First Day of School

Today was my official first day of school!  It went very well.  I help teach mostly 1st graders but also 2nd and 3rd graders as well.  The periods are 45 minutes and I get one break everyday except Fridays.  I also get Mondays off which means I will get some four day weekends since most of the days off fall on Fridays! I start at 9am which means I have to leave around 7:30 if I want to get to school on time.  Today I left at 7:10 just to make sure I did not miss either of my two trains, but I think I will be able to leave later as I get more accustomed to the commute.  The other girl who teaches at my school is very nice and has actually taught so it will be nice to have her experience to help me! Since we are the English teachers, we are not allowed to speak any Spanish with the students.  I found that a little frustrating today because I could tell that some of the kids could not understand my questions and I just wanted to tell them what I was asking in Spanish.  But having the children think that I cannot speak Spanish will be to their advantage, forcing them to communicate with me in English.
During my first class I did not do too much other than help the professor and check to make sure the students were doing their work correctly.  However in my second class, I was left to entertain the children for the first 20 minutes or so.  That was quite an experience, trying to come up with childhood songs I could recall and reading some flashcards to the kids.  The professor during my final period had the kids ask me questions about myself which was fun because they got to practice their English and find out information about me.  One girl raised her hand, but instead of asking a question she told me that I was beautiful, which I appreciated and made me giggle.  Most of the children are adorable and seem very eager to learn and are excited to have an American in the classroom.  But as always there are a few trouble makers in the class.  One of the professors even told me that the worst kid in the whole school is in one of my classes! I met him today, and I will say he is a bit of a menace!
Overall, I am very happy to be at this school.  While the commute is a little longer than I was expecting when I applied to the program, all the teachers seem incredibly friendly and the town itself seems quite nice and beautiful!