Today marks the end of 2nd quarter for the school year. It's hard to believe that I am halfway through my first year of teaching. It has been so fun and exhausting and stressful and fantastic and horrible and amusing. Kind of like being married. Haha.
I have a lot to celebrate about my first half. I feel like I've grown immensely and improved significantly as a teacher. In some areas, however, I have regrets and would definitely do things differently if I had the chance. The beautiful thing about teaching? Every day I have the chance to make a change, to try something new, to implement a new method. And by using a trial-and-error system, I keep getting better and better.
The best part about my job: My kids. I love their hilarious perspective of the world and their raw honesty about everything. They make me laugh every day.
Some of my favorite things I heard my students say that I don't want to forget:
"You look like you're sixteen. I thought you were a student."
"Who's single? Wait, where did that come from?"
Me: "A girl in another class lost her French-English dictionary. Has anyone seen it?"
Student: "You're just asking us that because we're Mexican."
Student (sees me maneuvering through the crowded lunchroom with a tray of food): "Hey Teacher, how would you like it if I threw that all over the floor?"
Me (trying to get students to guess the meaning of la colle, which means glue): "It's something you used a lot at school when you were little."
Student: "THE BATHROOM!"
Me: "No, you used to eat it."
Student: "GLUE!"
Me: "We're having a class party tomorrow, and you're welcome to bring some..."
Student: "French wine? You can't have a party without it."
Me: "I want you guys to respond to Pierre's letter in French, talking about your life and what you like to do."
Student: "You want me to respond with personal questions? How do you say none of your business?"
Student (sees me before school with no make-up on): "Woah, Teacher, you look really tired and sick."
Student 1 (copying down a sentence from the board): "Qu'est-ce que tu fais...pour...sport.."
Student 2: "Russell's a poor sport."
