My first day of teaching!

Alright, time to update everyone from the job front.
I don't actually start my job until next Wednesday but yesterday I did 8 hours of substitute teaching at two different schools! It was a blast, truly. I know that I'm very enthusiastic right now because starting a new job is always exciting, BUT, I really did have a good time, and made enough money in 11 hours of teaching (including this morning's shift) to pay for my scooter and two weeks of groceries.

The kids were hillarious. There were a few mishaps, like, after 'show and tell' in the morning, one little boy did not want to give up his spaceship. When I gave it to the Chinese teacher, he began to cry!!! He came around though, after about 30 minutes and did all of his work.

The classes here are highly structured. So much is accomplished in 2 hours. The kids have the most incredible memories and can look at an English word/sentence once before it is imprinted on their brains. No joke. They love playing games too, so there was quite a bit of Simon Says, and a few music therapy activities thrown into the mix. They seem to respond to music the best.

So I taught 4 classes (2 hours each) of varying levels. So different from the Canadian system: I have just arrived in the country, I have NO papers and can't legally work yet, these schools/directors don't know me from a hole in the wall, they don't require references or a police check, I can barely speak English properly (kidding!), and THEY LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THEIR CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!! Not only that, I'm paid IN CASH at the end of the day. Tax fraud anyone?

Overall it was great. The kids gave me little works of art at the end of the day! Including miniture orgami. It's a pretty easy gig, especially if you're just subbing. I must get to work now, I'm filling in for the same teacher again, but this time I get to lead the school in an assembly (?), supposedly we can do 30 minutes of Hokey-Pokey.

love Rach