I'll first introduce you to Diego, because she is always first in line. She keeps the class in order! She says, "attention!" and the rest of the class says, "one! two!" Then you can find her nudging kids until the line is perfectly straight. She's not bossy though! Once everyone is sitting down in class, she is silly and fun. Her English is really good. She's surprisingly good at making sentences considering her age. Once we sang the apple pen song in opening, and she said, "teacha! My papa LOVES that song!"
Anyway, I think Diego is exceptionally cute (I love her typical little Chinese girl haircut!) Her parents always dress her well, and sometimes she surprises me with a hug or even a kiss on the cheek!
James is always behind Diego. I think the Chinese teacher puts him there because Diego can keep on eye on him. Because he is super wiggly! He doesn't understand me very well, so sometimes I have to get down on his level and hold his hands while I talk to him. Still he can't focus on me! So I end up holding his head, haha, and make him say with me, "I will not climb on the bookshelf!" then the next day, "I will not jump on the tables!" then the next day, "I will not stand on chairs!"
As wiggly as James is, he is a good kid and I love him!
Candy is adorable! She is a little bit shy, but is so sweet. She is always good and always has the cutest things in her ponytail. Her name is a common source of confusion though, because when I say, "I brought candy today!" or something like that, everyone points to Candy and says, "teacha, candy is there!" Candy is really one of my best and smartest.
Samantha is so cute! She has quite the personality. About a month ago she noticed that there was nail polish on my nails, and she was just fascinated. She would always pick at my nail polish, and one day I told her I was going to change it. I asked her what color I should put on my nails and she said, "pink!"
So, I painted my nails pink and showed her... and she got a little bit offended! Apparently she meant that she wanted HER nails to be pink! I told her maybe we could paint her nails one day, and she felt better. Still, that week she kept grabbing my nails and pointing to them saying, "oooh teacha Madi!!!"
Samantha cracks me up. I really like her, and she is well behaved so that's a plus! I was happy when she came back on a Monday with one of her nails painted pink. She must have a good mom!
CJ is ADORABLE. He stole my heart the first time I saw him in his little bear jacket, which gives him ears when his hood is on! He is so sweet and so good. He can get a little bit crazy when he is with the other boys in the class, but usually I can count on him to pay attention and yell, "NO CHINESE!" whenever his classmates start speaking Mandarin.
Oh Eno. My little drama queen. It doesn't take much for her to start crying, but it also doesn't take much to stop her from crying (because usually it is fake!)
The first day I learned about her dramatic ways was near the beginning of the semester, we walked up all the stairs to the 4th floor (where our classroom is) and Eno just collapsed! I walked over to her, and she put her head in my lap and was just crying and crying. I had no idea what was going on, so I sent my kids with another teacher as I tried to communicate with Eno. I was kind of worried, she was acting like she was really hurt! Eventually her Chinese teacher came upstairs and told me that Eno has just had a little cold, haha. So, Eno was being overly dramatic, but at the same time I understood how frustrating a little cold could be! And to have to deal with that while living at school and not seeing your mom for a week would really suck.
I love Eno though. She is so sweet! She always gives me hugs, even when I'm trying to walk, and likes to give my wedding ring a little kiss (which I'm a little bit confused about).
Jake is a little punk! Can't you tell from his clothes?! He can be pretty sassy when he wants to be. I'll say, "Jake, get in line!" and he will say, "no." I generally have to stand right next to him during opening because he loves to talk to everyone, but once we get to class he is always good! He loves playing games and his English is pretty decent (though he does have to visit the "Chinese Chair" at least once a day).
Patricia is a cutie! She can be a little bit talkative with her best friend Jake, but she's really sweet and a good listener. So I like her a lot! I don't have tons to say about Patricia because she's a great little student!
Brady... oh Brady... I STILL don't understand her name. She's one of the few students who can spell her name, but she spells it "Britney". But she clearly says her name is Brady... another teacher calls her "Birdy" though. So that one is still a mystery. But Brady is so sweet! If everyone is being talkative, it is always Brady (and Candy) who is folding her arms, paying attention to me. I love that!
So that's my cute little class! I really lucked out, I think I got the best first grade class. They are overall very well behaved kids, and always so eager to participate and please me. They all try really hard to speak English, too! I think it is a younger group than most of the first graders, so their speaking skills are a little bit behind, but their charade skills really make up the difference, haha.
I'm getting sad, realizing that my time with my sweet students is quickly coming to an end. To think that I'll have to say goodbye for forever is so strange and depressing! Like, I'll never see these kids again. I will never run into them at Wal-Mart, or ever know what they end up doing with their lives. I only hope that they will become great English speakers because I know that will give them so many opportunities!
I'm grateful for the chance I've had to be a teacher. Though I may be trying to teach these kids, I think I've learned more from them than they have from me!
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