The British are Coming! The British are Coming!

I couldn't help myself. Today six teachers from our twin school in Worksop, England, began a week long visit to our school. Oddly enough, when I missed the 8:30 bus I ended up in the right place at the right time. While sitting on the 8:45 bus, I overheard a troop of Brits wondering if they were on the right bus. Naturally, I asked where they were from, and when they said England I asked if they were going to Rosa Luxemburgo. The leader of the group, John, said yes. Of course I told him I worked there and that they were on the right bus. We chatted for the 15 minute bus ride, mostly about getting in last night and the need to practice language in a country where it is spoken.

When we arrived at school Eduardo came to meet the English teachers and told me to take the 4A class inside, and that I would have them alone for the morning. The morning chunk of time is two solid hours. We started by talking about their weekends and then we went over what day was it. I had the brilliant idea to ask them what day tomorrow is. They responded "Tomorrow is Tuesday, the 4th of November 2008," which is correct. When I told them it was a very important day for me they asked if it was my birthday, which it is not. Next they asked if it was my Saint Day, which I don't really know when/if I have one, so I said no. Then they were lost.

I explained that tomorrow the citizens of the United States are going to select a new president, and this is very exciting for me. They began to chatter about Obama and asked which candidate I wanted to win. Even though it is kind of taboo to ask someone outright, "who did you vote for?" I answered them, Obama. This excited the kids to no end, they really seem to like him. SO, for what it is worth, Barack Obama has the support of the 4th grade class of Rosa Luxemburgo.

After our discussion of the election, we had to prepare questions to ask the British teachers when they came to visit. We went through and made a list of 21 questions. Many of them were very simple, so I tried very hard to get them to ask questions that would require more than a one word answer, like when they said "What is your birthday?" I offered "How do you celebrate your birthday in England?" as a follow-up question. These kids are smart, I just don't think they've had a chance to think very hard. Most of what they do is memorization, for example when you ask them how they are they respond like little robots with "I am fine, thank you. How are you?" To this I like to answer with various things, from great to super to tired. They need to know it is acceptable to be something other than fine.

Oddly enough, the afternoon was a repeat of the morning, just with group 4B. I picked them up from the playground. They asked where Eduardo was. I explained about the British teachers. We talked about the election, and they too support Obama. They quizzed one of the British teachers about herself and her class. Then it was time to go home.

For the most part, the kids behaved very well, but at times they were trying to play Sink the Sub. The only flaw in their plan was that I am not a sub, I'm there all the time and I know the rules. I think I had them under control most of the time, but I see where Eduardo is coming from when he gets angry. It felt like any pause in action, such as time for me to call on someone new, they would erupt in chatter, then take several minutes to get back to normal. This made correcting the two workbook activities really difficult. At the end of they day, I kind of stretched the truth and told Eduardo that they were mostly well behaved. I know he would be much harder on them than was really necessary, and I think I got the point across how that they need to behave, even if he isn't in class.

Tomorrow I have class with Elena and one of the Brits. I don't really know what I will be doing, but I know that afterwards Tony, Audrey, Eimear, Blair and I will be going to a party thrown by the Overseas Branch of the Democratic Party. This should be interesting, expect a post about it!