Here it goes again!

Here it goes again from SDub on Vimeo.

I gripe about the 5th graders a lot.  In the classroom they tend to be loud and disrespectful.  They talk and talk and don't seem to care about my class.  In class I attempt to be strict with them, but outside of the class I try to be fun and let loose with them.  I mean, how can I be strict with these kids who are forced to clean my classroom every week?  

About a week ago or so I played the music video for Ok Go's "Here We Go Again" because they wanted some music while they cleaned.  I never could have imagined how much they would love this song.  They have been assigned to clean my room about 4 or 5 times now.  And we have listened to that video (and danced!) each time.  Um yes, we.  Sometimes I dance too.  But just a little.  

Anyway, I finally caught it on video.  I hope it works! 

Rain is wet and snow is delicious.

All things considered teaching English is a pretty good job.  I don't have to work too hard, I have plenty of free time and I'm paid well for it.  But that's not to say that I can skate through life here.  There are moments when my job can be really demanding and when I am pushed to my limits.  Everyday is a challenge in some way.  

The things that help me keep going even when things get rough are the kids and the funny things they say.  I love it when they come up to me at my desk and try to talk to me in English.  They say things like "Teacher, I am genius!" or "Teacher, he is crazy!"  

Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself and the things I do.  Last week, for the first time, I used a puppet in class.  I always kind of assumed that the 5th graders would be "too cool" for a puppet but they really loved it.  I fed off their energy and had a good time with it.  My co-teacher snapped a photo of me in class.  

Funny things the 6th graders have said recently: 

The task at hand was basically to fill in the blanks and talk about why they like or don't like the four seasons.  The sentence on the board was written as follows

I like _________ because it ____________. 

Then I showed them a picture.  It was a winter scene where someone was sticking out their tongue at the falling snow.  Almost all of the students followed the sentence structure and said "I like winter because it snows."  But three students very loudly did not say that.  Instead I heard this:

I like snow because it's delicious.  

I laugh just thinking about those 3 boys saying it in their cute little voices.  By the way, one of those kids goes by the name "Person" in my class.  Last year he was "Jack" but this year he's Person.  I have to take a deep breath every time I call on him in class and muster up the strength to call him Person.

The other great sentence was by this one girl Lisa who always tries really hard in class to think of creative sentences.  When I called on her for the picture of spring she raised her hand and said:

I like rain because it's wet.  

Why yes, yes it is.  

in on under over in front of behind

Talent Show

On Wednesday December 9th the students partook in an all-day talent show. My school doesn't have an auditorium, nor does it have a cafeteria so there is no indoor gathering place for all the students at one time. Thus, the shows were conducted in the students' classrooms. They used to invite the parents to the shows, but I guess it got to be too much and so they don't do that anymore.

As the English teacher my job was to go around to the different classes and take pictures. As much as I wanted to see the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders do their performances I knew I couldn't. I was already so much of a distraction in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classrooms that I teach, I knew that going to visit the little 1st graders would cause near hysteria amongst them.

Fifth graders hanging out before the talent show

 Most of the girls did some kind of dance act...

...while most of the boys did Taekwondo

And all the kids sat with their  eyes glued on their classmates...

...mostly

This boy was awesome at the nunchucks

He is doing Taekwondo.  He is "jumping and kicking."

 (5th grade textbook joke)

The teachers were not as awesome at Taekwondo.

Check out the kids' faces!

I actually was able to kick the plywood in half on the first try.  It's not as hard as it looks :)

Some kids played musical instruments, some kids sang songs, while others did magic shows and plays.

And some dressed up as animals.

All in all, it was a great day!

Grade 5, Class 4 (I think)