day six, el primer dia de escuela

hola todos,

this is weird typing in english, since i have not really spoken any this whole day.

so the first day went down like this:

i arrived at school at 7.50 am, and had kindergardeners to teach. i realized how hard it is to teach kids a language without the kids being able to read anything. they also dont understand my accent and why im so different! they didnt know what los estados unidos is, and so they were just very confused. of course they were still cute. i was helping another english teacher who moves between the classrooms, kind of like how we have art and music class. i taught from around eight to ten or so, and then had a very long break until 1230. i was waiting for my host mom to come pick me up for lunch then, and so i could not leave early. now i know i will take a taxi home right after those classes because the 50 cents or a dollar for the ride is definitely worth a 2 hour nap.

then around 1230 i went to the primary schools, and was paired with a very awesome english teacher tehre. she had some lessons already planned for today, and so i basically just watched and helped with pronunciation. but she is very excited for me to bring new activities around as well. she said when she is done with this unit, i can teach the next one. the kids were so adorable. my name to them is 'teacher emily' and they can barely say the name emily (it really is a hard pronunciation!) and its adorable. by the end of the day every kid in the school knew me, and when i walked out at 545 (yes, i taught from 8am until 545 day... at least i get my 2 hour break from here on out) all of the 400 kids at the school knew my name and everyone surrounded me. that was clearly a very fun moment. my host sister was in the last class i taught, and she was so adorable, and it was fun to finally really know one of the kids in my class.

the kids treat teachers very respectfully. whenever i dropped something, or had to get a piece of paper or chalk for example, the kids would pick up everything for me and bring it to me. there were 2 kids at the end of every class that would carry my backpack and other materials to my next class so that i didnt have to carry it. and they stood when the teachers entered the room.

the day did go pretty smoothly, but im hoping ill get to make more of an impact on the kids once i start learning tehir names and what their backgrounds are. the other teachers are so nice to me, and all eager to talk about the US and english words.

so, we'll see how tomorrow goes... right now i am just so exhausted!