don't you worry 'bout a thing

today was full of little surprises. firstly, i am extremely excited because i downloaded skype - which is AWESOME and supercheap to make phone calls from none other than my fabulous computer. so i talked for a total of probably 3 and a half hours and spent less than 4 dollars!!! HOLLA!!!

well since i arrived, i have been interested in this university that is close to our house. i finally had the energy after a long day of work to walk over there yesterday with breanna and jenna in tow. i went in simply wanting a course catalog from which i might find a pottery class or something light, where i could learn new vocabulary and meet mexicans my age. easy enough - or not... haha the administration office was sooooo confused by the fact that i only wanted to take one course, "you want to start a career path?" no. i have a career. and so the ladies at enrollment called some student employees to meet us - because clearly they thought the misunderstanding was a language barrier. not so - after much explaining (in english this time), i was offered a finance class or a management class. i respectfully declined. i was really surprised, but they do not have one course catalog for the entire university - it is by department. turns out the misunderstanding was cultural, not linguistic. we left after a quick tour of the campus and talking to the students, who just happened to be former students of my current school Colgeio Ingles. we left and even though i had my heart set on joining a class - i wasn't upset, interestingly enough.

i also wanted to post up some flyers for an intercambio - so i could meet some mexicans and speak more spanish, since im in mexico... that didn't happen and i saw zero bulletins around campus, so i was a little put off by that.

so... i have this one student who, in my expert opinion, is developmentally delayed with learning disabilities. so last week i had to send him down to the office because he was hitting people in the class and everything i tried (talking to him, removing him from the table, time out) did not work. well at the end of the day i went to talk to Ms.Lorena, our discipline person. i wanted to explain what happened, ask what she suggested and what she had done, and know if there was any paperwork i had to fill out. well when i said i was this students teacher, she sternly informed i wasn't allowed to send a student down at the beginning of the year and that he would never respect me if i just send him to the office when he behaves poorly. clearly i responded with all the modifications i had made and explained to her that i was unable to teach the entire rest of the class while he was constantly touching and hitting people. i left feeling extremely disrespected and unsupported.

my next step was to talk to my direct supervisor. i explained to ther the situation and she immediately set up a meeting with the school psychologist. *a note about mexico's education system - special education does not exist* we had a meeting right then and there and they offered me the other school psychologist as an aide. i was flabergasted. and ecstatic!!! because seriously when the school gives you 3 red pens and 3 black pens in your supply box, you think bare minimum - but i was offered an AIDE in the classroom, who is certified and educated in behavioral issues!!!

so today was her first day with us and it was an absolutely amazing experience. i sometimes feel like a horrible teacher because my students are not 100% (or even 85%) in tune with my expectations and routines yet, which means i have to constantly stop during class because they are talking or not paying attention and i refuse to talk (truthfully scream) over them. well today i stopped a bunch of times until they became quiet - but i wasn't sure what the psychologist would think (geez miss emily is a horrible teacher) and the like... boy was i shocked when i talked to her and thanked her after our day together and she said how important it was to NOT talk over them and to make sure they understand they are not permitted to talk during class. i was soooo relieved. and i felt validated.

during my lunch i had to keep a lot of students in for not doing their homework, which means i have NO break at all. and i am continuously reexplaining the instructions and demonstrating in between grapes and a turkey sandwich bites. so the other 1 grade teacher comes into my room and i was in a bad mood :( because i needed a break!!! and so i turned and when i spoke, i couldn't mask the annoyance in my voice. she was so sweet, she came in to bring me a piece of homebaked banana bread.... between classes i ran to her room and gave her a huge hug and apologized and told her how much that rejuvenated me. she was happy. i was forgiven :")

enter 2nd group of students - not bad for the most part, until we had a special. i had to keep 2 students in during special because they didn't finish their work in class. even during this semi punishment of missing a special, they were still being really badly behaved. so we went to pick up the other students from religion and that turned into a fiasco - apparently there was wet chalk or wet paint or something at eye and face level of my students. OF COURSE the boys wanted to be warriors - so they stuck their hands in it and painted their faces with their white hands. as funny as it sounds to all of you - i had 5 white faced boys running around the courtyard of the school (in plain view of EVERYONE mind you) like maniacs... needless to say i sent home 5 letters to parents and made sure to mention how much i look forward to meeting them at back to school night (which is tomorrow).

so after school malita and charlie went to granny's house and breanna had to tutor, so jenna and i were left to ourselves. we went for an ice cream cone (yes ANOTHER one...) and ended up talking for 2 hours!!! haha - the cool thing is, in mexico no one hassles you with the check to leave. it's very welcoming. so as we were leaving this woman asks us if we are teachers at colegio ingles and if we would be interested in tutoring her family in english. boy were we happy, here we went all the way to the university to try and find it, and lo and behold there is a family around the corner with 4 willing participants. we said "heck yeah, we'll be in touch" and she gave us her business card. she is a dentist and she has 2 sons and a hubby who want to learn/improve their english. i don't know about anyone else, but this is exactly the intercambio i was looking for. i hope it works out and we make friends with a family, how cool would that be!!! i love it.

phew, that was a long one - if you're still there thanks for reading. sometimes i feel like this is more cathartic for me than anything. but i do hope its interesting for ya'll back home.