Student Files: Linda

Ah Linda. Cute. Spunky. Tattle-tale. Has an excuse for everything and the most adorable impish smirk.

This girl knows it all. Every day I laugh at the mischevious look she gives me as she answers questions like, "What is 3/4 + 2/5?"

Yesterday I looked down and saw her gluing fake nails on during Bible class with normal school Elmer's glue.

Thanks to a new seating arrangement she now sits between Eduardo and Cristian (which spells trouble for ANYONE), but Linda eats it up. Usually the commotion involves an eraser or pencil that Cristian threw to Eduardo and managed to hit her with. So, of course, she howls and chastises the boys for being such boys, disrupting everything.

Today I wandered around while the three groups assigned materials to bring for their Science Fair experiment. As I walked towards the girls group in the back corner, Linda squirmed, gave me a huge, overly-innocent grin, and whispered to Onintza even faster. I stopped, shook my head, and told her, "Linda, you always look like you should be in trouble."

An Apple a Day...

This morning Christopher in 5B placed a guava on my desk as I opened my Teacher's Mathbook. I thanked him and then looked at it sitting there, in just the place where an apple should sit on a teacher's desk.

Apparently in Central America, they give guavas. Ha!

(Props to Sasha for suggesting that I blog this interesting tidbit. :D)

Today of all days I forgot my camera, but here's a basic idea of what appeared on my desk.

The small victories...

The Science Fair approaches!

Last week was a flurry of group rearranging, brainstorming, and confusion on my part. After the drama of choosing and rearranging groups (''Miss, pleeeeaaase let us split the group into two! Those girls no work!'') I was just glad for the weekend. This week I finally have 3 groups in each class and they have all decided on their Experiment for the big day!

Little Sally Batres (check out the Student Files for more info on this overachiever) glowed at me with her big gorgeous eyes, ''Miss, we will not do a poster. We will borrow Pastor Roy's, uh, como se dice....'' and she motioned a light to show on the wall. ''A projector?!'' I asked. ''Yes. I will make a presentation,'' she nodded vigorously. I shouldn't really be surprised.

Today I won a battle I've fought since day one. I walked into 4B for our first Bible class of the week and, instead of reigning chaos, kids ran to their seats and had their Bible books out before I even wrote it on the board. (!!!!!!!) Instead of tackling Ramon, Rolando had his notebook out. Instead of making eyes at one of the girls, Jesus sat at the front of his row already memorizing his memory verse. Marvin, who I'm convinced is ADD, raised his hand and asked for permission to go to his locker. I wanted to die! ;D

What miracle brought about this change??? Group points. No joke.... they all desperately want to be the group that gets whatever the ''prize'' is on Friday. Now I have to figure out what that prize will be! Ha!

Valentines!

Happy (belated) Valentines Day!

Last week went by fast! We had a mini-party in 5th grade to celebrate Valentines Day on Thursday. Each kid made themselves a special box and then made Valentines for the rest of the class! At lunch they all walked around the classroom, handing out their special cards, heart-shaped lollipops, or candy. It was good to see the kids appreciating their classmates! I can't lie, I probably had just as much fun as they did reading the cards I received!

On Friday the grades went out for 2nd Partial (quarter). This means that classes are cancelled and all the teachers sit at tables in the auditorium for the school day while parents stop by to pick up their kids official grades. Basically, it's an exteded Parent Teacher Conference.

This Sunday we threw a combination Valentines' Banquet and Birthday party for Sasha, one of the missionaries. Chef Heidi cooked some amazing food, Kayla decorated our front room with red streamers, hearts, and Christmas lights, and we all dressed up and had a blast! It was so fun!

Today I'm giving a Science quiz over concepts like Matter and Energy. Oh boy. haha! Is it really February already??

Student Files: Alessandro

Ohhh Alessandro. What a kidder.

I'm ashamed to say that last Thursday I let myself get annoyed by his antics when I should've laughed and appreciated his quirkiness.

Eduardo came back to Math class from a bathroom break without his uniform shirt on, only his undershirt. I frowned at him and he explained, "Miss, the cleaning ladies took it to clean it. I spilled food during recess." (As weird as this sounds it actually happens a lot.)

Alessandro spotted Eduardo and demanded to know, "Why is Eduardo in his shirt sleeves???" I told him not to worry about it. His warbly little voice croaked, "There will be a REBELLION!" and he started picking at the collar of his own shirt.

Sternly (it had been LONG day) I told him to be quiet and pay attention. He pulled at a miniscule stain on his shirt; "Miss, my shirt is dirty, too!" Once again I told him to stop and continued my Science lesson.

Less than 5 minutes later I looked back at Alessandro just in time to watch him spill red ink ALL OVER the front of his white uniform shirt! Frustrated, I gasped, "Alessandro! What are you doing?"

Meekly, mischieviously, and with the most angelic little face, he asked, "Can I go get my shirt cleaned?"

I said no.

At lunch I saw him walking around in his undershirt. He persuaded SOME teacher (definitely not ME!) to let him go.

Suddenly, I realized how hilarious the situation was! This kid cracks me up! :D

Experiment day!

Today I conducted my first Experiment day in Science class. It rocked. I handed out an instruction sheet and all the kids sat on the floor around the teachers desk, where I'd set up our three experiments.

Experiment 1: Make a Fire Extinguisher (aka Vinegar + Baking Soda = Carbon Dioxide). After using several volunteers to make our mixture I needed help lighting the candle. I must've tried 5 matches before Eduardo said, "Miss, let us do it!" I said something like, "The wind must be blowing through the window." Brilliant, right? Eduardo and Cristian raised their eyebrows at me. I laughed, shrugged, and handed the matches to Eduardo. He lit it with the first match. Haha! (These kids have been lighting fireworks since they were 2.)

Experiment 2: Super Chain! Each kid brought an index card and scissors. We cut the index cards so that it formed a big circle--Alessandro could fit it over his entire body! (It was an exercise to illustrate the Changes between the States of Matter--the index card still had the same texture and color, but the shape was entirely different!)

Experiment 3: Expanded Air. I plugged in the electric stove and had Amy pour water into a pan. Then I put a balloon over the top of an empty glass bottle, and put the whole thing in the pan. As the water heated, the air in the bottle heated, and the balloon filled with air! My little scientists had to answer the questions on their handout.

Also, today I started tutoring a 7th grader in English. His dad went looking for a tutor after Parent Teacher Conferences on Friday, so I agreed!

Yesterday we watched the Superbowl at one of the Honduran teachers' houses! I think that was the first time I've heard the US National Anthem in almost 6 months. It was definitely the first time I've ever heard American Football announced in Spanish! haha!

Happy February!