Thuesday

So I said my next post would be about school. So far, it's been pretty great (read: kids = awesome, school organization = meh). It's interesting seeing what English words are challenging for the kids to say correctly...Tuesday and Thursday sound so much alike that I've seen a few invent a new day, "Thuesday".

I think I'm going to carve a pumpkin this week to initiate a little bit of cultural sharing with the kids in the classroom. Unfortunately, it looks like a version of Halloween has made it's way over here already, so I'm not sure how much of this will be new for them. But...

One of the best things a teacher can do is learn student's names as quickly as possible. I mean, I think we all attach a good amount of our personal identity (whether we know it or not) to our names. Unfortunately, I only see each classroom (3rd - 7th grades) once a week, which means I would probably be getting comfortable with their names by April. Fortunately Spain is flexible, and by flexible I mean you don't have to go through annoyances like asking permission to take photos of the kids in school (though I asked their teacher).

I asked the kids to each write their name in big letters ("MUY grande por favor!"), hold the name up near their face, and give me a big "sonrisa". Here are some of the cuties I get to work with (names have been changed to protect their identities...kind of):