Have I mentioned...

Have I mentioned that...
1. Teaching is a lot of fun
2. Asian kids are ADORABLE?!

(WARNING: Frizz is my latest fashion statement. I don't want to cut my hair til I get back to the States so I let my hair air dry everyday. Some days my natural curl is beautiful, but most days this isn't the case. You've been warned.)

This is one of my SPE classes (kindergarten/beginning english). The 2 kids on the far left are siblings as are the 2 kids in the middle. Siblings are fun to watch in class because they're developmentally at different stages but they tease, taunt, harass, protect and encourage one another. Please notice Alex's yellow tie below, so adorable!!
















(L): Alex putting Jamie in another headlock. These two speak no English but they are good at running in circles and making a cheesy grin when I ask them questions they don't understand.
(R): Mimi is one of my favorite Kindergartners. She wears a dress almost every day (AKA ALWAYS flashing her underwear) and in the last 2 months her English has improved ten-fold.














The other day in gym we had crab races. Jamie is distracting but please PLEASE watch Alex. The whole class was rolling on the floor the first time he did his crab walk. He's SOO serious about it and his hair flops back and forth!



(L): Disruptive students are sent to the principal where they have to stand in a partial squat with both hands above their head til they crack! This makes me smile, if you look close Joe is demonstrating with his shirt tucked into his underpants! ha
(R): Ella wears a dress nearly everyday and is always wearing a smile. She is an assertive tattle tail/rule enforcer and she also gives the best hugs.














The well behaved kids are rewarded with a trip to McDonald's. Look at these doll faces, I'd happily keep any one of these kids.

















(L): This is Minnie, the cutest tom boy I've ever met. She turns into a punk when she's wearing her Mickey Mouse hat. She affectionately calls me 'Mango' and I call her 'Green/Yellow'.
(R): Tim, the ROCKSTAR, is the smartest 5 year old I've ever met. His vocabulary is INCREDIBLE and he READS...not just sounds out words, he READS! I asked him who taught him English, he smiled and said, 'You did, Teacher Tabbi!' To which I replied, 'Nice try, but being in my class for one month did NOT teach you to read.. '















This video of Tim cracks me up because he continues to sport the PEACE sign. There are 3 words that I'm trying to erase from my students vocabulary: STUPID, FAT, UGLY. And then we read a book about Garfield, the FAT cat and then Cinderella with the UGLY step-sisters so it might be a lost cause....


This is one of my classes that doesn't speak much English, I hope I have some success stories in a few months because it's frustrating to teach kids that have little exposure to English. Little did I know when I snapped this photo, but the boy in the yellow is approximately 2 minutes from a complete melt down! The kids break down a lot and sometimes I just want to join them in their tears...teaching English is just as hard as learning it.
















This is my 4th grader, Celina. I like to think I was like her when I was younger: she has SOO much attitude and sass for her size but she's a serious socialite that aces her exams.


















Gary just started the program and spoke little English but he has the biggest vocabulary. One day in class I had the kids think of words that started with A: apple, animal, America, airplane was about as many words as they could think of. Then Gary pipes in: 'Astronaut, Acrobat, Audience, etc, on and on.' I can't remember all the words now but it blew my socks off!





















It's perfectly acceptable to love, hug and play with the kids here. Here we are playing tag and sliding down the McDonald's play area. I just realized that I have been posting on news, random thoughts and stuff going on at home instead of what I do on a daily basis. I hope I didn't bore you all with too many details...