Estou feliz por viver. (quero deixar bem claro que essa felicidade não tem nada haver com o fato de meu marido ter viajado com as crianças e eu ter o computador, a televisão, o banheiro e o quarto só pra mim.) :)

Dance and Draw

I did an activity with my Top Kids group that worked out really well. They were learning the names of family members. I wrote the name of a family member on sheets of paper: mom, dad, brother, sister, grandma and grandpa and stuck them up around the class. Then, I put music on and they had to dance till I stopped the music. When the music stopped they had to run to one of the sheets and draw whatever was written on it. Each time the music stopped, they had to run to a different word to draw. They had fun and I left they papers up to remind them of the words whenever necessary.
I did the same activity using everyday habits like take a shower and eat. It really helps them remember the vocabulary and enjoy themselves at the same time.

Kids and God

Once when my son was around 2, he asked me to go to the bathroom with him. We were both in the living room watching TV. I reminded him that he already knew how to go to the bathroom by himself and he could go alone. The lights in the hall were off and I noticed he was somewhat scared. I told him there was nothing to be afraid of and told him to go.
As he was walking down the hall to the bathroom, I decided to reasure him and called out that God would be there in the bathroom with him. Not the best idea. He came running back crying in a panic and I had to calm him down by telling him okay, okay He's not in the bathroom. No one is in the bathroom, don't worry.

Who are we?

I have to ask my students to introduce themselves. Say who they are. Then, I stopped and thought: Who am I? How would I introduce myself? Really, who am I? It's what we, humans, do. Try to discover who we are. We find it much easy to describe who other people are but find it much harder to do the same thing about ourselves. So, who am I?
A mother? Ok, a mother but that can't be all. Although to society that may be a lot. It doesn't define me beyond the fact that I have children. A teacher? Ok, a teacher but although our profession is one of the main things that define us, it's not who I am inside. It's more how other people see me. Being a teacher is what I do during the day and probably bore non-teacher people talking about all the time.
So, if asked to say who I am, I might say I am a woman who has kids, and teaches or at tries to teach others to speak a language and by doing this I guess I show part of who I am. I am someone who immensely enjoys getting to know people and listening to their stories, and also being able to share parts of my own.
I am a dreamer. The type who dreams stories by day and hopes to write them one day. A brain filled with bits of everyday tales that make me smile, cry, think and want to wake up in the morning.
I am an observer of life. That's who I am. That's who I like to be.