So this past weekend I had the pleasure of getting strep from one of my students. How do I know I got it from one of my students? Um ... I'm 99.9% sure it came from one of them-I'm around 288 sneezing, coughing, hoarse voiced children five days a week. You do the math.
Anyway, Gerry, our Foreign Affairs Official, took me to the school clinic and got me a load of amoxicillin and Chinese herbal remedies.
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| My meds |
Because of my sore throat, I couldn't teach on Monday. So Allysa covered for me, and apparently my students did not cooperate. My co-teacher Jenny called to tell me this and also to check up on me. She's so sweet.
I'm starting to feel like I should write a book of all my ridiculous classroom stories. Almost every day something hysterical happens that sends me into bouts of giggles. My babies are a hot mess sometimes.
Exhibit A: Class 6
Oh. my. word. On Tuesday, they were terrible! I had never had so many of my kids get in trouble. Six different kids had to stand up in front of the class because they were misbehaving so much. And that was after I gave each of them two warnings about their behavior.
One of the kids, Tom, was being particularly naughty throughout the entire class. And after his two warnings, I finally told him to go stand up in front of the class. He shook his head "no." So I picked him up out of his chair and set him on his feet to walk to the front of the class. His legs mysteriously turned into jello. I'd had enough of the misbehaving in my classroom, so I picked him up and carried him to the front of the class where he stood in shame for about 5 minutes. All the kids still in their seats were snickering and giggling most quietly so as not to be subject to the wrath of Meesa Lindsay.
So yeah I carried a six-year old Chinese kid to the front of the class, which embarrassed him greatly.
He was a perfect angel after that.
Sometimes, all you need is a little tough love in a classroom of Chinese six year olds.
Note: I'm not sure my kids take me very seriously because even when they're bad, they're so stinkin cute I have a hard time not smiling at them when I'm disciplining them. If I ever become a parent, I have to work on my poker face.
Even though my kids were terrible in Class 6, we also had a few fun moments. For instance, one of the boys was doing something silly (I still don't remember what he was doing), but it made me laugh. And then I couldn't stop giggling. I was almost doubled over in laughter, and the entire class started laughing at me. It was so hilarious.
Exhibit B: Gus
On Wednesday in class, we were reviewing lessons 1-3 because the kids have their first test next week. My poor babies have their first test ... I hope they do well.
Ok, this kid Gus in class 3 is so stinking adorable. Actually, pretty much every kid in class 3 is adorable, but that's beside the point. Gus just recently got glasses, and I swear every time I come to class he has a different pair on. This week he's been sporting neon yellow glasses. Hysterical.
Anyway, I was having the kids volunteer to come up and practice the dialogue with me. They had to bring their book, pencil, ruler, and eraser (rubber) with them to see which one I would ask them for. Most of the kids just brought their pencils, rulers, and erasers.
But not Gus. He's an overachiever.
When I called on him, he quickly gathered up his book, pencil, ruler, and eraser, and THEN, proceeded to grab his name card and his sticker card. Juggling all six of these items in his little Chinese hands, he sprints up to the front of the class. The rest of the students were laughing hysterically at him, and I couldn't help but chuckle because he was so cute.
And then as he stands before me with his hands so full he's about to drop something, I'm trying my best to keep a straight face. He just looks up at me through those bright neon yellow glasses like "Aren't you proud of me?! I brought ALL my stuff!"
Yes, Gus I was very proud of you.
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| My sweet Gus. |
Exhibit C: Dustin
Dustin is probably my smartest kid-he picks up the English faster than any of the kids in any of my classes. And he CORRECTLY uses it. Genius.
Anyway, because we were reviewing for the test today, I went back over their names and how to say "Hello, I'm ..."
As I'm walking around the room telling each kid their name, I come up to Dustin and he says, "Hello I'm Dustin." I did my happy dance which the kids thought was hilarious. In my mind I was like, "You learned something! You learned something! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!"
Note: As a first-grade ESL teacher, you get excited about the smallest things. If the kid can say one phrase correctly and appropriately, it makes your week.
But that's not even the best part. After class was over, Dustin came up to me and said, "Meesa Lindsay, can you speak Chinese?"
IN. ENGLISH!!!!
I squealed with delight and amazement (which shocked him a little bit), and then said with a sad face, "No. I speak English." He sighed and walked away.
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| My brilliant Dustin |
Exhibit D: Josh.
Last week Josh was absent from classes-I have no idea why. But I missed him alot. He showed back up this week in full blown Josh form. Oh my word this kid is ridiculous.
I had them drawing pictures of their families, and I gave them a 2-minute warning before it was time to stop.
Josh looks up from his drawing and holds up three fingers and says, "Three!"
A little conflict happened in my mind. Part of me was like "Oh my gosh he understood that I said two minutes left!!!! AAHHHHHH!!!!" and then the other part was like, "Who does this kid think he is, trying to weasel an extra minute out of me?! Uh uh."
I told him, "No, two more minutes!"
He said, "Three!"
I said, "No, TWO!"
He whined and continued drawing.
When I told them to stop drawing and put away their markers, some of them obeyed. So I went around the room telling the others to stop drawing and put their markers up. When I got to Josh, he was still drawing.
So I told him to put his markers up. He shook his head at me.
I told him again. He looked up at me, grinned, and said, "No!"
I put my hands on my hips in what I thought was my fierce Madea impression and said, "Excuse me?! I know I didn't just hear you say that!"
He. said. "No!". Again.
So I took the marker straight out of his hand, put it back in its case, closed his marker case, pointed to his locker, and said, "You put them up. Now. And you do not say 'no' to Meesa Lindsay."
He just grinned that illegally cute grin of his and sauntered back to his locker and put his markers away.
Next time he says no to me, he gets to stand up in front of the class.
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| Corey, Josh, and Archie |
Note: Everything I said during this interchange was with grand, exaggerated hand gestures. And I think Josh knows I like him alot so he thinks he can get away with anything. Not. true. Meesa Lindsay don't play like that.
Sometimes to deal with these first-graders, I just gotta bring out my Madea.
And to Mrs. Shari Hamlin, if you read this, know you would've been proud of my Madea. I'm thinking about teaching my kids to say "Hello-er" just for you.
Hope y'all enjoyed this. If you can't tell, I adore my kids. They're so little, so cute, so precious, so sweet, so naughty. I can't imagine my life without them ... but a year ago, I couldn't have imagined my life with them. It's amazing how Father can just change everything in one's life. I want to thank all my friends back home for your love and support. Without you, I wouldn't be here, and I'm so, so, so grateful that I am here in Taiyuan. I'm tearing up as I write this because of the amazing grace and love I have been shown by Father and by you all. And a special thanks to my family, for being brave and trusting enough to let me go to the other side of the world. It's been a crazy, wild ride, but I'm loving every minute of it. A note of encouragement: just let go-let Father do what He wants to do in your life. I love that song "Sweetly Broken" by Jeremy Riddle ... it has been my China song, as I call it. Just let go and surrender to Him.
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