We got a lot accomplished this week. We filmed a very cute video in the La Palma morning class, which you can view here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp3ukqFEI6o.
The kids were really excited to see themselves on camera and are looking forward to starting work on our Christmas play. We also sent letters to our penpals, my mom's kindergarten class! We wrote exclusively in English, and I'm really proud of the students for taking such care with their letters. They had to give their name and age, describe themselves, talk about what they like to do, and say what they want to be when they grow up. My favourite is the devilishly cute Arturo: "Hello. I am Arturo. I am in grade four. I am handsome. Goodbye."
The secundaria projects are really coming along, although our group of little environmentalists needs to learn to focus their energy a bit better. They've got a lot of ideas - some of which are coherent and some of which are, well, less coherent. I'm looking forward to working more with them on Tuesday; there are a lot of bright students working on the project and I think if they develop a clearer sense of direction they could produce something pretty powerful. It was also a good week for music - we practiced our songs without background vocals for the first time and I think it really boosted their confidence.
The afternoon class has made some really great collages in the style of Eric Carle (of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" fame) with Erin. She's been teaching colours and animals in English, so the kids got some computer time this week to type up a little nametag for their collage. I was working the computer lab yesterday and I have to admit that I might rather listen to Justin Beiber all day than work the computer lab. Especially on a full moon. The kids were a little wild yesterday, and our dinosaur-like computers are frustrating enough as it is. Erin must be a goddess for what she manages to get done in there - by the end of class, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and spacing had gone out the window, along with my sanity.
That being said, there were some great moments. I showed tough-guy Pablo how to use the arrow buttons and he excitedly showed the kid next to him, nodded sagely, and said, "Pretty cool, hey?" Little Miguel Angel made his collage of a deer. I asked him to give it a name, and he just looked at me the way my cat does when I try to get her to play. Like, "Seriously?" Then he wrote, "My name is Deer. I am a brown deer." Creativity is soooo beneath Miguel Angel. I also feel like I've made some ins with the boys, due mainly to my impressive hat trick in Tuesday's street soccer match and my accidental but effective tackle of the other team's star midfielder, Rodrigo.
In Jalpa, the first of our students earned their prizes for attending the last five out of five classes. It was just TOO MUCH FREAKING EXCITEMENT to handle - the knowledge that there was a basket of pogs, stickers, glittery pens, and headbands just out of reach led to some pretty energetic students. With prizes, the possibility of earning their "good behaviour party" next week, and the Christmas party coming up on top of that, things were a bit chaotic. However, in general, a lot of students have really turned it around in Jalpa. It's been especially nice to see the girls work exceptionally hard at something other than gossip, and hearing tiny Alejandro correctly pronounce "mouse" is one of the cutest things ever.
I also went to a fantastic Cafe Tacuba concert on Wednesday! And I'll be teaching another yoga class tomorrow. Next week we'll also have the talented Brendan all the way from Canada to accompany us on guitar and help out in a game of "musical genre geography". Looking forward to another productive week and gathering steam for the Christmas concert....
As always, thanks for reading. Check out the new photos.
-Natalia
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