Too hot to teach!

- let alone learn! Today the temperature hit 30 degrees, and inside the classroom, it was roasting. The little cherubs had been for a walk in the morning, up to the Piazza, to rehearse the play they're performing Friday evening. When I arrived, they were sitting quietly, drawing.
I had no intro from the teachers today, so it was a bit hard to begin. The Hello song got their attention (mostly), but it was really difficult to keep it. Then someone spilled water all over the floor, just as we were getting into the action songs, so it was "Everyone back to your table" - worksheet time.
I tried giving out stickers again today...same problem as the first time, in that my sticker pads are lovely, but all different, so many arguments about who got which sticker - and then they don't detach easily from the page so it took forever. Not to be repeated.
One girl cried because she asked me when English finished, and when I told her "tomorrow is the last lesson" - sobs...."I don't want English to finish!" Ah, sweetie.
Reflection points: The Wiggles are great for this age group, but only certain songs. The ones which work best are "Here Comes A Bear" (although I haven't bothered trying to teach them what a Wombat is!), "Rock-a-bye Your Bear", and "Five Little Ducks".
They only enjoy the worksheets when they can see a very clear reason for doing them. They didn't like today's at all, because there wasn't time to explain WHY they were doing it.
They know their colours, clothes, animals and sun/rain/hot/cold very well.
I'll be sad at the end of tomorrow's lesson.

Did you see that train go by?!

Whoosh! Stated aims for today's lesson were:
Children learn body parts - head, hands, feet
Children review clothes vocab - hat, shoes, trousers
Children enjoy completing a worksheet
Children learn a new song

What really happened:
I arrived at 2p.m., to find that the last yoga lesson of the year was still in session. This gave me time to set up the chairs in a semi-circle, at which point I discovered that I had left my poster of Lulu the Blue Kangeroo, with her handy pouch for flashcards, at home.
D. and G. also ran up to me, demanding a piece of the "yellow-tak" I use to attach posters to walls and flashcards to posters.
The children had taken off their shoes and socks for yoga, so we sang (well, I sang, and two children joined in) the "Put your shoes on" song. GOOD!
Then they sat on their chairs, and we sang the hello song - at which point they all stood up again (action song!), and it was very difficult to get them sitting again, of course! (predictable). REFLECTION: Perhaps at the point I had them all sitting, I should have skipped the Hello song, and moved straight to the flashcards (or even just given up on the lesson aims, and read a story they know and like).
To add to the confusion, there was a photographer, who was also videoing the lesson. Always nice to be informed of these things! <---- sarcasm.
I had the Cookie puppet, with a hat on his feet, which moved to his hands, and finally his head. This was a very involving way to introduce the new vocabulary. I also showed them a worksheet with Lulu and Cookie learning a new song. We clapped hands, tapped feet and nodded heads...and then did the song, which again involved standing up and doing actions.
I then wanted to hand out worksheets, and bless them! They actually started lining up in the train, to get their worksheets - hurrah for children and routines!
However, because we'd started late, it was then time to tidy up and get ready for the school bus, so the whole consolidation part of the lesson was consigned to "next time".
I quickly flipped to the goodbye song...
and to wrap up a totally confusing lesson, I then had to stay, as the teacher was called away by a parent, so I pulled out The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and read it, standing up, while they all sat at their desks with their backpacks on.
This was positive, though! I wondered how much they were really getting from the story - this is the third time I have read it, and one of the 6 year old boys usually seems very bored by it.
Not this time. A couple of other children stood up in front of me, and L. couldn't see. He asked the others to sit down (strongly), then came over and explained that if they didn't sit down, he and the others couldn't see, and that they wanted to enjoy the story as well! Yahoo! I'd call that a success.
So, I was in, done and out, hot and bothered, and just wondering what, if anything, I'd managed to teach them today...
but now that I've reflected, I think I can say they did learn something - or rather, they HAVE learned something in the time I have been there. Four more hours this week, and we have finished.

Avoidance or Acceptance?

