After Christmas, I started a new routine with my students after their lunch break. We circle up our chairs by the window (because at this point, the power has usually gone off and the kids are sweating up a storm from their intense soccer playing...) and read from the devotional, "Keys for Kids." We have all come to appreciate this time to regroup for the afternoon, to talk about any issues that came up over recess (and there are plenty!), and to read the Bible together.
My students love setting up this little circle of chairs before I get to the room. Especially if I'm running a bit late ... They send a messenger to the front door when I enter the school building, who after asking me to close my eyes, leads me to my seat in the newly formed circle. ;)
This picture was taken during one of the last days that Jephte was with us in class. He is now in 3rd grade with Miss Lindsay, full time! And having a wonderful time.
Working with Mario on some word families that we have been learning (with the help of the fish cut outs you see on my lap). The students have their own set of smaller fish, which they wrote the words on as well. And when we had finished our first six word families, we played a fishing game with them ... each student made a piece of oceanscape on large blue poster board, we taped them to our back table, put paper clips on each of the fish, dropped them behind the table, and then went fishing with a yard stick and magnet. It was the first time any of them had ever experienced anything close to fishing with a pole (most of the fisherman they know, here in St. Marc, use hand-woven nets and wooden boats for their daily catch) and they loved it!
Introducing Christelle Romelus, my new student from the 2nd grade classroom. It's good to have a girl to balance out the rammy-ness of my two little boys. And I can tell that she is benefitting a lot from being the 'advanced' one in the class. It was a needed boost to her self-esteem, as well as being a motivator for the boys in their reading progress. Never thought I'd be teaching a classroom with just 3 students ... but they keep my hands full! God knew what I could handle, and he also knew how much individual attention these little ones need. =)
Harry and Kai, goofing off before school ;) I think they miss having me as their math teacher this term. Leo (the other 5th grade boy in their class) has taken to giving me morning hugs every day, because he doesn't see me much otherwise. I don't mind =)
The posters you see behind them are part of the first big art project I did with my students this winter. I traced their bodies, then they colored them in with the outfits they were wearing for the day, and we labeled all the body parts they had learned during science class.
I kept Jephte and Woodeline's up for a quite a while after they left my classroom ... but I soon started getting reports from teachers and students alike that the posters scared them when they walked through my room, because they always saw them out of the corner of their eye and thought someone was actually in there! So I took them down.
Valens and Mario lookin' cool in front of their former classmates =) These little boys are sooooo cute! I am gonna miss them coming June 12 (graduation day)...
Lillyana showing off her new Bible, with special page of dedication from Miss Lindsay and a picture and explanation of her name's meaning. These 3rd graders are not only learning to read this year, they are learning to love God and love reading his Word. Thanks to their teacher ;)
Alex. Another proud owner of his very first Bible ...
Deivee and April, the two children I work with every Tuesday and Thursday, 'relearning' their alphabet as they create their own letters out of Play-Doh. We are also doing a lot of work with sight words, fluency, and decoding skills. They are a fun reading duo =) And every Friday, April and Lilly (her playmate, and a very strong reader) come and find me before dinner so that we can do some reading just for fun. Up in the large climbing tree in front of the Snow's house.
And this is Eli, the young man I am tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays. He just turned 17 this month, but is still struggling to keep up with the 6th grade curriculum. Especially in reading and math. So Miss Esther is helping him with his math after day after lunch and I am working with him on reading after school. We're making a lot of progress, which is exciting to see ... but we also have fun with our guitars. He was one of my first students here on the base (even though he already know how to play a little bit), and he has taught me as much as I've taught him! This is an old guitar that he was in the middle of refurbishing. It is now finished, and looks wonderful =) Yesterday at lunch, he loosened the strings and asked me to sign the inside of it. I was honored. I guess he thinks I must have taught him something ... We have lessons again tonight, at 6:30. Right after dinner. Followed by our Wednesday evening worship. Our lessons have become more of a jam session, since he and Samuel are playing as well as I am these days. But they are also a lot more fun! ;)
Ah - the dinner bell just rang. I'd better sign off so that I don't miss out on any rice 'n' beans!
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