Second Start

 The school year at Colegio Interamericano de Sahuayo has commenced!

I had my second first day of classes, and my first day of Second Grade (I decided to keep the same group of students and teach Second, instead of First Grade). As much as I adore my students, it's been an absolutely exhausting week!! Every day this week, Molly (my new flatmate, and English teacher from NY) and I have gotten up at 6:00 to shower, dress up, drink a  large cup o' joe and head out to catch a taxi to get to school by 7:30 (fyi, the sun doesn't even start to shine until 7:30.... so getting up and getting ready while it's pitch black outside feels SOO wrong!). One day this week, the power randomly shut off in our apartment, so we had to get ready by dim candlelight.

Once at school, we sign in, drop our stuff off in our classrooms and then stand at our "morning post" until all the students have arrived and the bell rings to line up in the gym cancha. The classes are then dismissed one at a time.  As soon as we get to classroom, chaos ensues: class always starts with a student-initiated group hug and spirals out of control from there. My students are all hyped up from their vacation-filled Summer breaks and the ridiculous amount of sugary snacks they eat all day long. I spend most of the day class managing, trying to squeeze in as much English learning activities as possible. I secretly look forward to recess more than the students, haha....

 After recess we switch groups. My morning group goes to Spanish and Math class with Miss Paulina (who is soo sweet!), and her group comes to my class for 3 hours of English. Classes are over at 2:10 (hallelujah!), when we then line them up at the bleachers and "deliver" them one by one to their parents.

Here are a few of my incredibly hyperactive boys in my afternoon group:

Jose Francisco (top, in the red shirt), is absolutely adorable, but oh-so-hyper! I get more hugs and kisses from him than any other student. He also usually draws me some sort of sweet picture with us holding hands, haha.... If I didn't have to      constantly remind him to sit in his seat and stop screaming at other students, he'd be my favorite!

Daniel is a character! Also so, sooo sweet, but never follows the rules. He has the funniest cartoon voice, and always sings or squeals his words.... I have to try so hard not to crack up all the time!

Jesus (holding the pencils below), is another one of my little monkeys. He's got so much energy and is obsessed with karate and Michael Jackson, haha.... needless to say, I'm always running after him and usually have to pick him up after he falls or trips doing one of his karate/dance moves :)

Thankfully I have some super well-behaved students to balance out the chaos! Here are a few of my favorites:Dana Paola & Diego

Gael & Maria Fernanda 

 Thursday and Friday we had Open House for the parents to come in for a few hours to hear our objective for the year. I was pleased to have a pretty full turn out, and got to meet a lot of my student's parents. They all seemed very supportive and a few even told me they were going to find me a boyfriend in Sahuayo so that I'd stay here, haha. I'm feeling good about this year, and already excited to see how much they learn by the end of Second Grade! Here'e to a great year teaching the most adorable, silly, crazy, sweet students imaginable!