I started teaching 8th grade today, and there were a few surprises. First off, the kids didn't react as harshly as I thought they would to their knowing I was their teacher. Second, they didn't go nuts when I said in Changana that I don't want them to speak Changana. Third, they were relatively mature and well-behaved, but understood me much less than my other new students.
They had received about 10-12 pages of notes that I summarized into two so I could actually give them a proper review of the material. This isn't surprising. The material was written in elevated Portuguese that assumes a level of previous knowledge impossible for these students. Their only choice is to memorize it and not even understand any of it. Thus, the weaning process begins.
Students for Nanosh's night English class made mud chess pieces that look really cool. I start my day English class at Vukoxa tomorrow and I'm constantly making mental notes from what he's done.
I thought today was busy - tomorrow's going to be a whole lot busier.
Peace
John
