A few random stories

Well, first of all I’m super jel and angry at Justin for going on that sweet trip without me…(why didn’t I go?, you ask…well he took Friday off of school but in order for me to make it to Tegus and back I would have had to have taken off Thursday, Friday, and Monday…which probably would have been frowned upon—especially since Justin and I are trying to plan a trip in February which involves me asking for several days off…) Anyway, the most excitement I had last weekend was attempting to make cookies for my family, which was somewhat of a mess—I’m still trying to figure out how you could possibly mess up cookies from a bag (picked up the bag in Tegus over Thanksgiving)…but they were edible at least, and my family seemed to like them (my host brother Mario had like 6). I decided after Christmas I’m going to have to try to cook some more for them to redeem myself.

Also, I forgot to post about PT Conferences too—we had those a few weeks ago. I actually really enjoyed them too—I really only talked to six or seven parents, but it was fun. And it does make it a lot more fun doing them in Spanish. Most of the parents just nodded knowingly when I told them their kid runs around tipping over people’s desks and books, whips people with his gym towel, and does absolutely nothing (academically speaking) in my class. It was also a weird feeling to have the parents listen to me and treat me as an authority figure when they are like twice my age.

In other news, I’ve discovered I love teaching and hate classroom management. But let’s be real, I guess that’s probably standard. So I made like 6 or 7 of my seventh graders stay after school on Tuesday for a “reforzamiento” class (like an extra after school class) who had failed their last quiz because they were having a test on Wednesday. Keep in mind these are the worst kids in my class—the ones who run amok in the class and pay zero attention. Anyway, they stay after school, move their desks to the front, and then listen and take notes about what I’m saying and ask me questions about things they don’t understand. And I was like, “This is great,”’ and then I thought, “What the heck?! Why don’t you just do that in class, you crazies, and then you wouldn’t have to stay after school and my throat wouldn’t hurt after your class because I’m yelling at you so much?” I’ve never seen anything like it. The best part is they all passed their test the next day.

One thing that I have discovered with their class is how to get them to clean up the room when I have them last class (Thursdays and Fridays). It’s amazing. I just tell them that whoever has their desk in order with their books underneath it and is sitting quietly will be the first to leave. And they also figured out today that I let whoever is picking up random papers and helping other people with their stuff leave first. It’s hilarious—today they were tripping over each other trying to clean things up off the floor (and yelling, “Meees look!” as they held up papers in their hand that they were picking up off the floor). The funniest part is who really gives who gets to leave first? What’s the difference if I make you stay like 30 seconds later than everyone else? It’s not like I can make you stay any later than that because otherwise you (and I) would miss the bus. I just hope they don’t figure that out.

Ok, one more story. So the other day the pastor lost his pocketknife (he put it somewhere and when he returned it wasn’t there), so he was convinced one of the students stole it. So the principal and the pastor proceed to go from classroom to classroom, patting all the students down like in airport security and searching through their backpacks and purses. Now, students are not allowed to have any candy or cell phones at school (which, well, I didn’t realize that they weren’t even supposed to have cell phones at school—I see kids with them all the time). Anyway, I’m in 12^th grade while all this is going on, and the 12^th graders are whispering and being super secretive and looking out the doorway and then one of the girls reaches out the window and puts something on this little overhang outside right before the principal comes in. Then he pats everyone down, searches their packs, etc. (doesn’t find anything), and then him and the pastor leave and go around back (probably to look on the little overhang). Anyway, as soon as they leave, the students all race to the roof and grab their candy! It was absolutely hilarious. I was dying of laughter…and was like, “If this wasn’t so hilarious I would have to confiscate that.” So I feel like this is a textbook example of me trying to be my students’ friend instead of teacher by not turning them in, but it was absolutely hilarious and, well, to be completely honest, I could care less if my students have candy at school. (No one ever did find the knife.)