My weather thing says it’s 48 right now, but it feels so much warmer than that! It was quite chilly on the walk to school this morning, but without a wind (or only a slight wind) it feels so much warmer!

Well it’s Tuesday, which means I had all the fifths today. First hour we talked about the MLK story that we didn’t get to last week. While they were coloring some of the pictures I looked for more quotes for Peace Day and also some photos of the authors.

With 1A, Marina stuck flashcards on the board and played this pointing game (she actually has this pointed finger on a stick) where I would say a word and the student had to point to the card quickly. If they got it wrong the whole class was like “OHHHHHH!!!” It was funny. Then they did this worksheet where they were given a picture and had to chose the correct word and write it.

2A first did this tongue twister. I don’t remember it exactly but something like “Hello, I’m Harry and it’s hot”. I mean it wasn’t that easy, but H was the emphasis. Later on their worksheet they were given pictures of the weather and had to write “It’s raining/snowing/windy…” next to it.

Fourth hour Marina’s class had an exam so I was free and was going to look up more peace info but the video room computer was gone, so I basically twiddled my thumbs.

Last hour the computer still hadn’t appeared and Rocío was mad! That messed up our plans a bit because some things are saved onto the computer and not on my flash drive. That class only had half of the story left to discuss so afterwards that we listened to and sang “Imagine”.

I hit the store on the way home because I decided to make some super delicious M&M cookies tomorrow! I figured I should make them soon since they’re Christmasy. I have class this afternoon and then need to go find something big enough to send Steph’s present in…

Xoxo,

Court

Today it’s super sunny and 48, though the wind makes it feel a lot chillier!

With the sixth levels we did the same as with 6B last Thursday—read and discussed the MLK story. Those classes didn’t have as many questions as 6B did (or maybe they were just less interested in getting off track) so we were able to finish the story/worksheet. There was even time left over to watch an excerpt from his speech and a mini bio.

I sat there in 4B and listened while Analen had them translate sentences. With a few minutes left in the hour we half listened to John Lennon’s Imagine (gearing up for Peace Day, next Monday). I say half listened because the volume on her computer won’t or couldn’t go up very high. Plus they were talking quite a bit, so that didn’t help.

Pilar Cano (the sixth level teacher who left last year to have a baby) was there during recreo and apparently she’s coming back to teach on March 7…which means Marilu is out :(. Don’t get me wrong, Pilar is awesome, but I love Marilu! Mari told me that and I got really sad, but she was like “Criptana’s not that far, you can still come sometimes!” I know she still has several weeks, but it just won’t be the same without her…

With the three-year-olds in the afternoon, I reread them the story of Baby Duck looking for Mummy Duck. “A”, the first class, had a bit more time than “B” so they did this sheet (or rather Ana and I didn’t it for them) in which we punched out a picture of a sleeping baby. On the flap to fold over there was a picture of a crying baby (because Baby Duck kept crying in the story since she couldn’t find her mom). So, you had crying baby, and then flip the flap and you had sleeping baby. They loved it and when Ana asked them who wanted to take one home, they were all like “YOOOOO!!!!!!!!”

I have class with Javi in like an hour. Now I’m going to eat and do a few squats if I have time!

Xoxo,

Court

It’s clear and 55 today…this has been one mild winter—so the locals say!

Yesterday I met up with Carmen and she helped me look for a baby for Steph (because I had no idea about the baby shops around here!). I got her, or should I say the baby, a super cute overalls set. The overalls are sort of a dark gray with white and red polka dots and have a red bow and ruffled pocket in front. The matching little shirt is silky soft and white with gray and red polka dots. I wanted to get a pair of little shoes also but they didn’t have any in a newborn size, so I settled for red socks instead. It’s so adorable! I wish I could take a picture of it, but the saleslady wrapped it.

Carmen asked if I would come to her adult class on Thursday and help out a bit. She said she told her students about me and apparently they’ve been asking when I would come, so Thursday it is. I’m kinda excited; I’m used to being with kids so it’ll be something new…and fun too, I think!

I watched Something Barrowed in the afternoon (one of my Christmas presents) and LOVED it…awesome movie! I went to mass also last night and went to chino after that to look for an envelope to send Steph’s gift in. I’m also sending a selection of turrón and mazapán so I need a rather large one. The only extra large one they had had the sticky stuff ripped off the top of it so that was kind of a bummer. I mean, I can look elsewhere, but they’re always the cheapest.

I left chino and fiveish minutes later I realized I left my mittens there! Those are really nice Columbia mittens and I’m sure that anyone would be glad to find them so I hauled ass back. Luckily I’d left them on a shelf semi out of general view and they were still there!

I woke up this morning with an irritated throat :(. I think it’s the start of a cold—my throat is usually bothersome for a day or two before the other cold symptoms set in. I’m not surprised; with it being winter and all the germy littles at school, I’m actually surprised my body has held out this long…especially compared to last year!

I watched Eat, Pray, Love (a Christmas present from last year that mysteriously disappeared in February and magically reappeared nine months later, in October…and I finally remember to watch it! Good also, by the way.) This morning and I’ve been drinking tea all day and that soothes my throat (for a short while, at least). I’ve also got Halls lozenges on standby. I just hope it goes the usual cold route and the irritation will be gone in a couple of days. A stuffy nose I can handle but I HATE HATE HATE full blown sore throats!!!

Xoxo,

Court

Today it’s 50 and clear, but a tad on the windy side.

