Jhong-sing Elementary School

Today was the first day of school! Harmony picked me up outside and drove me the 20 minutes to school (and conveniently told me she lives right behind my apartment building, wouldn't mind driving me if it was raining in the morning, and actually wouldn't mind driving me all year). When we arrived, Anne was already in the meeting room where the first graders and their parents were gathering. After an awkward assembly, which I couldn't understand at all since the Principal spoke only in Chinese (Anne did poke me when I was supposed to stand up for everyone to clap for me), we headed down to the first grade classroom. The plan was for me to stick with Anne today.

Most of the students had English names already, due to their parents or to cram school (extra school to help with their English) but there were a few I was allowed to name. I do believe I named one Ben, one Nicholas, one Patrick and one Emily. There also was a Leo, an Amanda and a Vincent. Not too bad.

Amusing Antidote 1:
While going around attempting to figure out these TINY first graders' names (which was hard, since some of them didn't understand what I was asking and the rest were just plain shy), I came across one girl who would actually talk to me. When asked what her name was, she said "Lupy." Lupy? Yes, Lupy. I went along with it and wrote L-U-P-Y on her name tag. After she left, Anne asked me if her name was actually Lupy, and I said I just thought maybe her parents liked that name. Anne said something along the lines of "Are you sure it wasn't Luby?" I said it was possible. "Luby? Like the red stone." The girl's name was definitely Ruby, which makes far more sense, but due to my inability to understand anything that isn't COMPLETELY clear English, I totally missed it. This poor girl is going to come into school tomorrow and be confused as to why her name looks different. Although, this is assuming she's recognized it at all...

Stone picture walk-way.

Waterfall and green area in the middle of the school.

The school itself is really beautiful. It's very well kept and the buildings are pretty new. The vibe is really great, all the teachers seem very friendly and you can definitely tell they like working there. The day was super long (8-4), and after the 1st graders left at 10, I basically just watched CNN and labeled books. Tomorrow I'll sit in on 4 English classes with a substitute in the 5th and 6th grade. My schedule is as follows:

Monday:
9:35-10:15: 1st grade
10:30-11:10: 1st grade
11:20-12:00: 2nd grade

Tuesday:
1:30-2:10: 6th grade

Wednesday:
No teaching (we work all day at the Teacher's Center)

Thursday:
9:35-10:15: 1st grade
10:30-11:10: 1st grade
11:20-12:00: 2nd grade
1:30-2:10: 5th grade
2:20-3:00: 5th grade
3:15-3:55: 6th grade

Friday:
8:50-9:30: 5th grade
9:35-10:15: 5th grade
10:30-11:10: 6th grade
11:20-12:00: 6th grade

Thursday is definitely my hardest day. But we found out tonight that we only have to be in school for when we actually teach (unless we're doing lesson planning with our teachers), so that will make Tuesdays nice (when I actually have a way to get myself to school).

My totally pimped out English classroom. DVD player, TV, projector, stereo, toaster oven - what classroom is complete without a toaster oven?

Amusing Antidote 2:

At one point, this music comes over the loudspeaker. I hear this screaming and running and look out the window to see all these boys running towards the basketball court with buckets and brooms. Turns out the Principal found out someone from the government was coming to inspect the school and he wanted it to be clean. However, having the students clean is not abnormal. Everyone morning from 7:50-8:00 they are expected to clean, then various times throughout the day the music comes on to signify cleaning time, and then again at the end of the day from 3-3:15. It's a little bizarre to see 3rd graders mopping and sweeping, but it does cut down on school costs, since they don't really have any janitors, just some guy who "fixes the desks."

Cleaning time!

And now, some more visualization! My co-teacher, Anne!