Heat

I have an old school. It was built, I believe, around 1952. It's been through it's share of renovations- they've added on 6 classrooms and a few years ago they redid the entrance so it actually looks like an entrance. When I came here to interview 8 years ago I thought I was entering some back door that the custodians use. But no, it was the entrance.

Being built so long ago, most of the classrooms have air conditioning. I, however, am in one of the classrooms that were added later. I have no air conditioning. The temperature outside is currently 92 degrees. My classroom is at a balmy 85. Let's add 20 kids. First grade teachers don't sit when they teach. They are constantly moving. So, my room is 85 degrees, there's 20 other bodies in here and we're all moving around. My only saving grace is the fact that today is early out and the kids went home at 1:25. I get to stay until 6:00. That's when Back to School night starts. Then the room will fill with 20 or so adults moving around. I can't wait. Right now I really really really want to go swimming. Really.

First Grade Adventures: Day 2
Today we didn't have to focus so much on rules. We actually got some work done! Pre-assessments begin. We do a page where the kids copy me as I write "My name is (fill in your name). I am 6 years old. I like (then they write something they like)." It's very informative for me. It shows who can copy words, what kind of handwriting they have, and it shows if they can write something on their own.
Later that day we did a shapes assessment. First graders are supposed to identify and draw the following 8 shapes: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, rhombus, trapeziod, parallelogram and hexagon. I gave each student a piece of paper and had them draw each shape. Most of that assessment came back blank. I wonder how many adults could draw all 8... Yeah! Stuff to teach!
Tomorrow's pre-assessments include writing a story, writing the numbers to 100, and matching a number to it's number word. Should be fun.

Rules Rule for the Day

Try 20 short strangers.

It's not their fault, being short and all. They're only 6.

The wait is finally over. Time to jump back into the hectic, fun-filled days of school. The 80 folders are laminated and cut out. The name tags are in place on the tables (or were this morning). The room has "magically" transformed itself from this:

To this:

The palm tree full of parrots, each parrot lovingly bearing the name of a short stranger, is posted on the door. The pencils are sharpened. The tables are labeled along with the crayon bins, and the glue and scissors bins. The books are sorted. The calendar is up. The dragon is in it's place once again, perched atop a bulletin board where it's been perching for the past 7 years. Though he once was a nice bright green he's faded to an ideal greenish-gray dragony color.

The names are on the coatrack. The bin labeled "Class Books" is empty, waiting to be filled over the next 9 months with stories and tales of a new batch of first graders.

A whole new group of kids with unique personalities, but yet somehow exactly the same as every group that's come before it. A whole new group of kids who believe that they're the sole inventors of the rhyme "Step on a crack, break your mother's back".

They're finally here. 20 new strangers who will soon become the focus of my life. 20 new kids who are excited to go to school but also scared about what they'll find. 20 new kids to convince that they're smart and talented and capable of anything.

I'll try and give an update about each new day of school so you, the reader, can experience first grade all over again. Happy happy joy joy.

Day 1: OVERLOAD

The kids are pretty much overloaded with information today, whether I try to stop it or not. Everything's new. There's so much to remember. They have to learn how to eat breakfast in the room, where to throw away their garbage, where to sit at their table, where to sit on the rug, when it's okay to get a drink or go to the bathroom, where to get that drink and where that bathroom is, which doors to use at recess, and that's just naming a few of the things they have to learn.

Not to mention all the rules: recess rules, breakfast rules, sitting at your desk rules, sitting on the rug rules, raising your hand rules, walking down the hall rules, using the balls and jumpropes rules, lunch rules, talking rules, raising your hand when you want to talk rules (this takes about 180 days to learn), cleaning up the room rules, reading a book rules, passing out crayons, pencils, glue or scissors rules....it goes on and on.

I try not to go over everything on the first day. I try to just get them acquainted with me, the school, and the classroom.

But it's impossible to ignore the rules!

We do a simple art project where they make a picture of themselves and we have to go over scissors, glue and crayon rules. We have to go over how to clean up and what to do when you're done rules. I read a book to them and we have to go over sitting on the rug rules, listening to a story rules, and not talking when the teacher's talking rules.

They're not rules, they're just routines, but it makes no difference to the kids right now. I'm the teacher telling them what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Right now it's ALL rules. Later it will be second-nature.

But today it's rules.

So some of them stop listening. It's too much. That's when we take a break, put on a jiving CD and play "Freeze Dance". But in order to play, we have to learn....THE RULES! (Freeze Dance rules, by the way, are: 1. No running. 2. No talking. 3. No touching of others. 4. If the music stops and I catch you moving you are out. 5. You MUST dance when the music is playing. 6. Have fun.)

There's no escaping the rules! Especially the rule to have fun.

At least, that's the way it goes in my class.

