Work after vacation....

Monday September 23rd
Woke up excited, albeit tired, and ready to go back to school.
France was good. Christine realized we were behind in our spelling book (by 2 weeks- the same number of weeks that I did not know that I was to be teaching spelling instead of writing) and math. Sam finished his book early and he is going to start teaching spelling, and I am going to use the extra time to catch up on math. I am happy about that (I have typed many times why math is tough to teach being only one class one day a week and that being on Friday mornings). It will still be tough because I still have a teacher mentality where I want the kids to understand the concepts.
Australia was good. They worked hard in both math and reading street. Some students always bring a smile to your face... There are several in Australia that are like that. Ella is one of them. She is tall. She may be the tallest kindergarten student at ECC. She always has such a happy attitude and is always smiling. She often times gives me things. She has given me a blue pencil, eraser, and today she gave me a green colored pencil (not like the kind they use for drawing - a plastic pencil) but a wooden pencil with green lead. The way students give things is fun. They always are so excited, no matter what it is, and say "teacher give" and offer it to you. There are a few students in that class that I tease, and she is one of them. All in fun. She smiles and laughs and says 'teach-a!' Sometimes she asks for "the water" and I respond with 'what water?" or when I fill up her cup, I only put a drop in it, or she says "I am cold" and I respond with the "Hi Cold, I'm Eric Teacher." She always has a great attitude in class, and is a fun student to teach. She is not the smartest in the class, so it is awesome to see her start to understand new concepts.
Denmark was good today too. Energetic as always. We got through a little math and a little of our reading books. The last 30 minutes with them is a bit of a battle, because they are all ready to go home.
My firstgraders were a handful. Billy and David sat next to eachother. Never a good thing. They were complaining about not having equal room on the desks. This is actually a complaint that happens often. The kids try to have both the reading book and the workbook and their pencil cases out. The desks, are actually tables maybe about 1.5 meters long. 2 students at each table. I wish we had desks. Desks seem so much more efficient and would really help out my ability to rearrange the classroom.  Anyway, I made all of the kids stand up, and I took away the tables. I made each student sit in a chair, and they had to hold their books and workbooks, and work without a table. I told them I would not let anyone work on a table until they learned to appreciate what the tables did for them. The students behaved for the rest of class. I will start the class tomorrow with no tables. I need to come up with a seating chart for the class. Most kids do not want to sit with Billy or David, because both are loud, act up, and cause problems. I am afraid to put people next to them, because they are distractions, but giving these kids free seats is not working...
My 3 graders were okay today. Except I caught one of them with a cell phone being used in class. I then saw she had not been working. I made her come out into the hall. First she refused. I stood with the door open and pointed, and eventually she came. As soon as I shut the door and asked her why she was not working, she started crying (Alice, one of my second graders). She calmed down pretty quickly when she realized I was not going to yell at her (Korean teachers yell at the students when they get pulled out). I did not figure out why she was not working. Though during Cheusok she might have been in some kind of accident. She had a busted lip, and scrapes, cuts, and brusies on one side of her face. Maybe she was not able to focus because she was hurt... I dont know.
Came home from school, and took a nap. A wonderful nap. I then did laundry. I went for a walk. It was a great night! I am going to start getting in shape... well, something like that at least. I'd love to knock off some of the fat I am carrying around, and just be a bit healthier.
I am working on my Japan entry, and should have something in a few days.