“Profe, me encantó su clase!”

James makes fun of me. I like to play games in my classes, silly games with names like ‘fruitbowl’ and ‘zip zap bop.’ I’m teaching grade eight to eleven – and the older kids get more into the games then the younger ones. Occasionally I worry that one of them in the dark recesses of their soul hates me for making them run around and say nonsense words. But it’s a fleeting flutter of uncertainty – I like playing the games, and I think the kids appreciate not having be talked at for an hour and a half. So far I’ve gotten them to loosen up, piece together some basic sentences in English, and distinguish the “s” sound from the “z” sound (hence the zip zap bop!). I also get teased for my anal-rententive ways – like making all my kids sign my classroom contract. It’s a pretty poster, complete with stick-figure drawings, that details what I will do as their teacher and what I expect from my students. At least this way they know why I’m giving them my Ipek-inspired mother stare. I’ve haven’t had discipline problems yet, although that last grade 9 class was excessively…energetic. The goal of all the running around is to focus all that extra energy into something more productive.

James and I started teaching our own classes this Monday. We split the English classes with the 2 permanent teachers, giving us classes of about 20 kids. We're free to do our own material, although we are supposed to focus on conversation. There have already been a lot of satisfying moments. This morning once of my students, in a tone of rapture unique to grade 10 girls, exclaimed what I have adopted as the title of this entry. I’m in the teachers' lounge now, and another one just dashed in to give me a kiss on her way out. It’s a kissy-kissy culture, that’s for sure. I get kissed by students at the end of class, and if they see me at the end of the day. And yet, it’s not quite like the primary school around the corner where Shayne and Sinmi are working. I dropped by for the first time yesterday. It took a good 15 minutes to make it across the courtyard. Children SWARMED us, and everyone wanted kisses and hugs and hellos from the 'tias'.

I just spent a half hour or so rehearsing some reggaeton choreography with 6 other female teachers for tomorrow’s celebration of ‘dia del alumno’. We’re dressing in school uniforms and imitating the younger teens, who are all obsessed with reggaeton. We're a random group, from the buff PE teacher to the pudgier librarian. It'll be fun though, and I'm sure the kids will appreciate it.

Computer techie man whose name I do not yet know has told me he's about to cut the internet...so I'll leave it at that. More to come!