english night

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. Last weekend I went to Argentina and ran in a marathon! It was super fun, but I was REALLY tired when I got home, Tuesday. Then we had our final English program of the school year, tonight, so I've been busy getting my kids ready for that. I was really proud of them, tonight. They have learned so much, this year! The second graders played English Tic-Tac-Toe (in front of their parents), sang "Deep," played Simon Says, and read some things they had written. The third graders played English Guess that Word, sang "Big House," played Simon Says, and shared what they had written. The 6th and 7th graders quoted Romans 8 for memory and played a game called Mafia. They all did a super job. I haven't even thought of tomorrow, yet... it might be the perfect day for Dr. Seuss...

from the mouths of babes

This week all of my students are working on writing projects. In the second grade, we're writing about our favorite vacations. In the third grade we're writing about our families. In the sixth and seventh grades, I put a bunch of random things on a table and had the kids choose items to make comparisons. I invite you to read what some of them wrote:

• Friendship is like a pen drive because it is always going everywhere with you, and through it you can pass fun moments.


• Friendship is like a book, because the book have many emotions, when somebody is sad, happy, angry, and more things. The friendship can be long or short like a book but true friendship is long, is funny, and is happy.


• Friendship is like a lighter. The lighter starts things and we can start a friendship. Some friendships go out like the lighter. Sometimes the lighter can provoke fire and the friendship can become another thing (more than friends) [Alyssa's note- written by a 6th grade girl:)].


• Friendship is like glue because when you have a friend your friend stick to you like the glue to the paper.


• Friendship is like a cellphone because you show off your friendship and you brag about your phone.


• Friendship is like an mp4 because the mp4 memory have very many things and in our minds we have very important stories about our friends. Friendship is like an mp4 because when we're so wasted we have to sleep for recharge for be a better friend [Alyssa's note- "wasted" here is translated from "gastado" I'm sure- meaning when you're really, really tired!!! :)]


• Friendship is like a camera because it captures my beautiful moments. And if you are bad you can lose it.

• Life is like Rocio's cellphone because it has many options. You can press one of the buttons, and the life you can choose what you wanna do. In the life you can do bad things, and with the cellphone, too.


• Life is like the hair scrunchy because the scrunchy has different forms and the life, too. The scrunchy has many colors, could be green could be pink, blue, every color that we want. The life is like that because everyday the life is a different color. One day is green when we are happy, another day is blue when we are angry.


• Life is like a movie because in a movie you can see romance, action, and comedy. And in the life you live the same things.


• Life is like a cellphone charger because the charger have a purpose that is to recharge and we have a purpose too that only God knows. Life is like a charger because a charger is portable and you can put it wherever you want, and your life, too. For example if you like you can put your life in the God's hands.


• Life is like scotch tape because it is long. But one moment it could finish and so it's important to take advantage to use it, to do the things in a good form. And the tape isn't long.


• Life is like a dice because you never know what will happen in your life, and also you never know if you are playing in what number will the dice stop. You don't know if you will die tomorrow, and you don't know if you will lose all your money playing dice in a casino in Las Vegas.
  
  



• Learning is like this hand gel, because we can open our minds to learn more like we open the lid of the hand gel. The hand gel clean our hands and to learn clean our mind.


• Learning is like a yo-yo because when you don't learn you get down and whey you learn you get up.


• Learning is like a sticker because this sticker is boring and learning, too [written by a 7th grade boy! :) ]
  
  



• Time is like a camera because the end of your time will come and the camera's battery have an end, too.


• Time is like "UNO" cards because you don't know how long will the game last and the time is the same thing. You never control the time like you never desire when the game will end (you always want to keep playing once the game is over). The game could last a lot of hours and it can also last a few minutes. You never know.

