Had a better day....

I had a better day today.

My first class that is always working ahead was actually better today. I guess they are learning not to move ahead in their book. Today everyone was on the same page 90% of the time!

Before my 2nd class I had to interview a potential student. His English was pretty good. He didn't understand how to tell me his age, but he answered all the other questions.

My 2nd class was better, but still not great. They were being too loud and some students from next door came by and asked us to be quieter. I got them to get in their seats by bribing them. They were not running around like crazy today. Then they wanted to sit on top of the desk and do their work. I just let them and finally made them sit in their chair. They did okay with the work. I did have a hard time trying to fill up the time in class. I tried to teach them some animal names, but they weren't paying attention most of the time. They repeated the words with me a few times. I just need to find out how to get them to participate and pay attention. The material in the book wasn't long enough!!

My 3rd class was interesting. Today we were cooking pancakes and scrambled eggs. I let the students do all the cooking and mixing. One of them accidentally dropped some of the pancake mix on my dress. Later I got pancake batter on my dress. haha. The kids ruined the 1st batch of pancakes. I'm glad I bought a big bag! They poured the whole bowl into the pan. When we made the 2nd batch I told them to only pour a little at a time. Things went more smoothly the 2nd time! I think they enjoyed cooking and eating pancakes and eggs. I was so nervous about how today would go. At home I'm more confident because I have my stove and my oven. At the school I have camping stoves with gas and toaster ovens. 2 things that I'm not used to, but everything turned out okay. We made a HUGE mess in the kitchen area. I had to leave to teach another class. The class and the next teacher had to clean up the mess.

My reading class wants to make pizza next week. They spent class time deciding what kind of pizza to make and who would bring the ingredients. They want to make 3 different kinds of pizza: cheese, nutella, and Gorgonzola. I just realized they forgot to add pizza sauce to the ingredient list. I'll have to remind them!

I'll have 2 cooking classes next week. 2 of my reading classes asked to make pizza next week. Now all of my classes are asking to cook. I'll probably just let them cook once a semester.

Today was the best day with the middle school students. Wednesday 2 of them were dozing off, but they stayed awake today. The majority of them were still 15 minutes late. I had to go over 5 pages with them. I asked for them to tell me the answer, but at first no one was talking so I just had to call on them one by one. They all answered and i would repeat the answer or correct them if they got it wrong. They did a pretty good job. Thats the best middle school class I've had so far. I have to help them prepare for their final exams for one more week (3 more classes). I'm helping the 3rd year middle school students. Then I will have them in their individual classes in July. I have 5 reading classes with middle school students.

I survived 5 weeks at my school. 45 more (if I can last that long!)

Monday I might be going to Immigration to apply for my alien card.

Wednesday is payday! (I get paid once a month) I don't have an account at the school's preferred bank yet so I will be paid in cash. Then I have to go to my bank and deposit the money, transfer some home, and change my address. Then I can order a cell phone. I think I will be getting a Galaxy S3. I reserved one online so I think they are holding it for me until I can get paid.