Week 2: More classes = More fun (and headaches - but mostly fun)

The fourth graders came to greet me <3

Fourth graders posing for me.

The third graders looking engaged -- I guess I'm not as boring as I thought!

Me with terrible lighting :)

In Sri Lanka it's traditional to bow to your teacher before you leave. It's a sign of respect!

These four are cameraphobic. I pretended to look through my lesson and snapped this instead.

A boy or a monkey?

My 10-11 grade girls. Aren't they pretty?

I am lying on my bed.. my feet are literally throbbbbbinngggggggg (throbbing).

Okay. Let's get down to business. 

This week went surprisingly well...
Let's start with my new classes:

Grade 3

They were super loud and excited - although not as poorly behaved as the 4th graders (more on that later). They were the MOST excited of all the student groups I have had. I love love love teaching excited students because they make the whole experience fun.
We learned about animals and colours. The lesson plan is linked below. I used vocabulary from the 5th grade Scholarship Exam (It's a HUGE standardized exam all fifth graders take). If they pass it's a huge boost. So I thought, the heck, you're never too early to start on this material. The lesson went well - there was significant parts of the material that was new to them so that was good (otherwise I'd be wasting their time)
As a note: The rowdiness was manageable because the teacher was in the class with me - otherwise I would be in serous trouble. 

Grade 4

Grade four was SUPER antsy. I do think they were like this last year too :P. So nothing new there I suppose. Once again, the teacher was present during this class which means there was less rowdiness than usual.
I will note, there were two kids who were SUPER into the lesson, They were so enthusiastic it made my heart swell a bit. 
Moving on to the actual lesson: it was the same lesson as the one I gave to the 3rd graders. I can't really go wrong with teaching Scholarship Exam material. It's just such a big deal in this country. Passing would be huge for these kids. 
The 4th graders knew less of the lesson compared to 3rd graders. I suspect it's because animals and colors are something students learn in 3rd grade - thus by 4th grade it's all forgotten. On the bright side, I am positive they learned a lot.

Grade 5

I figured, with the Scholarship Exam coming up, these kids must be super stressed. I couldn't really tell any major stress from the surface, but I'm sure they're pretty worn out now. For them I figured out that vocabulary is a bit too easy. So I took it a step up and taught them simple commands instead. The list is linked below. I got the list form the principal as a part of the English material for the Exam. I taught these commands with examples and games such as Simon Says. I thought it was pretty fun. 
Maybe too fun - they got pretty rowdy towards the end. There was no teacher so keeping them under control was a nightmare. But we made it all the way until two o'clock. 
On the bright side, they seemed pretty enthusiastic. They did know some of the phrases beforehand - but majority were new or unfamiliar. 

Grades 6, 7, 8 and 9

Most of these kids are extremely familiar faces because I spent a lot of time with them last year. At the same time, there are a few totally new faces; the 5th graders from last year that I never taught are now 6th graders in my class!
This class was really fun. The attendance was a bit patchy on the two days, but then again, it usually is pretty inconsistent. 
The lesson this week was "Talking About People". We learned adjectives and names of family members. The names of family members were almost too easy - but it was good review anyway. The adjectives were so new! I got worried when students grade 6+ did not know what "bad" meant... But hey, they know now!
The flashcards were super useful (I use large notecards as large flashcards). I can quiz the whole class as a whole or go and target students I know are having trouble. Don't worry - I am sneaky - I don't attract attention when I am targeting questions. 
So overall - preeeeetty good. 

Favourite quote:
Me: What are you like?
Student: I am petty (He wanted to say pretty, but he said it without the r sound so it sounded like pity. "Pity" sounds like the word for "powdered milk" in Sinhalese). 
Me: PRetty not pity!
Student: Haha I am pity! I am Nestamalt! (Nestamalt = a famous type of powdered milk in Sri Lanka). 

That took A LOT of explaining... but it was so funny that the whole class laughed so hard that they couldn't stop.

Grades 10 and 11

This is the final class I have each day so I am preeeettty beat by this time. None the less, it's still one of my favorite classes. 
Attendance is patchy (no surprise) but I have regulars. For example, my friend Sithma never misses a class. 
This week we learned the future tense and reviewed the past and present tense as well. 
The lesson was useful - I looked through their textbook and this is definitely material that they touch on. Tenses will be good for their term tests and exams. BUT. There is a big BUT. They don't want to learn more verbs. They want me to teach dialogs. 
By dialogs they mean:
Conversation between waiter and customer. 
Waiter: What would you like to order?
Customer: I would like... 
Etc...

This is a flexible class and I am more than comfortable with letting them have control. 
It just means that I have some work to do now :P. 

That's all for now,
Samalya <3

Lesson Links:

Grade 3:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-2SZHfrqww4gffw7S74LwvOtB2-FKdisL-dbTy-_Qc0/edit?usp=sharing

Grade 4:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-2SZHfrqww4gffw7S74LwvOtB2-FKdisL-dbTy-_Qc0/edit?usp=sharing

Grade 5:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o7h_KXyag18yWmPmG5iGYoMWtwXM3hUF20QxM1fzSFY/edit?usp=sharing

Grade 6, 7, 8 and 9
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1StZXLy2v2bLbeYE3-I-YJ1HWJEZayUjywrczuPFmiVU/edit?usp=sharing

Grade 10
​https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T1oYl0F-5alvkSXwEvzsGMQTwF9V4O-duli6VlDdS9A/edit?usp=sharing