Week 2 completed

Today was out last day in the schools. It was a slam packed day, but it was a success. We started with a group of 4th and 5th graders. We did our "Where's Walrus" lesson with them along with answering some questions about ourselves. These students were very curious about our country. 

When we split into our groups, I started in one by myself. It was most certainly a challenge because I felt pretty sick and secondly...the language barrier. These students understood minimum, but ice noticed there tends to be one student in each group that understands more English than the rest. I am always so happy when this happeneds, because I want the students to understand our fun lesson. Anyways, with our first group I noticed that the students really enjoyed the book, but it took them a while to start on the activity. They were very concerned with what their friends and peers were going to draw, and I think they were afraid to draw something "wrong" I suppose. Once Ray came over to show an example, the became a bit more comfortable. So, we had yet another successful lesson.

Next, we had a group of 2nd and 3rd graders. The energy was different--in a good way! They always seem so much more excited, and I love heir curiosity. When we got into our groups though...we had a more energetic group with one of those dominant students. They all enjoyed the book, but when it came to drawing...they all drew the same thing. It was so hard to communicate with them because they knew even less English than the first group. We made it work, though. We also observed some students who appeared to be more ahead and mature by looking at their drawings. Ray pointed out that observation and opened up that new perspective to us. He showed us how 2 students made their drawings overlap while others didn't make objects touch or overlap. Bravo to that! Overall, the kids had fun so our last lesson was a success. 

We ended the night with Cochi and his family. I truly am grateful for them and how genuine they are. Their family is so lucky to have such caring people like them in it, and I am so happy to have gotten to meet them. They have had a great impact on us whether they know it or not.