Saturday, September 13, 2008

Week Two

Wow. We're watching TV news and the coverage about Hurricane Ike and what's happening in the Houston area. It is very bad - the winds reached 110 mph. And it makes us thankful that we only had rain here this week and although the kids didn't go to school on Thursday they were back in class yesterday.

The teachers went to school on Thursday and we had a training on the Teacher's Manual and Discipline Positivo - the discipline approach preferred at St. Mary's Preschool and Colegio Navarrete. It was nice to have a day to interact with the teachers and Principal without the children there!

At the end of Week Two I felt a lot more relaxed and confident that I will be a successful teacher. The 5 and 4 year olds both had English homework assignments this week and almost everyone got 100%! So they are learning English from me.

The highlight of my week was yesterday with the 5 year olds. I taught them how to do the Hokey Pokey. And they loved that! It was good to burn off some of their energy, plus they were learning the names of body parts without even realizing it. October's Theme Unit is Our Body so I have a feeling we'll be doing the Hokey Pokey a lot.

Next Tuesday, September 16, is Mexican Independence Day and it is a national holiday that is celebrated beginning on the 15th. We are decorating the classrooms and will have many activities on Monday to teach the children about Independence Day. Plus, we are having a special lunch with all the classes combined to enjoy some Mexican specialities. More about this next week.!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, in one week what progress!!! I can picture you all doing the hokey pokey & turning yourselves around, what fun!!! Cynthia you are gonna rock with those kids!!! Have fun celebrating independence day. With the teacher trainings, in Spanish, how is it? Get most of it??? big hugs from sunny Seattle!!! xo jm

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Hey Chackie, my girlie girl!!! The trainings are done in Spanish - it makes sense, 4 of the teachers teach in Spanish and only I teach in English. In a smart move, my Principal, Elsa, paired with Spanish teacher, Yesenia, who sat next to me and did a wonderful job of translating (live) for me during Elsa's Powerpoint presentations.
Back to ya...it was sunny and clear today here in our home,
Guaymas!

Unknown said...

Hi Cynthia!

Just catching up on your posts. Glad to hear things are going so well. I feel for you with the leaking/flooding in your apartment. Billy and I had our share of that last rainy season.

I'm sure you've thought of this, but with covering body parts the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" is always a big hit with my 6 year olds... as long as you are open to being pretty silly. ;o)

Hope everything continues to go well.

Cheers!