Teaching Around the World : The First Day of School

Let's talk about the first day of school shal we? If you've ever started a school with me you know how freaked I get. I hover in my coworkers classrooms and talk about throwing up as I cower from parents and sit in the dark so no one can see me. This is serious people. The first day of school terrifies me! Not knowing the kids, not knowing the parents or what to expect. Now take that and add not knowing how much English they will speak, how at kids will show up or what level they are at, and working in a classroom where everyday you have to take in your supplies and take them out. Nothing can stay and there is no technology. That was today.

This is my 9th year in a classroom and it was just as terrifying if not more than my first day as an aide 9 years ago.

So, how did it go!?

I walked in and three children were there in the back. Step 1: bring them outside and show them how to enter and where they will sit. Step 2: figure out if they speak.

Blah blah blah

No response.

Ma la la la

No response.

This is going well.

Let also say that there are aome other challenges.

Not fully interested in what I'm teaching but that's when I just modify and adapt my lessons. This is going to be harder than I thought. For reals yo. Three hours seemed like 48. Thirty minutes seemed like three hours. I think the reason it was so different that in America is because it's all speaking based not content based and that is 100% opposite of how we teach. So I am relearning everything.

So what did we do for three straight hours? Well... A better question would be what did we not do!? Name tags, get to know you games, rules, expectations, spelling words, spelling games, shapes lessons, games, scavenger hunt, simon says, vocabulary, stories, reading, science, and more.

I tried to introduce my brain breaks that I do in America... They thought I was nuts. I told them how it helps their brain and they wanted to know how dancing like a dinosaur helps their brains. Hilarious.

I tried to introduce whole brain teaching methods. Ha ha ha ha ha they thought I was nuts! But we will get there. Slowly but surely in four months these kids will have the ways of the classroom down and grow in English.

And the best part...

Tomorrow is day 1 again. 🙀 it's the second group of children.

English level 1: here we go.

P.s. I'm going to bed. Don't make fun of how early it is. The first day is hard. And I woke up at 5:30 am to deep clean the apartment. The previous girls are fully moved out and now we got to clean. Don't make fun that I literally got up beacuse I was so excited to organize and clean. It's a sickness I tell you. I also moved into the new living room since I'm the most OCD it was decided that I could live in the living room and make it look like no one was living there.