Advanced Year 6 Group

My advanced Year 6 class is my highlight of the week.  There are 7 children in it:  Petina, Sinalei, Victoria, Philip, Malele, Risati, and Jacinta.  Their English is at a level that I can have candid conversations with them about things more than “What did you eat for lunch?”.  This term, we’ve been reading “The Iron Giant”, the book that the subsequent movie was based on.  It’s only about 60 pages so an easy read over 10 weeks.  Every week the kids have been getting more and more sucked into the story till this week where we’re on the second to last chapter and when I announced that we’d be finishing up next week, they all groaned and begged to continue.  It was so genuine that I felt an instant surge of gratitude to these kids.  This was their first chapter book ever and they were eating it up.  Today we were working on questions for the chapter and one involved a Space Dragon (omitted from the movie) and somehow we got on to the topic of space and planets and galaxies.  Their minds were utterly blown.  They knew about the planets in our galaxy but wouldn’t believe me when I said most of the stars in the night sky have planets as well.  Then I went on about a news article I had read that said people were sending a space ship to Mars next year and that it’d take years to get there.  Ohhh my gosh well then the conversation really got going!  The book questions were forgotten and they went on and on about different questions about the universe including once we die and go to Heaven, if we’d be able to look down on Pluto (sure…?).  These kids are a blast to work with and I’ll miss not working with them next year as they move on to Year 7.

L to R, Back Row: Risati, Peteli, Malele, Philip

Front Row: Sinalei, Victoria, Jacinta

The rush of classes

Whew, what a hectic week and a half of teaching!  As I said in my last post, groups have finally begun.  I’ve got years 4, 5, and 6 split into At-Risk, Middle, and Advanced for each year and each class has their own characters in the classes to make each interesting and unique.  They’re also all at vastly different levels!  I’m lucky if 2 out of the 9 are on the same topic.  I’m starting to feel some major respect for teachers in America who have to come up with so many different lesson plans ever single day!

Some of my favorite moments from this last week and a half at school:

• ·      One of my year 5 boys came in a gave me a Snickers bar and ran out.
• ·      I was reading a book to a year 6 girl during lunch interval when suddenly 10 others ran in wanting to hear me read. 
• ·      Watching the year 8 boys and girls dashing down the road in front of the Vice Principals car thanks to a new rule that any students behind his car (or left at school) are disciplined the next day.
• ·      My brother drawing Batman on the word poster his class was making with me
• ·      Two girls coming in and wanting to borrow books from the library to read at home (understand, this library is never used.  This is huge!)
• ·      My year 5 at risk class finally clicking with short vowels (success!!)
• ·      Two year 1s taking each of my hands as we walked back to the village after school.
• ·      My new friends Mativa and Mafa (years 3 and 4) who like to walk home with me each day
• ·      Playing JENGA with my year 5 and 6 At-Risk groups.
• ·      Walking up to school and every 10 seconds, “Good morning Michelle!” and a hearty wave, as I go by
• ·      A little year 1 coming in while I’m on break and just staring at me, smiling.  He’s the picture below, so cute!  

This is why I joined the Peace Corps, the whole reason I came to Samoa.  I love it!  I feel so extremely lucky and blessed to by placed at the school that I’m in.  My pule and teachers are wonderful and so enthusiastic about helping the kids. My pule wants me to set up a training program for the teachers for literacy and reading.  I’m beyond thrilled at how excited he is about this program.  It makes me feel wanted and needed and honestly, who doesn’t need to feel that every now and then?

Love you all in America <3  Mom, Dad, Kiersten, Redell, Lily, PAUL AND HOOKER FAMILY RELATIVES, miss you all greatly.  I received a whole bunch of letters over Christmas and when I saw the pile in my mailbox I started crying right there in the office.  Feeling the love all the ways over here in Samoa was a wonderful thing.  Even got a letter from Sweden (thanks Yuta!).  Much love, ‘ou te alofa lo’u aiga

A few random photos:

Finally got a picture of the giant black lizards.  This one came into my faleo’o while I was visting my training village family.

Nora loves to sleep in the sun.  This was a particularly cute pose.

My brother is obsessed with Batman and Ironman.  So I cut out paper to make Batman and Ironman masks.  Nevermind that mine turned out more like a cat, we had a blast!

An almost perfect rainbow as seen from the school!