School: The Month of December

I promised to incorporate monthly newsletters of my school life into my blogs. My apologies for slacking in that area the past few months. Turns out, teaching is a busy job. I have a full schedule, parent-teacher meetings, progress reports, tests to grade, crafts to make, ideas to apply and sleep to occasionally have. Keeping busy makes the time fly and makes me continue to enjoy teaching my wonderful kiddos each week. 
I teach 17 classes, ( I think,) which gives me a little over 100 students. I have finally memorized all of their names and can tell you which ones love to learn and which ones hate it. I know which students think I'm funny, and which students think I'm crazy. I can tell you the students who laugh at my jokes and the ones who don't understand them. I can tell you the ones who always say, "Amie lao chi (teacher)," when they see me in the hall. I can tell you the ones that melt my heart every time I see them and the ones I wish were absent that day (and most other days). I'm learning their likes and dislikes, but more importantly, I'm learning which ones need more attention and more help. Also, which ones need more push and discipline. Essentially, I'm learning not just their names, but who they are as my students.
Here are some personal highlights from my month.
First, I teach a class of high school  freshman level students. We had a test and writing class a few weeks ago and when the students have writing classes I always play some music in the back and take requests. I got the normal Katy Perry, Beatles, and Bieber requests. This day, Frank surprised me by requesting Blake Shelton's, "Boys 'Round Here," which isn't a great song in my opinion but it was country. And not the country that comes on pop stations. Frank, however, redeemed himself when he then requested Keith Whitley's, "When You Say Nothing At All." Frank was my favorite for a day and this beat the time Adam requested The Eagles, "Hotel California." 
In this same class, a few classes prior, we discussed sketching, drawing and art class in our starter discussion. Apparently, all of my female students in this class take art classes and can execute their skills quite well. They spent the class drawing me and I now have three sketches of myself. Although they don't look much like me, they look better, which is fine by me. 
You all know my favorite student, Wendy, also known as, "bug in a bag girl." Well, Wendy has taken to a new habit when we have lessons that involve cut and paste. She likes to cut tiny hearts from the scrap paper and one-by-one bring them to me. Of course, this distracts her from ever pasting so I have to throw away her excess paper and chaperone her through cutting everything encircled by the dotted lines. Needless to say, I now have a small collection of tiny paper hearts. 
In Wendy's class is a student names Noodles. Yes, you read correctly. We have a lot of food-inspired names throughout our school. As well as several Lions, Tigers and a Dinosaur, Oh My! :) Anyway, Noodles comes into class this past Saturday morning while I'm checking homework gives me a hug and kisses my cheek. I melted. It's the little things. That they love and trust you is so heart-warming. That the one hour, out of the 168 hours in a week, I see them, I make an impression on them in some way or another. 
Seriously, on weekends after working 10-hour days of non-stop jumping, entertaining and yelling, these little guys are the only thing  that make the 6:00 a.m. wake ups, and one-hour commute before sunrise worth it. 
In my favorite Monday night Small Star class, we've been learning marine animals. Of course I play "Under the Sea" for them. As well as teach them the "Baby Shark" song. They loved the shark attack part, ha. :)These guys think I'm funny and I look forward to every Monday with them. 
In this same class I caught Andy on video singing Jingle Bells. And then Dora busted me filming Andy. :)

In my favorite Saturday morning class, the kids have a lot of fun with the introductions. They say their names funny and when I ask, "how are you," they are always hungry for silly things like, heart cake, flower cake and even Amie cake (draw a stick figure with a ponytail on a slice of cake). Cindy is usually, "Sinsindeedee," and James is always, "Jajajamesuh." They're nuts. This week they decided to change their names entirely. Cindy is the ring leader and she names herself "clock." Lion follows suit and  becomes "blue sticker." Leo makes a short change to, "Neo." And lastly, little Jessie becomes, "Rabbit." Apple, QQ and April remain their normal selves (probably only because I'd asked their names before Cindy started the change). I can't wait to see who they will be next week. 

My crazy Saturday morning bunch. Leo, Cindy & Lion <3

My youngest class. Four years old. Rose & Sophie. Rose is a pincher :)

"Put on & Take off" lesson :) This is Joseph! 

Noodles making my shirt look like a dress :)

They day their names changed.

Jessie <3

Apple :)

 My middle school level class learnt animals and what they cn and can't do. What they look like and where they live. So we created our own animal worlds for project work at the end of the lesson. 

Eric

Tom

Betty 

Harry

Edward, even though his paper says Will. I wrote the wrong name in a rush :) 

This here is Crazy Kevin. We ALL call him this. He is a non stop chatterbox of Chinese even when I ask him to stop but there's something about him I can't gel but love. Definitely a character!