San Pedro Sula: The City

We got a taste of everything in Honduras. We stayed in the city, we stayed in the mountains and we stayed on the beach.

We stayed in the city first. This was a good thing. We saved the better things for later. Here's a shot of us on our first morning in the city.

The city itself is kind of small as far as cities go. There aren't too many tall buildings. But there are paved roads. Once you get outside of the city, say 5 minutes or so outside, you come to dirt roads. Here's a typical street in the city:

And here's a typical street in the "suburbs".

I was a little shocked by it all. I guess you don't really understand the terms "poverty" and "third-world country" until you actually see it with your own eyes. I found myself asking Zack specific questions about his living conditions on his mission while we were there. "So, did you have a floor where you lived?" "Did you have windows?" "Plumbing?" "What was the square footage of your apartment? (Apartment: Shed in the back of a lady's house.)

We pretty much just drove through the city. I didn't feel safe just walking around. We did go to Gaumilito which is a market of sorts. It's where the Hondurans go to get souvenirs. And where we got some real steals on some cool stuff!

After a day of the city we decided to cut our city tour short and head to the mountains a day early. Which we did. And we made a wise choice. I'll get to that later. After our mountain tour, we had to go back to the city to catch a plane. While we were there we decided to go to McDonald's. Sometimes you just need some familiar food. Here's a picture of the handicapped parking there:

In case you can't discern the sign in front, I took a close-up.Exclusive parking for pregnant ladies ....aaaaaand cleaning ladies.

Then we had to stop at a gas station to fill the rental car up with gas and that's where I saw THIS little gem on the side of a truck.

Okay, so they're trying to sell chicken here. I understand that they're showing you how you can use their chicken to have a fun family barbecue. Soooo, why is there a clown at the barbecue? I don't know what Hondurans think about clowns, but if a clown showed up at my family barbecue and just made himself at home with our chicken, I think I'd have nightmares for a long time after. I think I'm worried about having nightmares after just looking at this picture.

All in all, I am really really glad I got to see San Pedro Sula. It's a beautiful city and has some wonderful people.

Things I Like: The Post-3rd-World-Country-Vacation Version

In the USA:
1. Drinkable water from a faucet.
2. Brushing my teeth without using a bottle of water.
3. Getting a drink of water from a public drinking fountain and not worrying if it's going to make me violently ill for the next 2 days.
4. Clean streets.
5. English.
6. Companies that care about my business.
7. Airline pilots and flight attendants who explain why we're waiting on the tarmac for 30 minutes...and who would explain why they sent you inside the airport for 45 minutes and then bring you back out to a different plane and have you sit in that plane for 20 minutes before you take off in the middle of a lighting storm late at night. ...and they don't leave your baggage outside in the middle of a torrential rainstorm.
8. Mosquitos who don't possibly carry Malaria.
9. Floors I can walk on with barefeet without having to worry about germs...and stuff.
10. My family...even though half of them are spread out across the country and other spiritual realms.
11. Parents who watch my puppy for 6 days and don't hate me for it.
12. Neighbors who volunteer to take my mail and newspaper before I even ask them.
13. Friends who watch my puppy for 4 days and treat him like a godchild.
14. Brothers who stay up until after midnight to pick us up at a crowded airport.
15. Who also is thoughtful enough to bring a gallon of milk when he picks us up because he knows we won't have any for breakfast in the morning.
16. Cheerios with said milk.
17. Spaghetti. Real spaghetti with meat sauce and cheddar cheese. Not fettucini noodles cooked in Chef Boyardee sauce and topped with mozzarella.
18. My bed.
19. My house.
20. My country.

In Honduras
1. Seeing where my hubby spent 2 years learning to love serving the Lord.
2. Driving through lush green mountains in a warm rain storm.
3. Meeting people who love my husband and remember him for his hard work.
4. Feeling a familiar feeling of warmth and family with people I've never met and knowing I could feel that feeling no matter where I go in the world.
5. Playing cards games in our balconey as we watch the taxi drivers on the street below...and being a safe distance from said people below.
6. Finding the coolest picture to hang on the wall in our basement.
7. Flying 400 feet above the rainforest on a wire.
8. Doing that 15 times.
9. Hot tubs in the rain.
10. Giant Ceiba trees...I mean kapok trees.
11. Security guards who moonlight as horse guides and don't overcharge us to take us up on his horses to see Mayan ruins.
12. Frogs in the middle of the road!
13. Crabs (and Cheetos bags) in the middle of the road.
14. Flying over the rainforest in a tiny airplane and seeing how beautiful my hubby's adopted country is.
15. Spending a day on the beach doing nothing but playing games and eating churros.
16. Being brave enough to go SCUBA diving.
17. Not having to go SCUBA diving ever again.
18. Scooters on an island!
19. Geckos who live in our cabana but don't have the guts to show themselves.
20. Doing it all with Zack.