Pedos

Talea had yet another ¨great day of school", her words. Appartently, she had a bit of an anxiety attack in the morning, though. Poor Ingrid had to see her off as she cried. That must have been tough. As soon as mommy left, though, Talea hit her stride. It helps that Moms don´t linger around. Kids do well once parents take off, as long as the situation is safe and routine.
She came home with a hot sauce stain on the sleave of her uniform, so I suppose she is integrating into the culture. Her teacher left some positive comments in her journal. And she is putting meaning to many of the sounds around her. She is also learning that our secret code at home isn´t secret here. She told me she ¨pedo´d" in front of company who clearly understood that she had passed gas. Hopefully she will one day learn what her father has never mastered: keep somethings to yourself.
Teaching for me has gone well this week. My students are at that four week mark where they know the routines and understand why we do what we do. I have seen a few students have those great"ah ha" moments. The golden moment where they see that they are actually making gains in English. I only have a small handful of kids who are in The Land of the Lost. It is usually a simple matter of me not paying enough attention to them. They are usually the well-hidden kids. Once I start keying on them, making them comfortable at the same time, they tend to come along. Still, dealing with those kids (we call them "barometer kids" - I base the pacing of my lessons by their progress, no one else´) is exceptionally difficult in classes as big as 46 students. Normally I would not be so forgiving of myself in a "normal" class of 30 plus. Identifying barometer kids at week 4 would be neglectful. My wide net is getting most of them, based on my assesments.

Daily back-and-forth with my students has revealed that the favorite soccer teams of Durango youth are the Americas, Pumas, and Chivas. They also like any music from Cold Play. I can make any girl in town giggle by saying two words: Justin Timberlake

Mis observaciones,
Pepino Suave