Netherturnaround!

Ohemgee.

I had the worst day yesterday, and I didn't think today was going to be better because I had to teach two different classes. I couldn't help but dread it because I was afraid that my students wouldn't give me a chance to prove that I am a good teacher.


BUT....

I had an amazing day! I woke up pretty early to work on one of my lesson plans since I couldn't get the motivation to do it last night. I was having a hard time putting it together because of everything that was going on, so I called one of my friends to cheer me up...and he did. :) Thank God for friends. 

I arrived at school at 8 am, and the class I had to teach didn't start until 9:55 am so I had plenty of time to print everything out and go over everything. 

For the 4th years, I went over the elements of a short story with them. I planned out a rap song I found online about the different elements, guided notes, fishbowl activity, and find someone who. The guided notes took a little longer, but it was ok since I found out that most of the students didn't read the short story anyways. We started on find someone who and the students were so confused because I wanted them to walk around the room and find the answers -- my mentor teacher loved it!


For the 5th years, I went over the article, "How About A Hug?" -- which was totally about the American greeting - hugging. I demonstrated to them the different types of hug, provided them with a video about different greetings in different cultures and how it sometimes clashes. We listened to the article on CD, and talked about the pros and cons of hugging. Then they had to do assignments. 


And guess what ---- I'm finally learning the students' names! There was only one that I couldn't pronounce and this other student tried to help me out, but instead he was really just making me say an inappropriate word in Dutch. Whoa, right? I learned to laugh it off -- I even got the nerve to tell these students not to curse in front of me. :)


Then, my overseas coordinator comes up during my break and tells me that the school is buying my roommate and me a bike so that we don't have to pay for public transportation to and from school! That saves us $30 a week for tram and $100 for a second-hand bike! Yay! 


Life is good. :)