School Stories

One, Two, Three!

I have a group of nursery kids in Ebes that are possibly too cute for their own good. You know the type---kids who know they have you wrapped around their finger and behave a little wild because of it. I can't help being a bit of a push over though. Every time they come in they say, "Egy, kettő, három!" And attack me with hugs. They think they are being sneaky because they are saying one, two, three in Hungarian. I may not know much Hungarian, but at least I can count to three now thanks to my kids. 

Quiet, Shhh!

I have many adorable and smart kids in my primary school, but I also have moments where I think they are not so cute. My 1st graders can get a little out of hand sometimes. If I don't keep them busy with a task every minute they get crazy. They crawl on the floor, climb on the window sill, stand on top of their chairs, and scream at the top of their little lungs. So needless to say, I say things a lot--repeatedly. I'll say, "Quiet, shhhh." But instead of quiet I get the response of, "Quiet, SHHHH," said back to me. Great, now they're mocking me. Is that on the curriculum this year? I must have skipped over that section when I was reading up on how to keep my sanity. (Ha, ha). In order not to be outsmarted by a group of 1st graders I have had to come up with new ways of signaling it is time to be quiet. Things like switching the lights on and off, using a train whistle and using a clapping game. It may sound silly, but then so is teaching a bunch of 1st graders when the only words they understand are, "bathroom, please," "tissue" and "quiet, shhh."

Black Dots, Red Dots.

You always get a student or two that remind you of other kids you know from back home. I have a 3rd grade boy who is very similar to my nephew Logan. He is smart, loves to draw, and is very organized. After class one day he came up to me with his notebook in hand looking very proud of himself. "Teacher, Dana I have something for you," he went on to explain that in his notebook he had written the names of all the students in class and which students were "good" and "bad" according to him. The ones with black dots were the "bad" students and the ones with the red dots were the "good" students. He wanted me to understand what a great service he had done for me and to make sure I knew that he was on my side. Just in case I didn't know that already. I complimented him on his work and told him he was doing a good job. He beamed with pride and to this day I still see him making marks in his notebook.