Whew...time flies! Instead of trying to cram the past two weeks into this post, I'll give you the highlights.

Second Grade
I really lucked out being placed in the second grade classroom. Every time I walk into the room I'm greeted with warm smiles, eager waves, and the sound of 20 squealing voices yelling "KELLY!" Except for Nicolas, who can't pronounce my name, so it sounds like a mix between Carley and Carrie..."KRLY!" We'll get there. I'm with second grade every morning for two hours and when I'm there the kids have math, writing, art, and recess. When they're not calling my name, they are yelling "profe!" which is short for professora (teacher). They love showing me their work and I love showering them with compliments and attention. Most of the time I can understand what they're saying but when I don't, it's pretty easy to figure out based on context. If a kid is pointing to his picture and holding a blue colored pencil and looking confused, he most likely wants to know if he should be using the color blue. It's not rocket science. Mostly I just smile and nod and when I can't understand but it seems important, I tell them to ask Roccio. I love hanging out with second grade during recess and I try to take as many pictures as I can. When it's time to leave, they all shout as I leave the classroom "Ciao, Kelly!" except for Daniel who blows me a kiss and yells "Ciao, mi amore!" It cracks me up every time.

 (Looking above the courtyard behind school)

 (Daniel hanging out on the slide)

 (Second grade)

 (Angelica, Eva, and Maria at recess)

 (Jean-Pierre, Santiago, and Nicolas...here comes trouble!)

(Melany and Mary - my two little peanuts!)

Sixth Grade/Seventh Grade English
Rhiannon and I teach 6th and 7th grade English together and it has been so nice having her in class! Rhiannon was a year long volunteer last year so she's back for round two. Her spanish is amazing and since she knows most of the kids she's able to bring class to another level. We have been teaching the kids descriptions this week (tall, old, blonde, blue eyes, etc.) and they seem to be having fun with it. Sometimes it's hard to tell if the entire class is understanding what we're teaching because there are so many kids (7th grade has 37 kids), but we try to make class fun and exciting.

Ninth Grade English
Ninth grade is one of my favorite classes because they understand more english and I can relate to them on a different level. "I'm not like a regular teacher, I'm a cool teacher." Luckily, I only have 22 kids in this class so it's a little bit easier to manage but I'm on my own and sometimes, they can get a little rowdy. I'm lucky that this class is never disrespectful but they love talking, getting up and walking around the classroom, standing at the window, and forgetting their notebooks. I was sick and tired of letting kids leave to go downstairs and get their notebooks so I established a policy if they forget their notebook, it's one point off their final grade. Magically, almost every kid remembered their notebook the next day. Weird. I do have fun with this class and there have only been a few occasions where I've lost my cool. We have a point system where if they have a good class, we get a point for the day and once they reach 30, they will get a movie and a treat. Last Friday I needed a break so I let them play soccer instead of class. The kids all had fun and it was fun for me to watch them just be kids.

Art Class
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I assist in the art room for three hours in the afternoon. Art is so hit or miss for me. Some days I really enjoy it but other days it's complete chaos. The art teacher is a very talented artist but he struggles with classroom management. Some of the classes are so huge that there are 40 kids running around and it's impossible to get anything done. Last week I suggested we split the class into boys/girls and I would take the girls into another room and he would stay with the boys. It worked surprisingly well and we have stuck with this system thus far. One of my biggest frustrations with art class is that the projects are boring and don't take up enough time. Every week it's the same thing, here's a half sheet of white paper and some crayons/colored pencils, draw your house, draw some shapes, draw your favorite sport, draw whatever you want. The kids finish their drawing (assuming they started it in the first place) in about ten minutes and then they have 40 minutes of boredom or mischief. I do my best to sit down and draw with them because most of them end up copying what I'm doing anyway so if I can drag the process out, I do. Here's a picture of the rowdy 6th grade boys after I started drawing a dream catcher and they all wanted to try...love it!

Thursday was "draw whatever you want" day so the 5th grade girls decided to have a singing/dancing party. I asked them if they liked the movie Frozen and was treated to 25 minutes of "Let It Go." The girl in the gray shirt cracks me up. 

Girls Program
Fourth grade is a notoriously difficult grade and like I wrote before, I have all 19 girls in my Girls Program. We are just finishing up our first project (headbands) and we're about to start our second project, hand-made christmas ornaments. For a few weeks now I have been struggling with Girls Program because there's just so many of them. Trying to teach them all how to sew, getting them to sit down, getting them to line up, getting them showered and dressed in 30 minutes, and getting them to the library is REALLY DIFFICULT. After a really long day I reached out to the directors and asked for backup and I'm so happy I did because they sent me Laura, my angel! Laura used to coordinate the shower program but now she is helping me and she is awesome. Laura is excellent at crafts and since she's local, she obviously speaks fluent spanish. The whole vibe of Girls Program changed when Laura came and now it's quite enjoyable. I also implemented a new point system for the girls. If they line up on time, behave, shower quickly, and respect the rules, they get green circles for the day. If they are late, goofing around, or not listening, they get red circles. 20 green circles = one sucker. My favorite is seeing how fast they shower now, the first person to finish showering and get dressed gets 3 points. Two girls who I literally had to drag out of the bathroom because they were so slow now race each other to be the first one done. It's amazing what a little bribery will do. 

Computer Class
On Tuesdays Shemesh and I teach a computer class to 10 teachers/staff. This has been one of my favorite classes because they are so fun to work with and eager to learn. It's amazing what we take for granted back home. Some of the students didn't know how to turn on the computer much less how to use a mouse. We have spent the first few weeks learning the basics of Microsoft Word and it has been so fun and rewarding seeing their progress! My students always greet me with a warm hug or polite kiss on the cheek. I need to practice receiving a kiss on the cheek because I always get nervous and try to go in for the hug so the other person ends up kissing my ear or hitting their nose on my cheek. I'd like to think it's a cultural thing but it's really just me being bad at life. 

Irfeyal
This is the class that I wrote about hating and feeling like a total failure. Now that the classes are split into two manageable sizes, I actually like teaching this one. This week we learned numbers and practiced writing out equations. Sometimes I feel intimidated because a lot of my students are older than me and they speak NO ENGLISH but we are learning together and I'm excited to see how far I can get them in a year. 

Overall I am enjoying my time here but I would be lying if I said it was all easy and fun. Teaching in a second language is really challenging and the schedule here is incredibly demanding. I wake up at 6:00 am every morning and most nights, I don't stop teaching until 7:00 pm. My first two months have taught me flexibility and patience. Every day has its own unique ups and downs and there is never a dull moment. My time at the center has challenged me in more ways than I could have ever imagined but with those challenges comes a newfound strength and personal growth. While I'm learning a lot about my students and the culture here, I'm learning even more about myself, mostly that I can do anything I set my mind to. Even though they sometimes push my buttons, I love my students and want nothing but good things for them. I'm looking forward to the year ahead and all that it will bring!