11 Weeks Down, 30 to Go!

Man, I'm really blowing it here. I used to post about three times a week, now I'm down to the end of the week updates. I would be lying if I promised to post more, part of the problem is that my weeks generally look about the same. This really shouldn't be an excuse because the kids I work with make everyday different from the last. There is always something going on at school, playground drama, classroom chaos and more.

The past week was nice. We went on a field trip to see Robots, which was in Spanish. Since most of the kids still believe that I don't speak Spanish they were concerned that I didn't understand. This was the perfect opportunity to make them practice English. Every time one of them would ask if I understood I would say "No, how about you explain it to me?" On average, the kids would give me a three line plot summary which covered the bare minimum of what happened. The movie tried to press two points, that you shouldn't give up on your dreams and that old things can be repaired and are still valuable. I think those are good values for kids to learn.

I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but never seem to get around to it. My 3rd graders like to make pictures for me. Usually they are just left over drawings from arts & crafts or rainy days when they have to play inside, but sometimes they do them at home. Not to be cynical, but I value the ones they do at home a little more since the ones done at school tend to be a pass-off to the closest adult.

A few weeks ago, one of the girls in 3rd grade told me that she had a picture for me that she had drawn at home. I thought this was precious, especially since I don't feel like I have a connection to many of the students. Yes, I am there and I talk to them, but I wouldn't say that we know each other very well. Until this little girl told me about her picture I could hardly remember her name. When we got back to the classroom Andrea pulled out a piece of paper from her backpack and marched it up to me. She had drawn an American flag, complete with stars and silver glitter pens.

I have two other girls who are pretty much constant drawers. They will hardly pay attention to what Elena says because they are coloring under their desks. These two have drawn portraits of me. No joke, the kids are drawing portraits of me. One is actually quite good, she included my glasses and the earrings I wear pretty regularly. There are some aspects that I'm not so sure about, like a random green hat and a rather small red purse. I've never worn a hat to school and I carry a large green tote bag to school... just kidding! It is still adorable, if inaccurate.

Today is a holiday, the day of the Immaculate Conception so we have an extra day in the weekend. For those of you counting, that means I have had a four day weekend. Unlike many of my fellow Madrid residents, I stayed in the city and relaxed. I went to the movies to see Body of Lies and bought postcards to mail home. Luckily the weather was rather wet and miserable so I could feel alright about staying home most of the weekend.