Hey y'all! How is life? I hope everything is going well and that you're keeping smiles on your faces.
Teaching is going well. This week, I am teaching Games; Games is one of my favorite SPEs. The kids get into the games, we have fun, and I have leverage over them if they misbehave—they can’t play or they go last.
Take today as an example, where I spent at least two of my six classes reprimanding the students: I had them stand on the line of tape on the floor and fold their arms for the majority of class. In one class, only two of the kids behaved: Julia and Kim, though even Julia messed around a bit. Kim is positively adorable, and I felt bad for not having an actual lesson because I was afraid she’d think I was mad at her, when she sat there quietly, listening, and trying to communicate with me and participate in the lesson. I gave her and Julia big stickers; Joe, Christie, and Tom got little stickers; Matt and Nick didn’t get any stickers because they were impossible. It shut them up, but that’s how you get through to them: if they’re not going to participate in the lesson, they don’t deserve the rewards involved with the lesson, so they don’t get them.
My first homeroom class was perfect: Jenny, Lucy, Amy, Jared, Monica, and Mike all participated in the lesson and were actually able to play the game (bowling) because I didn’t spend the whole time trying to get them to settle down. Where the other classes teased each other for not knocking down any pins, this class encouraged each other and cheered for each other. It was very refreshing and heartening. Lucy and Monica are always trying to communicate with me and tell me about their days; the others are quiet but respond to me and follow along with the lesson. The moment she walks into class, Monica tells me what she had for breakfast. This morning, she had a sandwich; when I told her I had a sandwich for breakfast, also, she was elated. I adore this class, and I will miss them when we teachers switch back to our original students next week.
In my last class, I have Eric—small, crazy, wild, sometimes hopelessly adorable Eric. Eric has signature faces and eye rolls and likes to sing his answers and not stay in his chair: he’s the type of kid that’s naughty but you can’t help but love. When I reprimand him for hiding under the table or shouting at the top of his lungs in Chinese, he rolls his eyes, makes a fishy face and won’t look at me, which can get frustrating. He riles up the class by goofing off and being silly, making it impossible to teach (again, it’s sometimes frustrating, but sometimes it’s all I can do not to laugh), but then he gives me hugs and doe eyes until I nearly melt. Little stinker….
Today, however, he was being particularly roudy so I showed him the token chart and that he had no tokens while everyone else had lots. He gasped, and sat down in his chair. I asked him a question directly (“What kind of ball is this?”) and when he answered, I made it a point to mark down a token for him; this excited him so much that he sat in his chair for the remainder of class and participated in the lesson. As he earned more and more tokens, he would clap his hands and shout for joy. At the end of class, I gave him a “good job” high five and he gave me a big hug. These are the moments I truly love China.
Speaking of naughty loveable boys, the other day I was walking around the school when I ran into Collin, Kyle, and Jack—three of “my” students. When they saw me, they shouted, “Teacher Jillian!” and ran toward to me. All three of them barreled into me, nearly knocking me over. As he wrapped his arms around me, Jack sighed contentedly, like I was just who he needed to see—like he missed me and was truly happy to see me again. Jack is the kid who speaks relatively good English but prefers to mess around during class than display his English speaking skills—but he always tells me I’m beautiful and that he loves me, and is simply adorable and I can’t help but love him. Kate is convinced he has a crush on me. Guess I did find myself a Chinese boy in China—and by golly, he’s a cutie.
I teared up—it hit me how much I really miss them, my little munchkins. I like the 3rd floor students, but I built this bond with my original students that overrules my relationship with them. The 3rd floor students just aren’t my students. Teaching may be frustrating or repetitive, and I say I can’t wait for the weekend or for holiday or simply the end of classes, but when classes are over, I recognize how much I miss my students, how far in love I’ve fallen with them. I know I’m going to be a disaster when the time comes to leave them for good—I don’t even want to think about that.
Another time, I was teaching English Corner when Kyle (stylish one) and Sarah (little monkey Sarah) saw me. They shouted, “Teacher!” and ran up to me. They hugged me tight and then showed me their piano music books; I asked them if they liked piano, to which they replied in the affirmative. They were so excited to see me…and it melted my heart. I just love my students.
On a different topic, the other day I ordered Chinese Muslim food for my entire group--completely in Chinese. Granted, I used very (very) basic phrases, but we got the correct order so I suppose the waitress understood me! It was very exciting. I'm learning more Chinese and picking out words that I hear around me. It's fun!
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