SCHOOL UPDATE

I've completed the first week of my conversational class and it seems to be going a lot better.  For the first couple of days I stood in front of the class full of boys, all looking at me expectantly, feeling as if I was in one of those nightmares where you have to give a piano recital in front of a packed audience and suddenly realise you can't play the piano!  The boys were all so optimistic but shy to speak and I found it difficult engaging them all.  I taught them to play 'Taboo' and volunteered to go first, partly to demonstrate the game but also so show them that I was willing to take part too and have fun (and make a fool of myself).  From there we progressed to 'Who am I?' which they enjoyed immensely.  They played in pairs, the only rule being that only English could be spoken and they relaxed, talked and laughed.  They finished an entire pad of Post-It notes and I was very impressed at some of the answers they had to guess eg colour, Antarctica, a sunset and, in one of my favourites, a boy had his own name pasted to his forehead.  I got off lightly in taboo - I had to guess that I was Buddha and somehow I did it!  A thoroughly good icebreaker though and now they're relaxed enough for us to move on to roleplays with scenarios like making an appointment to see the doctor.  It's still difficult to hear them all speak individually and some of them have approached me and said they would prefer 1-to-1 lessons too.  I can understand that because as it's a class of mixed ages and abilities some of the pupils with less advanced English understandably feel shy about speaking in front of the others.  Some have taken to coming to chat to me in my 'office' so now I arrive in the morning not only to a deluge of little ones bearing gifts of drawings and newspaper cuttings, but also the older pupils carrying work to be checked or just wanting to chat.  I have a 2 hour lunch break but again no sooner have I finished eating than all my companions are waiting on the doorstep for me to invite them in.  I don't mind though.  At lunchbreak today in my office  I had 2 of the boys playing a board game I taught them, 1 wanting me to correct work, 2 playing handball with me (those foam filled balls I bought from Poundland were the best purchase I made) and my senior pupil patiently waiting for his lesson to begin.. 


Tomorrow there are plans for the whole school to walk up into the mountains to a picnic spot.  The younger boys especially hardly ever get to leave the school so it would be such a treat for them to have the space to run freely and play out in the open.  Everything, however, hinges on the weather.  Some rain is obviously to be expected at this time of year but a heavy downpour would force the outing to be cancelled. Oh I'm hoping for a nice day!