We actually do have jobs!

So we have now been back in Hungary for two weeks. And believe it or not, we actually do work (sometimes) too. After a week of not working it was hard at first to get back into the swing of things.

My third and fourth graders were extra cute when I came back from break. Saying things like, "Donna we missed you!" And then some came up and gave me hugs. I wrote my name "Donna" because that is how they always pronounce it. They like to put a hard "o" sound on the beginning of my name instead of a soft "a" sound. This is because in Hungarian (from what I understand) they put more emphasis on the beginning of words. 

My fourth graders have also been taught recently how to do the morning greeting/attendance role. At the beginning of class I always say good morning and then I ask who is absent. One student always egerly pops out of their chair and comes to the front of the class where I am standing. He or she then says to the class the following: 

"Stand straight!" (The girl students like to glare at the boys when they say this)

Once they are all standing straight, the student faces me and says,

"Dear Teacher, today I report to you David Vars is absent."

"Dear Teacher, today is the 18 of November, 2010."

This is my cue to say thank you and please take your seat everyone. 

It is hard not to crack a smile when they do this every class. I try not to smile because they take it so seriously I don't want it to seem like I'm laughing at them. But it really is cute that they turn themselves into a little military unit for a split second! 

I teach two groups of second graders. One group is on Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. and the second group is on Thursday at 11:50 a.m. My Thursday group is very different from my Tuesday group. My Tuesday group is calm, ready to work and quiet! My Thursday group is like herding cats! They seem all cute and innocent until you have to lock yourself in a room with them for 45 minutes (ha, ha). Most of the kids in my Thursday group are good, but you know how kids get right before lunch. They get crazy and loud. Yesterday was a perfect example of their usual antics. One boy called Zoli was jumping out of his seat, rolling on the ground, making fart noises with his arm and making siren noises. The rest of the class was being good and working while I came around and helped them. Zoli is also the smartest boy in the class, this is why he can become so disruptive. After I had told Zoli for the 10th time to sit down I gave him the ultimate warning: "Do you want to go to the blackboard?" His face went white and I said, "That's right you need to stop now and do your work."

Well, the warning only lasted for about 5 minutes and he was back to his usual antics. The children were even getting annoyed saying, "Zoli sit down, or Zoli listen to Nayni Dana!" Finally, I had to put my foot down and follow through on the warning I had given him. As he was in the middle of dancing around the room, I said, "Blackboard now!" And then led him to the front of the class where the blackboard was. We stood there for 30 seconds and then he sat down, pouting the whole time. I noticed the other children were surprised too. Was that a tear in Victoria's eye? Oh gosh, now I've scared the whole class!

But all was forgiven in about two minutes when I announced that it was lunch time! The children said, "Hooray!" (They do this whenever a break is announced). As I left to go to my next stop for teaching some of my Tuesday second graders came up to me and gave me hugs. I guess I'm doing something right.