And for the record, my kids actually speak much better English than that. But the point of this exercise was to have them write as much as they could in 5 minutes, so I was giving classroom bucks to whichever student wrote the most words about each item:) Had they proofread or taken the time to think about grammar, they would have done much better :)

And just for fun, I added the picture of the surprise I found when I cut into my red pepper, today (which cost me nearly $1)! Can you tell what it is? Yum!

the universal language

Did you know that people call music the universal language? Even if you can't talk with someone because you speak different languages, you might know the same songs! You might also learn some new ones, though, because every country has its own special musical style and tradition. I LOVE Paraguayan music. Honestly, I didn't think it was anything special when I first came, but now I just love it and am really going to miss hearing it at all hours of the night (my apartment is in the center of the city, and there aren't any laws, here, about not playing music too loudly). OK, maybe I won't miss it at 2 in the morning. But I'll definitely miss hearing it as I walk down the sunny streets toward the market or school. OK, Alyssa, enough with the nostalgia. Get on with the story.

So last Sunday night I got to go to a piano recital! I took some videos, so that you would be able to listen. Try and see how many you know! Some are Paraguayan, so you probably won't know those. But I think you'll like them. I especially think those in the 23-40 age group will like the last number :) The student learned it, by ear, and inserted it into several different places of Beethoven's "Moonlit Sonata." Have fun!

recess castigados

Gracias a Dios por este dia! Can anyone guess what that means in Spanish? It means "Thank You, Lord, for this day!" I'm feeling very thankful, tonight, because my all of my students got to go out for recess, today! Usually some of them don't get to play at recess because they made bad choices during English class and I have to discipline them. Sometimes it feels like adults actually like to discipline us, doesn't it? But that's not true, at all! But when God created the world, He made consequences to help us know what to do. All of our choices always have consequences. When we make good choices, we like the consequences. When we make bad choices, the consequences aren't fun at all! Your parents and teachers hate to see you frustrated, mad, and sad because of your wrong choices. But God has given parents and teachers the job of helping kids understand how consequences work, so it's really important that sometimes they discipline you to help you learn.

It has been really hard for some of my students to obey me, this week, so they haven't gotten to play outside at recess very much. Since my job is to help them learn English, I tell them that they can either choose to learn English during the hour of English class or during their recess. It's better if they can learn during class so that they can play soccer during recess. But if they choose not to listen, pay attention, participate, or try during English class, the consequence is that they'll miss recess. 2 of my kids had to miss recess every single day, this week, which made me very sad for them. Yesterday I decided that maybe if I played with them, during recess, they wouldn't need to get so much attention by being silly in English class.

So after school, a few of my 3rd grade boys were still waiting on their parents to come pick them up, so I ran over to get out a soccer ball, and asked them if they wanted to play with med. They were SO MUCH better than me, even though they're only 8 years old! Later that evening I was walking home from the park when I saw 2 of our boys playing basketball, so I asked if I could play. They were surprised that I wanted to play, but said yes! There wasn't a gate in the fence (yes, adults, my mind did engage in a short lived moral debate, at this point in the story), so they showed me the VERY small hole I had to climb through! Thankfully, Paraguayans don't play as much basketball as soccer, so they thought I was REALLY good. (Ah, their ignorance is my bliss). After about 30 minutes, some older high school boys came to play, so I decided it was time for me to go home. They said "adios" and "gracias por jugar!" which means "goodbye" and "thanks for playing!"

So I don't know if my little experiment worked, but today was the best day I've had with my 3rd grade class in months. Not even one of my students had to stay in from recess! So instead of staying in my room with the "castigados," which means, "people being punished," I went down to cheer for the boys playing soccer and watch the girls on their rollerblades. And they definetly were showing off for me, which made it even more fun! I think maybe some of my kids just needed a little bit more attention. Do you ever act silly, disobedient, or angry because your mom is so busy cleaning and helping your brother with homework and changing your sister's diaper that she doesn't play with you? Or do you feel jealous, at school, because you're really good at reading and the teacher always spends most of her time with the kids who need more of her help? When we feel sad, lonely, or frustrated, we should tell our teachers or parents with words, instead of making bad choices like being mean to other kids. Your teachers and parents love you so much amd they are very happy when you make good choices because they like seeing YOU happy!