My career as a teacher began today, but I think I learned more than I taught!  After combating a little bug all weekend, it was great to be working again.  Here are a few of the things I learned today:

1. Amit and I make great cafeteria ladies!  We whipped up 40 Pb & J’s in under 30 minutes!

2. Do not give a class full of students a bottle of coke.

3. Forty-five 7th grade students are way too many for one classroom!

4. Flexibility is a man’s best friend.

5. The only way to understand is to listen.

6. When frustrated, be quick to smile and slow to react.

Our daily schedule is: teach at Koalabata Primary School (having made lunches) from 830-1130, teach at SOS Children’s Village from 12-3, and then work at the Baylor Clinic from 3-5.  It is quite a schedule, but it totally makes the most of our time here!  We began class with a  for the students.  I taught a science lesson on states of matter and did three really fun experiments- mentos/coke, rocket balloon, and baking soda/vinegar balloon.  I really want the students to be excited about science.  Then, Amit led games of fraction bingo and lessons on reducing fractions.  The game was a definite hit!  We closed the lesson with one more get-to-know-you game.  At Koalabata, we had 38 students, and the teacher was there to assist us. At SOS, we had 45 students, but starting tomorrow we will divide them in half.  SOS is a privately funded children’s orphanage and school, and it is clear to see that the kids have many more opportunities there than at Koalabata.  For example, on the questionaires, we asked the students what they would like to be when they grow up.  At Koalabata, the students gave answers such as police, soldiers and nurses, but at SOS the students wrote down surgeon, lawyer, business-woman, and computer specialist.  I want my students at Koalabata to expand their future views and goals for their lives by teaching them about opportunities that exist for students who work hard.  I was really impressed by the students’ curiosities and eagerness to learn.  These five weeks are going to be great