I've been reflecting on my parenting this weekend, rather than on teaching, which is still chugging along nicely. The occasion for this reflection was a trip to the supermarket with both children, and husband, in tow.
Saturday morning is never the best time for this undertaking, but with my work hours all over the place at the moment, I'm just not managing to fit it in during the week. I have been doing top-up shops here in the village, but we were seriously low on fundamentals (think loo-paper, washing powder, and cornflakes - things which just cost so much less at the big supermarket).
Things were tense from the moment we left home - well, actually from about 2kms from home, when hubby suddenly realized he'd left both his wallet and driver's licence at home. Oh dear! With Wee Man already starting his usual chorus of "When are we get there, Mummy?" and "How long does it take?", we decided that me driving was the better option. This lead to the Big Man chorus of "Change gear now" "Watch that pothole" and "You could have overtaken him there". T.E.N.S.E.
Our children no longer fit in the seats of the supermarket trolley, but they do love riding in it - only problem is that now they are so big, they have to get out again as soon as we start putting any consumables in...
And thus it begins..."Mummy, look at this." "Mummy, can we buy that?" "Mummy, do you need this?" "Mummy, X from school always eats this." WE KNOW THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN. So why, then, does it always make us tense, and slightly crazed-looking around the eyes?
There are some things in parenting which are simply inevitable. THIS IS ONE OF THEM.
Which is why I've decided to break my parenting down into two possible reactions to any given situation, and plan accordingly.
I can either AVOID the situation all together, which means shopping during the week, while the cherubs are at school.
Or ACCEPT that they find the supermarket amazing, and are filled with wonder when there. I can thus prepare by making a list of things for them to find. (This time, Emily loved picking the best apricots and bagging them. Weighing them turned into an instant maths lesson. Liam was less than impressed that we'd only left the carrots for him to bag.) I can make sure they're well-fed and watered before going in. I can explain clearly the behaviour I expect from them (staying close by, keeping hands away from things which are not on our list..). And to end well, I can choose the check-out lane which does not have all the chocolate and lollies displayed to tempt little fingers and frazzled parents.
Avoid or Accept - my new way to deal with parenting.

What's happening in their heads?

I haven't posted for a while - things have been ticking over - or rather, just ticking, like a time-bomb, waiting to explode. The whole experience of teaching this preschool class is getting wrapped up in all the local politics whirling around us.

So, just a couple of things to note about my class. There are thirty children on the roll. I've never had that many at a time - usually more like 20-25. The older ones, the 6 year olds, and the 5-nearly-6 year olds are the ones which seem to be paying more attention, but sometimes the younger ones really surprise me.
My son is in the class, and he shares his table with little Mr F who is one of those boys who has a hard time sitting still, but he's quiet, and even if he doesn't like to be part of the crowd singing and dancing at the front of the class, I notice he is often doing the actions and mouthing the words from his seat at the back. My son always calls me "Mummy", of course. The others call me "Maestra d'Inglese" or just Jo. But when I went to Mr F.'s table to check he was able to do the work last week, he said "Mummy, non ho i colori." (I don't have the colours). He called me MUMMY! I loved that! Showed he's paying attention to the interaction (in English).
The second thing which suprised me this last week was a little Miss 5, who always wants to help me (so she can nab a bit of the yellow sticky stuff I use to stick the flashcards to the wall.) She sidled up to me the other day, with her usual "Maestra, posso aiutarti oggi?" (teacher, can I help you today?", and I said "Sure!". [not sure why I have slipped into this "sure" instead of "yes" business - may need to work on my teacher-talk!], and she turned to the class teacher, who was about to send her back to her seat and said (in Italian), "Teacher, she said "sure", and that means "yes"!". I was floored! She had picked that up only through context.
The last moment this week which had me smiling to myself was the brightest button in the class, a chatty, out-going Little Miss 6, who loves to do all the action songs, and often stands beside me, as a helper, demonstrating the movements. We have been doing clothes - hat, shoes and trousers. The song goes "Cookie, put your trousers on..." etc etc. They've learned the song, and repeated it ...
I pulled out the flashcards, and held up the picture of trousers, saying "What are these?". Little Miss 6 called out, excitedly "TROUSERS-ON!!!!"
*BLINK*
"Yes, trousers! - that's right!" (What am I doing to them???!)