classroom, explaining a game takes twice as much time as actually playing it.  You have to teach kids how to do what it is you want them to do.  That is the actual battle.  Not the teaching, not the learning.

On Wednesday on my way to school at 8:40, I saw one of my first graders in her PE clothes outside the kindergarten that's about 100 yards from our school.  She was with her mom and little sister and was eating some breakfast.  I found this strange.  PE is universally kids' favorite subject and I knew that 1st grade had PE first thing in the morning.  When I got to school I asked the PE teacher if one of the 1st grade teachers wasn't there.  He must've misunderstood me because he led me to believe they were both there (or I misunderstood him).  I go to the office to sign in and see the permission form for Anabel to miss Wednesday and Thursday.  I'm secretly disappointed that they're not both on my days to teach them English!  Anabel runs her class like a ship, but she doesn't listen to the kids and I wonder often if she enjoys her job or if she even likes kids.  She has sent at least three of her trouble boys to Martha's class.  If Martha hadn't taken them, they would've had to have gone to another school.  If only we had that luxury!  Martha oozes love and care.  She never raises her voice and has her kids eating out of the palm of her hand.  I have a bit more trouble with them, but it's the same in Nashville.  They're used to the freedoms of their classroom teacher and they just have to get used to me.  This is the class I uses to fear, but they're coming into their own while Anabel's class is still troublesome.

At any rate, since Anabel was not there, I got to rest the first 50 minutes of my day.  Did I do anything productive, you ask?  Absolutely not.

When I went into Martha's class, I was not worn out nor annoyed form having been in Anabel's class.  We played a matching game.  I had flashcards of the school vocabulary words face down as well as pictures of those objects.  We spent the whole 50 minutes playing the game.  They loved it!  I had some control issues, but that's to be expected.  They're totally growing on me.