Despite the lack of sleep, sore throat, body aches, cramps, and freezing cold rain that has not stopped in three days it actually wasn't the worst day. I had plans to wake up early and get back on my yoga routine but could not get past the throat pain and general sick feeling. So I took some Advil and slept for another half hour. Then I woke up and took a... get this... HOT shower. My host dad could not have picked a better day to fix the shower. Once I got ready I started planning my lesson. No idea what I did all afternoon yesterday. Procrastination, some unit planning... turns out the internet can be a real time suck. I have yet to get complete control over that.
We just finished our first test of the trimester and in 4 more weeks I have to give the next one (our last of the year!), which doesn't give me much time to teach anything. We voted on Food for our last unit which should be fun and I started the day off teaching my first graders the song "Apples and Bananas." Yanno, the one where you change the vowels in the song. "I like to oot oot oot ooples and boo-noo-noos" They liked it and I'm looking forward to singing it for the next few weeks. My sixth grade class went well today too, but possibly because there were only 9 of them. Usually the 14 of us are crammed in that room like a 5:00 city bus where I'm tripping over everyone's feet and repeatedly trying to get people's attention like some bum begging for change.
Fast forward through the lame acto civico to celebrate Columbus' brutal slaughter and conquering of the native people to the post-lunch slump. Rice and beans get me every time. Brings my whole body to an energetic screeching halt. I had to go home and take a nap and them somehow managed to teach three more classes. Luckily half of my 2nd grade didn't show up (i.e. one person was absent) so I put 2nd and 3rd together. Time saver.
At the end of the day I had a meeting with (what I could only assume would be) a disgruntled parent. The director was leaving early so she was no help, so I asked the other teacher to stay and "support" me. Or at the very least be a witness. My previous conversations with this mother had gotten very heated and her opinion is that it would be better to have a Tico teacher than someone from the US teaching English. I'm not even going to dignify that with a response other than to say that if this program were not teaching English here there would be no English classes. 'Nough said.
So basically her son went from having a 95 in my class to an 87. He's an extremely smart kid but his attitude took a turn for the worst last semester. I tried talking to his mother, called a parents meeting and visited her house on several occasions. All to no avail. So I did what I could, I gave him poor grades for attitude and participation. He came into class speaking Spanish and mouthing off about one thing or another every day. He would then proceed to scoff and scowl at every activity and practically refuse to participate. Eventually I had to tell myself that the look on his face was a medical condition because it allowed me to stay calm and not take it personally. Anyway, I explained most of this to his mother and added that since grades had been handed out his attitude had greatly improved. Coincidence? I think not. So his mother didn't really agree with me, she didn't see how things so "small" should bring his grade down so much when he brings all his homework and does well on the tests but she seemed to accept it. And obviously if he keeps up this angel-like attitude that started last week he'll be back to a 98 by the end of the year.
To be honest I would love nothing more than to give him a good grade. I want to give all my kids good grades and it is, by far, the worst part of my job to give grades and tests. But I also don't think its fair to give them a grade they didn't earn. It's not fair to the kids who work much harder and participate but it's also not fair to those who do not. Sure grades aren't everything and if you don't learn anything it doesn't matter if you got a 100 BUT I also know that the teacher I learned the most from in high school was the one who absolutely refused to give me an A unless I really deserved it. So, here's hoping for high marks in the last trimester...
I <3 Raffi!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKEUAzzn-Ig
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