Meet my students!

It’s official, I am a TEACHER! All my lesson planning, organizing, and decorating came down to the start of the school year. Friday night we had an orientation meeting for parents and Monday I got to meet my students. It was an exciting, nerve wracking, challenging, fun, and thrilling few days!

Parent’s Night: Friday night the parents were invited to the school to meet their students’ teachers and review some of the school policies. Although we are a bilingual school, the parents know no English so our presentations had to be given in Spanish – forget meeting the parents, this is what I was most nervous about! I had to introduce myself, give a tour of my classroom, discuss my personal expectations, and explain school rules to my students’ parents ALL IN SPANISH. Don’t worry, not only did I not faint or pee my pants in front of them, but I passed through the night with flying colors! I was a little worried at first because only 5 parents showed up on time, but I had to remember that the latino population is notoriously ‘fashionably’ late. I met 11 of the parents, but I hardly remember whose kid was whose. They were all very nice and patient with my Spanish. Jake was in the meeting with me to answer any of their questions that I didn’t know the response to and he assured them that they are lucky to have me as their child’s teacher for the year :) All of the parents are very supportive of their kid’s academics because they know that this is the best education for students in the area. Although they don’t know English, they seem eager and ready to help their students; and I told them that perhaps they would learn a thing or two in the meantime!

In case you’re curious I had to cover the topics of…  1) Abundant Life is a school that emphasizes good character first and foremost, and then excellence in academics follows as a result of good character. I will be teaching with those same character traits so that my students can see a model of what it looks like to be a well-rounded person; but I will also lead the class with discipline and authority. 2) Cooperation between the parents and the school is vital to students’ success. I asked my parents to support their kids by making sure they do their homework every night, and if they ever had any questions for me to set up an appointment through the office to meet with me. 3) Classroom rules and procedures including my behavior chart, what the students can do when their done, what their homework will be like each night, and the classroom jobs I created. 4) Uniform rules: all students wear blue collared shirts and black shoes with white socks, and boys wear ties and navy pants while girls wear skirts.

The 1^st day of school: Whew! What a day, it certainly flew by. I gained one more student so now I have fourteen bright and eager faces to greet me each morning. I will introduce you to each one of them in a moment. A few notes from my day:

·         The students line up always in two lines – a boys line and a girls one.

·         Before entering the classroom in the morning, after recess, or after lunch they are required to show me their hands to prove that they have clean hands.

·         They are the most polite kiddos you will ever meet. They ask for permission to stand up, to pick something up that they dropped, to go to the bathroom and then to enter the room when they come back, to take a drink from their water bottle, etc. you name it and they ask for permission to do it.

·         English is way over their heads. In First and Second grade they were primarily taught the phonics of English so they can pronounce any word decently well. However, they do not comprehend any of the words they hear. They all just stare at me and smile while I’m talking, and nod their heads ‘yes’ but I know that they had no earthly idea what I just said. Needless to say I have no idea where to start with these kids because they just don’t understand anything I say to them. This will be a rough month or two.

·         They are simply adorable. They always give me hugs and get excited when I come back into the classroom. Their smiles melt my heart and I always giggle a little when they try to tell me something through their broken English. I am already falling in love!

Osman is our newest member; he is repeating third grade from last year because his language skills are not quite up to par. Luckily he does understand most of the things that I am saying because he learned so much English last year, and he helps me explain things to the other students.

Hegna may be one of the smallest girls but she has one of the loudest voices! She is quick to answer my questions and extremely respectful. Her English level is what I was hoping everyone’s would be. 

Elman struggles a little more with English. He gets excited during math lessons but that’s usually the only time he is giving me his full attention.

Keidy is a natural leader. She knows what is going on all the time and helps me keep the boys in line. She is also quick to answer my questions and always eager to participate.

Rolando is the cutest little boy. He tries incredibly hard with whatever assignment I give him and even though his English is low, he picks up on words right away and is not afraid to try using them on his own.

Geovanny is easily the lowest kid in my class. His English is terrible and he doesn’t even like trying to use it. He is usually more interested in the underside of his desk or what’s on the ground than what I am teaching to the class. He will be my biggest challenge.

Yery is a new student this year. Last year she took a “nivelacion” class which is in an introductory course for students who will be entering any grade other than First for the following school year. It is designed to get those students caught up on their English so they are at the same level as their classmates. She is shyer but a very hardworker.

Julio is also very shy but equally as hardworking. His English level is one of the lowest in the class but he picks up on gestures quickly and typically gets what I’m trying to say if I repeat it a few times to him.

Kensy is also a new student and yet her English seems to be one of the highest in the class. I like her a lot because she often looks at the boys like they are incredibly stupid, hence she is quite mature for her age.

Juan will be my second challenge this year. His English is also terribly low so he doesn’t pay attention when I’m talking. He is my space cadet. I spend a lot of time tapping him or his desk to bring his attention back to the class and to participate.

Darwing is adorable. He can be chatty but he understands my directions pretty well. He is always making connections between the English words and the Spanish words, so I can see his brain constantly working.

Wendy was quick to become attached to me. She hugs me every chance she can get and even wanted me to go home with her after school. She is a little slower to understand things but never stops trying. She is also the tallest in our class.

Gabriel is a total teacher’s pet. He knows how to suck up to the teacher in all the right ways. But then on the flip side, is very secretive in how he causes trouble or distractions in the class. I appreciate his good behavior as a model for the class, but I need eyes in the back of my head for him.

Marco is a fidgety one. He does not like sitting still in his desk, but he is a good student nonetheless. He also knows when to be good and how he can get away with misbehaving.

Please be praying for our school year. Pray that these first few weeks and months do not drain me completely. I hope to keep up my energy and perseverance with teaching them English so that they can excel through the rest of school. I also hope that they don't give up either and do their best to continue practicing English and learning it every day. Pray also that I can come up with some really good and creative ways to teach these kiddos! My skills as a teacher will truly be tested.