Week 5: I LOVE MY CUTIES SO MUCH

That giant piece of paper I am holding is what I use to write out dialog - giant post its because the stick really well - for the older classes -- I split the big paper into two pieces lengthwise so I can fit two dialogs (cuz I started to run low on giant post its...)

This is the parade! Instagram gold here ;P. There's a parade somewhere in Sri Lanka every full moon - so like once a month! This parade is in Dewinuwara, close to Dickwella where I teach.

Stilt walkers! So after the parade goes by theres a HUGE market for the following week. They sell cute things like hair clips and sweets.

7th-8th graders chilling out with me while I wait for class to start.

This is where the rest of the giant post it notes go -- here's an example of a vocab list.

Amasha (grade 6) gave me this... it tastes like an unhappy olive mixed with a grape. It makes you teeth yellow!

They are pretending their chins hurt.

This was my funnest class -- so enthusiastic and cuteee!

Me with a couple of eight grades after class ended. I was grading their papers.

All they do is snap selfies.

I HAVE SO MANY SELFIES ON MY PHONE...

My photogenic 11th graders <3

Grades 3 and 4

I did not have classes for 3rd or 4th grade. They had their exams that day! I wish someone had told me that before I walked into the class. It was a bit embarrassing - however it really shouldn’t have been - I was completely unaware. So I might be teaching an extra class next week!!

Grade 5

For fifth grade… I always felt uneasy with teaching them. I thought the teacher herself could do a WAY better job than me when it came to teaching the English material.
I proved myself wrong that Wednesday.
I went in and this time she hung around with me as I taught. We sort of worked together and in the process it came to my attention that there were somethings that she didn’t know -- that I did. Like for "Good afternoon" - she translated it as "Good night".
I got this weird feeling inside. I think it’s a feeling of relief. I was relieved I knew that I was useful and not providing the kids with second-level learning. 
In other news, the students are working really hard. I’m teaching them the material bit by bit and I’m hoping they get it all together soon enough to be prepared for the test. I just got confirmation that the test will be on August 21.

WEDNESDAY Grades 6-9

The Wednesday classES (notice the plurality) for grades 6-9 went well. Yes I did it again. I once again accidentally got myself another class. A student begged to come at 2 o’clock instead of 3 o’clock so I added another class at 3 so I could accommodate more students. I teach the same exact class 2 times for grades 6-9 -- as I do for them on Thursday and Friday as well. It’s not so bad...it’s just double the yelling, screaming, and internal crying. And fun of coarse :) .
This week I had smaller classes so they were strangely MORE rowdy. They were students I knew really well so I guess they were feeling a bit too comfortable. I will be sure to make them uncomfortable next time (I’m not sure how to do that yet).
This week we did the lightened version of last week’s dialog on “Shopkeeper and Customer”. It was good timing because we had learned about “Shopping” last week. It was fun, the kids were enthusiastic enough to come forward and perform the dialog for the class. Some were a bit shy so I also let the whole class take one role while I was the other and switched that up so everyone got to practice saying the whole dialog. ​

THUR-FRI GRADES 6-9

It’s around this time that the kids really start to drop off. School’s almost out and it’s parade season in a nearby town so kids like to go there. I went to see the hype too - I can totally see how a giant elephant, balloons, and tons of colorful food could be slightly (very slightly) more interesting than my class…
The 2 o’clock class was superb. The few students (6 or 7 students) made the class surprisingly fun. The students that came that day were enthusiastic and very friendly. We even had time left over at the end and they sang a song for me!!! I think that class was the most fun I had had yet. A lot of my students just come to play with my phone - but these kids had fun just being in class. All throughout the class time they would joke and play - but be serious when I asked. But even I like to have fun so I didn’t mind when they goofed around.
The 3 o’clock class was alright… It’s just that they weren’t as interested in the class. They were a bit more interested in my phone. On Thursday I had two students and three more came on Friday… but all they did was complain that I didn’t bring chocolate. It’s kind of an unsaid rule for people who come from abroad. In Sri Lanka imported goods (chocolate) is super expensive. So when anyone comes from any other country it’s their duty to bring some. It’s times like these when I wish I didn’t have to do that. It’s stressful in it’s own way -- becuase no one can ever get enough.
We still got through the lesson though! And I ended class a few minutes early so they hung out with me while I graded. They’re good kids - half my job is to encourage them anyway. I hope I do at least that for them (in addition to giving them chocolate now and then). They are, after all, really good kids.
On the actual lesson - it was a good level of difficulty. It was called “Body and Illness” We learned vocabulary (body parts and illnesses) and phrases (to explain what illness they had and then what body part hurt). I had given a lesson like this last year -- the body parts should be a bit easy.I figured, like last week, the phrases would be way harder than the vocabulary. I was right. The vocab was pretty easy (there were some new words there too - especially with the illness words). The rest of the time was spent on the phrases. Which was fine by me - practicing the phrases would be most useful anyway. They are fill in the blank: ex. My _____ hurts. So the vocabulary applied really well there.
I won’t lie; I made this a slightly lighter lesson. Their exams were just ending so I decided a fun/less stressful lesson was in order.
*Note - these kids have a concerning love for violence… they came up with the most gruesome ideas for their “mini skits”... oh dear...

Grades 10-11

The final class was pretty good too. I had a total of four students both days. It made the lesson go waaaaay faster because I had fewer people to perform. Also, all the students that came were 11th graders so they were pretty good with picking up the phrases well. The tenth graders, that didn’t come this week, usually have a tougher time. This week’s dialog was between a doctor and patient. The students liked it, they said it was useful. Actually, they like the dialogs as a whole - it feels more real-worldly and applicable to them. I can see how it could be useful to have some English phrases right up one’s sleeve.
I used to think the older students weren’t as into the classes as the younger ones. I guess I was wrong. One student gave me a bracelet (one that’s braided like a friendship bracelet) that she got from one of stores near the parade area (as mentioned above). It was really sweet! I didn’t want to get it dirty by wearing it on my wrist so I tied it to my backpack -- it’s a really nice reminder to keep working hard!

Lesson Links:

Grades 3-4
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RlmYIynbwG8TvUOkRMzP-ngVIL-_cJNQ0ApS44kJ89M/edit?usp=sharing

Grade 5
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T5Lso1TutBZmHvLxen2qv9onPD2Y4xbCIdvtPZ7FGqk/edit?usp=sharing

Grades 6-9
​WED: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bUBbhYT---WJrHH4E_gTODMF5w1DUq9E9WwprhaZJe4/edit?usp=sharing

THUR/FRI: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kv-u9JRoiv753BMEnvY4y_LE6DANKi-w-_ey8Bv8n88/edit?usp=sharing

Grades 10-11
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13_D7bN370veEdOearNioNZaydkHhydlXZhCbm9r_8Bs/edit?usp=sharing