One Week and Two English Lessons Down...

By the end of the week the kids were as worn out as we were. The first week of any school year is hard, but throw in 90 degree temperatures and even higher levels of humidity with the sun beating town on your back and your classroom, and anyone is going to succumb to fatigue and crying fits; 3-year-olds and 30-year-olds. I taught English Tuesday and Thursday, Venine taught French MWF; next week we will switch. This Thursday everyone put their colored images that go along with their first names on our door and found their corresponding cubbies. I think some actually knew what was happening and made the connection. I worked in small groups on sharing and please and thank you. That concept was a little hard to grasp because they aren't sure what 'please' means yet. Right now it's just a sound they can produce with their mouths to get the highly-coveted car, or 'machine' (which is everything to a 3-year-old in Haiti) from their friend.
Recess is always my highest stress point of the day. Even the mornings are going better, collecting the seven children from the neighboring village and walking them to meet the other nineteen from the bus. Only one, Samara, still cries. But by the time we arrive at the cafeteria she has now eventually stopped; success! Even Vava, who if I have blood diseases, has them now, smiles as she comes in the gate. Recess is stressful because there are 50 more kids in the school so that means another full class on the playground at one time. My previous director at the ISC would have an an aneurysm if she knew the teacher/child ratio on the playground here at any given time. I try to bring toys out for our kids because the slide is shared between classes so we are allowed to use it at morning recess but not at afternoon recess, so they have nothing to do. The swings have been removed because the support is unstable and the ground is covered in dirt, dust, and a large pile of un-spread mulch. My class is too young to know how to play together and so when I give them balls or tractors they usually clutch them tightly to their chests, terrified that one of the older kids is going to come take it away and play with it, never to return it; which, is usually what happens. I try to retrieve the toys for them as they're wailing in misery, but it's true that they also need to learn how to actually play with it as well. It's funny, kids in my class also put blocks and small toys in their pockets as they play. They actually stash their pockets, or anywhere they can find with toys. So a lot of toilet time is spent emptying their pockets and saying, 'no no no'. A guardian is supposed to ring a bell signifying the end of recess for everyone, all at once. At this time teachers clamor to find all of their students and have them stand still in a line, hands on shoulders, until they can wrangle up the rest. Children are in the wrong lines, mine follow any tall person they can find, or stand in another line, gripping their older brother or sister. It is a cacophony of sorts. Especially because, given their non-existent attention spans (they are three, so their attention span is about 1.5 minutes), my class begins to think it's a game of cat and mouse and start to run around the playground again as I start to chase them and bring them back into line, and attempt to get the others to stay in line, and so it goes. I hate recess. Also, (my director would recoil at this as well), there are two gates to the playground, but a giant, open, entryway between buildings that is never closed. So, the children run in and out of this space, which gives directly to the school's campus and grounds and to no supervision. If I develop ulcers from this time in Haiti, this will be the cause.
Otherwise, the second English day went smoothly. We re-read The Hungry Caterpillar and I could tell they enjoyed it more because they remembered the story. I also used some animal flashcards such as the lion, owl, and flamingo to do some quick and easy yoga poses with them; they loved that. And we used red circles (1, 2, 3) to make a caterpillar then play dough and lacing to create caterpillars from other toys in our class. It was good. Venine isn't used to having the entire group do the same activity at once. She would rather I split up the kids into smaller groups to really watch how they color, or build, or create and give them instruction and time to do it well (ie, perfectly). Very French I think as in the States we let the kid discover and create and if it isn't perfect we realize that he's three and has his whole life to attempt to live up to other people's standards. Ok, off the soapbox. Although, okay, I get the teaching aspect of that too. Still learning myself!
Below are some pictures from the class. Manndy has become a favorite and ultimate ham. He kept asking, 'take my picture, take my picture' as he posed. The little wasp of a girl with giant eyes is Vava. I'm afraid we already do have a bond of sorts since our tumultuous first day together. And there are a few of the mind-boggling color the sky turned last night. The photo unfortunately doesn't capture it, but it was astonishing. Right after a full double rainbow, half of the sky was a glowing, burning orange and the other half a deep cerulean blue; which looked immaculate against our orange houses. In the distance, lightening flashed behind the clouds above the mountains, and another rainbow formed to the west. We live in a giant terarium here.