A Kansas City gal in Moldova: One of those days

Today was one of those days that started off absolutely awful. I had to cover for my partner teacher today because her mom fell while painting some walls and is in the hospital, so she obviously needed to be with her mom. The day began with 2nd grade. I really like these kids outside of the classroom, but the one other time I had to cover for them I vowed to never do it again. Well, this was an extenuating circumstance so I couldn't say no. They were great for the first 20/30 of the 45 minutes of class. We went outside because it was an absolutely gorgeous day, and it gave us more room. I did a few activities with them standing up on the asphalt, and then they wanted to sit down in the shade. As soon as I said that was ok, 3 boys took of running. At first it was fine because I figured they'd be back. But then they jumped the fence. Obviously this is not ok, so I began to go after them. Then I remembered this is a small village and they'll eventually be back, so I went back with the rest of the students. Sure enough they eventually came back but then took off again, and then others got up and took off after them... and I'd totally lost control. It was so frustrating, but luckily their main teacher came up just as things got really bad. I explained to her the situation and she took care of things. However, something I don't agree with is that all of the students were telling me that he was a "bad boy" and that he "doesn't learn" and they were saying it about some of the other students, too. I wondered where they got this and then I realized they got it from their teacher because she told me in front of all of them that the main one that caused all of the trouble was bad boy and he has no one at home to call if he misbehaves, because no one at his home cares. It just broke my heart on many levels, especially because he did behave until we changed locations... and I know he is capable, it's just a matter of discipline. :(

So needless to say the day began with a rough start. Then I had to combine a class of 23 7th graders with my class of 15 8th graders- who were supposed to be doing presentations. Because that just wasn't going to work, I said we could all go outside again. They were fine and quiet, until I realized a couple of the boys had gone to the bar and didn't ask. Then when I asked them about it they didn't say sorry until I told them to.

Finally it was the 4th lesson and I had the bigger kids. This was great because they were well behaved, stuck around close, and they were just great. Thankfully I had them the rest of the day. What really made me feel better was when they wanted me to take pictures and I was cranky and not in the mood, so I just gave them the camera and I said, "have fun", but then they later asked me to be in some of the pictures with them. It really made me feel good. I may not be the best teacher, but I do think I'm making a difference in their lives outside of the classroom, which is also important, so it's better to have at least one of those things instead of none, right?