Day 6: I Hold a Special Place in my Heart for the Naughty Ones

Teaching today was seriously like 100 times better than it was yesterday, not that yesterday was bad, it was just really new and overwhelming. Today, we had a much better sense of what was going on, who to look out for, how to keep the kids' attention, etc. It really gave me hope that I can improve my teaching skills because already by the second day, I have improved significantly.

Today in class, I started with the younger of the two kindy groups and began my teaching games. I had a really fun lesson plan for the day, so it was easy to keep the kids' attention. However, as we did our rotations, Jenna said that one of her students hit her on her face, so he sat in the Chinese Chair for the rest of the lesson. It's kind of funny that at the first mention of the Chinese Chair, all the kids straighten up and resume proper behavior for class. I listened to her comment but mostly just went on with my teaching and rotated the other teacher, Tyler. He had gotten Jenna's previous group and he had similar experiences with the one little boy, Marcus, who was being really naughty to Jenna. Apparently, he had ripped up Tyler's teaching props and wouldn't stop speaking in Chinese, which is one of the main rules the kids are to follow in class. Naturally, when it was my turn to teach this little one, I was kind of scared for what was to come.

As I was teaching my lesson, Marcus kept getting closer and closer to me and really just had a mean look in his eyes. I could just tell he wasn't enjoying the lesson and he wanted to be in control. So, I re-vamped the lesson and made it more fun for him. However, since he had been in the Chinese chair for the past two lessons, he had a pretty bad attitude for everything that was now coming at him. He got upset with me because I didn't give him the right ball to throw into the basket, and he walked to the Chinese Chair and began crying. As the rest of the kids broke off for a milk break, little Marcus just sat there with big tears in his eyes and his body sulked into the chair. The sight of such a sad little boy seriously tore my heart apart. I picked him up and sat him on my lap, and he just leaned his head against my chest. I held him for a few minutes, he calmed down, and then asked for me to stand up with him. I just held this sweet little four year old boy in my arms and he leaned on my shoulder, still kind of whimpering. I couldn't believe this boy was a "naughty" one, I just loved him. I think he may have just needed a little positive attention and loving.

As I walked Marcus into the other classroom to get his milk with the other students, the Chinese teacher saw me holding him and kind of laughed. I got the sense that in their culture, it isn't normal for teachers or people, who are not their parents, to caudal the kids when they are sad or hurt. They are very by the book and if one is crying, they ramble something quickly in Chinese and the kids perk up instantly. Our cultures are very different, but I am glad to be learning more about theirs, it's incredibly interesting.

Today, Jenna, Lexi, Chloe, (other teachers) and I took a trip to the supermarket and bought probably ten different flavors of these little treats called pocky sticks. They are these long skinny sesame cookies dipped in a flavor of yogurt, and are actually quite tasty. We decided we wanted to get every kind and try the flavors and host a "pocky party". Some of the flavors included blueberry cheesecake, strawberry, chocolate, key lime pie, cheese flan (which really just tasted like cheese), chocolate fudge with vanilla ice cream, carmel, shrimp, garden salad, mango, etc. Some were rather delicious, some, I could have done without. Jenna kept saying, "try this one" and all I could think to myself was, "hmm, betta not". The majority of our group joined in on the festivities and we hosted quite the pocky party in our room. I must say, it was a good day.

Pictures:
#1: Since I reference toilets a lot, I thought this toilet picture would be rather appropriate. These are the toilets our kindergarteners use, they are so cute and tiny. Why is it that if something is made smaller than the original that it is cute? Weird, but so true.
#2: Lunch is served, CHICKEN FEET!
#3: It's no myth, the Chinese eat these, and love them. I tried it, and couldn't handle it. Take notice that the fingernails are still on there. We were instructed to spit them out as we ate it :/
#4: The sun, visible in China. Beautiful, and amazing that it was there.
#5: Our scrumptious pocky sticks.