6th Period – Grade 1 – Class A
My last class today was Class A of the 1st graders. Oh my goodness. Grade 1 – Class B went pretty badly this morning, so I decided to change it up a bit in the afternoon. I’m still trying to help them pronounce and memorize their new English names and so there is a lot of time in class where 40 other children are poking each other and babbling and pointing and bouncing and the room can get really loud. For the last ten minutes of class, I wrote 6 letters on the board, out of order, such as: D A F B E C. Then, I called two students by their English names up to the board, giving each a piece of chalk. I told them I’d call out a letter and the first to put his/her mark by the correct letter would get a point. I told student A to be Xs and student B to be Os.
The hilarity that ensued was exactly what we all needed. It was so entertaining that I had a hard time not laughing along with the spectators. My first two children up to the board were Petunia and Peggy. I named Petunia. Peggy was given her name in Kindergarten last year. Peggy won hands down. She was also capable of making her mark quickly and having it still look like the letter O. The children that followed, however, were so excited that their marks turned into all kinds of chicken-scratch. When a duel finished, the letters were so mangled by over-excited marks that I had to re-write them. My favorite part was watching the other children lose it with the calling of each letter. The two participants would run into each other and jump to scratch at false leads, like if I started to say “F”, they’d run to “E” and then one would hear the rest of the letter and run back to “F” but would be too excited to make the complete mark and by that time the other child would be right underneath, making a squiggly “O” and jumping ecstatically up and down. At one point, I even noticed a shy girl named Helen head-banging to the excitement. This was more than I could take and I had to spend an extra minute or so re-writing the letters.
We made it through four rounds of this game when the bell rang. I’ve never in my life felt like such a rock star. The children mobbed me and hollered and said their names and said my name and hugged and kissed me. I suppose it was all the energy produced during the game, finding a release. They absolutely lost it when I blew them a kiss on my way out the door and Peggy came running up to me breathlessly chanting, “I love you teacher Lillis.” I’ll have to play this game more often. Today was challenging. I taught the Grade 2 classes about prepositions (on, in, near and under) right after reviewing “Don’t” and “Where? Here! Over there!” Most of them got it, but it was painful when I’d ask a student to answer the question, “Where is Jenny C?” and the student would look helplessly back at me as if I was asking her to cut off her right hand. It is amazing to me how many of the 45 children per class are enthusiastic and capable. I was expecting a lot less response and interest. It makes me see how easily children ARE left behind because when the majority of a class is excelling, it is impossible to slow class down to help the two or three students who just don’t get it. I’d offer review sessions and one-on-one time, but I’m not allowed to. Maybe because not every teacher would offer this kind of extra help and then some students would get extra help while others would be left out.
Tonight, Lisa and I are going to Robyn’s apt. for dinner and girl talk and a movie. I’m providing Spellbound. It’s part of my “Converting the world, one good documentary at a time” program. Neither Robyn nor Lisa has seen it. In the upcoming weeks, we’ll also be watching Grizzly Man and March of the Penguins. I’ll let you know if they’re still allowed to be my friends tomorrow (whether they liked Spellbound or not…)
For those of you who think I’ve got it easy over here (I won’t let you down) – we have a half-day tomorrow. Periods 1 through 4 and then back home. I’ll get to reassess my lesson planning for this week and catch up on some reading and writing. Also, the wind last night pushed away all the heat and humidity and ushered in the most luxurious cold spell I’ve ever experienced. I’ve never in my life been in one city where, over night, the temperature changes by 40 or more degrees. It was supposed to rain, but I guess the wind blew the storm clouds away too. The temperature today made me think of the passing of time and I realized I’ve felt like I was home this whole time I’ve been in China. Even though everything is different and I’m not doing a single familiar thing, it still feels like home. I guess my adaptability gene is alive and well. I wonder how I can keep it healthy?
