After getting ready I headed off to
Ruiz Jimenez. Today I went to the 2nd year high school class, 4th
grade and 2nd grade. For the
high school class we did a word jumble worksheet about autumn.
The kids did so well. I was amazed. Last week (when I had the other 3 high school classes and did this same exercise) I basically had to spoon-feed them the answers and they still couldn’t even write the answers down. This week I didn’t have to do anything except give them the vocabulary words initially. I was so happy and proud. I think it helps that I have this class in the morning though, before the kids are fed up with school for the day. This class is going to the theater on the 23rd, the next time I’m scheduled to work with them. If it’s ok with Irene and the 2nd grade teacher I’m going to go with them. Since I was planning on doing a Thanksgiving lesson with them on the 23rd and now I won’t be able to, I decided to do a small Thanksgiving activity with the last 10-15 minutes of class. Each student (there were only 7 in class) got 2 stripes of paper and had to write “I am thankful for…” and something they were thankful for in their lives. We looped them all together in a paper chain that the kids actually thought was super cool. I was happy that they liked it so much, even though it was simple. Ana told me to start planning my lessons for Christmas. I was shocked for a minute, but it’s true! I only see each class every 2 weeks, and if these guys go to the theater for our next class, the next time I see them we’ll be talking about Christmas. Where does the time go? (I’m excited for my trip home for Christmas though!)
The kids did so well. I was amazed. Last week (when I had the other 3 high school classes and did this same exercise) I basically had to spoon-feed them the answers and they still couldn’t even write the answers down. This week I didn’t have to do anything except give them the vocabulary words initially. I was so happy and proud. I think it helps that I have this class in the morning though, before the kids are fed up with school for the day. This class is going to the theater on the 23rd, the next time I’m scheduled to work with them. If it’s ok with Irene and the 2nd grade teacher I’m going to go with them. Since I was planning on doing a Thanksgiving lesson with them on the 23rd and now I won’t be able to, I decided to do a small Thanksgiving activity with the last 10-15 minutes of class. Each student (there were only 7 in class) got 2 stripes of paper and had to write “I am thankful for…” and something they were thankful for in their lives. We looped them all together in a paper chain that the kids actually thought was super cool. I was happy that they liked it so much, even though it was simple. Ana told me to start planning my lessons for Christmas. I was shocked for a minute, but it’s true! I only see each class every 2 weeks, and if these guys go to the theater for our next class, the next time I see them we’ll be talking about Christmas. Where does the time go? (I’m excited for my trip home for Christmas though!)
Their paper chain. "I am thankful for..."
("The beauty of life is hidden in the small details." Sign in the classroom)
After the high school class I had an
hour to kill before the 4th grade class. I went to the teacher’s
lounge and the school library to print out the activities that I needed. With
the 4th grade class I brought drawing pages of different leaves and
a list of autumn-related vocabulary. I gave each kid two vocabulary words to
write in the leaves, and then they had to color the leaves autumn colors
(orange, yellow, red and brown). While they were doing this I drew a tree on
some butcher paper and when the kids were done with their leaves they taped the
vocab-leaves on the tree. Unfortunately a couple of the kids really started
acting out so Irene stopped the lesson. I think I’m going to do the same activity
with the 3rd graders. After they do it I will post a picture of our
autumn tree.
When I went into the infantile/1st
grade/2nd grade building 2 of the preschoolers came running up to me
to give me a hug. I don’t even have class with them this year. Haha. I don’t
know them, but they certainly know me. The second graders were so happy to see
me too. Since there is the possibility that I won’t see the 2nd
graders again until after Thanksgiving we did the good ol’ Thankgiving hand
turkey lesson. I explained to them what Thanksgiving was and they were being a
little stubborn, saying they couldn’t understand me. However, I was speaking in
Spanish and their teacher said I was saying everything correctly…they just didn’t
want to listen. After I explained Thanksgiving, we learned the phrase “I am
thankful for…” and words like family, friends, health, house and pets. The kids
are so funny. I think they only half understood when I asked for things they
were thankful for. They were saying “Head! Feet! See!” Overall the activity was
a hit. I was especially impressed with
one of my typically-trouble children. He did a great job, then wrote all the
words himself and went over them in black (which I helped all the other kids
with) and colored the turkey well. His behavior problems are pretty intense,
but today he did well. I may do this activity with the 1st graders.
If I do I think I’ll make the body of a turkey on poster board and use their
hand turkeys as the feathers on the bigger turkey. There weren’t enough
students to do that part with just the 2nd graders (again there were
only about 7 in class…kids at Ruiz Jimenez miss school a lot).
After school I went home and began day
1 of my adventures in learning to cook. I was supposed to start 2 days ago, but
by the time I got home yesterday it was 11pm…not exactly a great hour for
patience in preparing dinner. Today an herbed chicken and cheese panini was on
the lunch menu. The recipe is here…
It was fantastic, and it was amazing how
much having good food changes your attitude. I’ve been so bored with my meals
lately, and this was really enjoyable. It’s not hard, it’s just something I
wouldn’t have thought to make. I used some focaccia bread that I got at
Ceres instead of pita bread and Havarti cheese since I didn’t have any cheddar…and
can I please point out that I voluntarily put tomato on something I prepared? J I may have used a little too much of the
spices, but it was tasty anyways.
The rest of the afternoon was spent
cleaning the bathroom, the kitchen and my room. Nuria cleaned the living room
and hallway yesterday, but I ended up doing part of the hallway again. Let me
tell you…the amount of hair around here recently is ridiculous. Jesus (our
landlord) also stopped by to fix our leaky faucet. Last night was ridiculous...falling asleep to the sound of trickling water...our own little fountain, INSIDE OUR HOUSE. He was in and out of the
apartment 3 times trying to get the right parts and tools. Thank goodness that’s
fixed too! All of us could hear our water bill creeping up with every trickle
of water.
Now I’m just chilling (literally…it’s
cold) in the living room, trying to get this darn blog caught up. Over the
course of the last week I’ve spent several entire afternoons ‘encerrada’ (holed
up) in my room. Our couches aren’t very comfortable, and if I close the door to
my room I can turn my heat on and keep things nice and toasty, but Nuria came
in a couple days ago and basically told me to get my butt into the shared areas
of the house. Ironically, I’ve spent my evenings in the living room ever since,
but I’ve been the only one in here. The good/bad thing I recently discovered…there’s
a setting on the TV that I can change, and it plays the TV shows in their
native language, so Grey’s Anatomy, Sex in the City, Friends and CSI can all be
viewed in English. Yay for enjoyment and relaxation…bad for learning Spanish. I
don’t think I’ll change it often, but it is nice when I’m using the TV as
background noise and can’t actually pay attention to what they’re saying. Plus,
I can only change it when I’m home alone. I’ll probably go make dinner now,
plan my lessons for tomorrow, and hopefully get in bed at a decent hour. I can’t
believe it’s already 9pm. Seriously…where do the days go???
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