I made my weekly trip to Ahorra Más this morning—I usually go on Fridays and then Mercadona some other day, lately it’s been Thursdays. I also went to the post office to pick up my package (which I got notice for yesterday…thanks mom and dad!!!). I went to the bank first though, just in case I had to pay again to receive it. I didn’t, though (thank goodness!) so I’m still confused as to which items warrant extra payment…

Included in this package was:

·         A really pretty purplish beaded bracelet (LOVE purple!!!!!)

·         A 5x7 church picture of Mom and Dad (love it…now I can “see” them every day!)

·         Key chain with my name on it (there’s a word for that, isn’t there?)

·         An oil fragrance diffuser thing (smells really good!)

·         Christmas M&Ms (for cookies!...which I’ll prolly make next week)

·         Some gum picks/massage thingies (SWEET!)

·         More Lindt balls (I think there’s a variety…that’s what the different colors mean,  right?)

·         Two tide pens (which, yes, I’d asked for!)

·         A little medal thing with the Serenity Prayer on it (awesome prayer!)

I think that’s everything…I hope I haven’t forgotten anything! Thanks again, Mom and Dad!!! I feel like I had two Christmases this year! Well, truth be told, any time I receive a package it feels like Christmas!

I have Eloy’s club tonight. I really don’t want to go because I keep remembering how boring it was last year. That’s totally the wrong attitude to have, I know, but I can’t help it! However, I made a commitment, so I shall honor that…even if I believe it’s possible to die from boredom…

Xoxo,

Court

This afternoon it’s 50 and clear…a bit chilly, but overall not bad!

With five-years “A” we did a workbook page that corresponded with the story I read them last week about Ellie and Hippo in the park and Hippo was too big to do anything. They had to cut four pictures out and glue them in the correct order on the next page. I explained the activity several times and pointed to each picture and said the order, but there were still several who mixed it up. It was kinda funny because Ana got tired of correcting the order so she just started drawing sad faces on their pages!

Second and fourth hours were with the four-year-olds. We always have more time with “B” in the morning, so after our usual songs/greetings, we did this worksheet in which they had to place flower stickers over the faded out pictures on their sheets. It was super simple; there was a lot of time left over to play with some play dough! Fourth hour we didn’t have nearly that amount of time, so we played a memory game instead, with toy vocab.

Third hour I read 2A the story that I read 2B before, the one about Charlie and the weather…it snows, they have fun and play and the next day their snowman melts. We then did a class reading, in which each student was a different character. I think it was their first time doing a reading because some didn’t know what to do and it took forever!

Last hour was 6B and we read/discussed the MLK story we did for Rocío’s class. It took a while because we kept getting off topic with different questions, so we didn’t actually finish, but we had some good discussion!

I went by Mercadona after school to pick up a few things I can only get there, like six packs of tuna! I came home and had my lesson with Javi and now I’m going to peel some carrots I bought at the store. Oh, that’s another thing! Mercadona’s the only store that has kilo bags to carrots! Happy weekend to me though…time for some relaxation!

Xoxo,

Court

It’s clear and 50 today! A bit chilly with the slight wind, but super sunny as well…I didn’t even wear my scarf home!

We reviewed a lot in 1A this morning (like, everything, as usual) so we only had about 15 minutes left to do a worksheet. That was the plan, I guess, because it was really simple: Match the food with the correct word, breakfast, lunch or snack and then check whether pictures were fruits or vegetables.

Second and last hours with 3A and B we started a new unit about rooms of the house; we listened to a story about a haunted house and the kids trying to find the ghosts. Afterwards I asked them comprehension questions, which some understood and some didn’t. Lastly they copied down the new vocab, the rooms of the house and things like chair, bed, table, bath…

Third hour with five-years B we did the same thing as with “A” last week; the punched out game boards from their books, then Ana and I punched a hole in the middle so they could stick a pencil, crayon or something in there to make it spin. We never have a lot of time with that class—it seems like “breakfast” starts earlier each week.

4B actually wasn’t as bad as USUAL. I mean, they still were worse than any other level has ever been, but I didn’t hate the class as much today! I went over some adjectives with them (happy, lazy, hungry, thirsty, etc) and then spent the rest of the hour trying to work with this wild child doing some pages out of the workbook. He has a first grade level of English because he never does ANYTHING! No, I take that back, he likes to make noise and disrupt everyone in everything they do. I tried to get him to draw pictures of some animals but he must be ADHD or something…it didn’t go to well.

I don’t have class this afternoon, so lots of free time…oh what to do, what to do???

Xoxo,

Court

It’s nicer than yesterday; 45 and mostly cloudy, but at least it’s not raining!

Classes were even more chill than yesterday. With Rocío’s classes we talked about MLK with the little short story I found. We then listened to part of his speech with the subtitles. Oh and we also took a look at a couple of Husker videos and she had them draw a uniform.

I went to Marina’s class second hour and Pilar, the regular 1B teacher, said she wasn’t there so I was free that hour and fourth as well. I looked for peace quotes for posters we’re going to make in honor of Peace Day on the 30^th.

Third hour I reviewed the alphabet with the class and then Analen asked me to look for activities for Peace Day. I really didn’t find anything though; I don’t think it’s as widely celebrated as other holidays. Like, do we even have that in the US?

I have class with Javi at 4:30 and I’m thinking of taking a nap afterwards. I was more tired today than I was yesterday! What’s up with that? Maybe because the extra sleep from the weekend wore off—is that possible?

Xoxo,

Court