Hey friends! It’s been a minute!
I’ve been a busy little bee down here in Chile. Just like in previous years, it’s the most stressful time of year. The two most important events of first grade are [poorly planned] two weeks apart from each other. We just had student-led conferences where the student shares his/her work with their parents and we reflect about the school year together. Those are exhausting because we have 27 conferences in 1.5 days. By the end my face always hurts from putting on my “pleasant parent meeting face”.
^^27 parent conferences in a row
Now we’re approaching Open House. The most stressful event of the school year. We do all sorts of projects (15 to be exact) and we the teachers post them all around the room. The students show their work to their parents as they mechanically rotate around the classroom. Once we complete Open House, it’s smooth sailing until the end of the school year in December.
I’ve been keeping busy hanging out with friends and being with León. Spring is upon us so the weather has been a little wacky. I’m fully enjoying seeing the trees in full bloom and having the sun set later.
^^My most handsome bff
Since we last spoke, we had Erik Lepis, our official Writer’s Workshop “expert” come and give us our 3rd Writer’s Workshop training. Erik is a genius and we are so fortunate that our school has been willing to fly him out to Chile to help us better our teaching methods.
I also recently went to my neighbors' son's baptism. It was my first "Chilean" baptism even though my neighbors are actually from Colombia. I am very close with my neighbors and I sympathize with them since they have had such a hard life. Their son Miguel Ángel has had several severe heath issues, including Downs Syndrome. They are the nicest family and love their son more than life itself.
^^ The most amusing part was that they secretly brought their dog
^^I brought all of the decorations for them from the USA since they don't really sell baptism party decorations here
It was a lovely day, but a bit long. I was first thrown off because everybody showed up to the church on "Chilean time" meaning the Baptism was supposed to start at 2 and the family didn't show up until 2:10! I was also embarrassed because I quickly learned that in Chile, you don't dress up for a baptism. Here I was, wearing a dress and heels and everyone else was showing up in jeans and sweatshirts!
^^I was put on dog-duty
Oh, and I also hit my 3-year mark in Chile. CRAZY!!
Laughable Moments:
During one of our Student-Led Conferences, one of our students was talking about Mr. Pencil. My co-teacher and made eye-contact thinking “what the heck is this kid talking about?! Who is Mr. Pencil?!” Then we made the connection. Mr. Pencil is Mr. Lepis (Erik Lepis). In spanish, lapíz (very similar pronunciation) means pencil. Aka Mr. Lepis = Mr. Pencil.
One of my students pooped his pants one day but refused to admit it. I had a quiet conversation with him where he continued to deny it. I ended up having to say “But my love, you smell”. After that, he knew he was caught. The worst part was, not one place in the school had a spare pair of pants for him. These types of things happen all the time, but the children don’t return the borrowed clothes. The boy ended up having to go home because we didn’t have any extra clothes for him!
In my classroom, we like to encourage both creativity and recycling. So naturally one of my students created a bizzare looking cat made out of recycled soda bottles and toilet paper rolls. When we asked her what her cat’s name was, she said “Miss Kim”.
I was talking to my co-worker and she was commenting how the high school rugby players were huge. She said “I bet they’re taking asteroids”. Asteroids = steroids
During our latest unit, we have been learning all about different cultures. At one point we were talking about Bolivia. Many Bolivians and Peruvians come to Chile and work as nanny’s. One of my students raised his hand and innocently said “My nanny taught me how to speak Bolivian”. Pretty sure Bolivians speak Spanish…
^^ Batteries have to shop too you know...
^^ Strollers are expensive...
^^ Don't you just hate when you misplace your piano?!
^^ During International Parent presentations the mom brought pickles. If only she knew...
^^ The entire city casually lost power for 2 hours because a truck ran into a generator
^^ a [busty] picture of me and a student... (Freud where are you?)
^^ The boy is afraid to go to the bathroom alone. But with no context, I could see how you might be confused...
^^ It's not unusual for me to find stickers anywhere and everywhere
^^ After feeding the stray dogs, the dog food spilled in my backpack and I had an overwhelming odor of beef on the bus ride home.
^^But how did the truck get there???
^^ When you have so much hair you require two stylists
