Memories

I decided that I'm going to go past the "required" number of posts because I need some way of remembering my time at Stevensville- and this blog is the perfect way of doing it. I don't want to forget some of the more memorable times I've shared with my associate and my kids, so I'm going to continue to write about them here, so I'll always have the memories (I'm a huge sap- I'm already anticipating the tears I will shed during my last week).

On Friday I taught my kids a drama lesson- I came in wearing the "loudest" outfit I could find, brought a giant drum, and had my kids dancing and prancing and stomping and jumping and bouncing around the room- I had transformed the room into a jungle, and my kids into the animals- I taught them about tableaus and how to use their faces to show great expressions. I let them use their imaginations, and for the last 2 minutes their loud "animal" voices to express themselves- after my lesson, two little girls came up to me with hugs and said thank you...it felt so rewarding because I didnt even really feel like I did anything that great- but to them, it was great.

Highlight of my day? Last period: My associate brings the kids into a room into the library and tells them we are going to do a drama activity on improvisation. The kids were to pretend they were an expert on a certain topic (chosen by the teacher), and they would have to give an impromptu speech on this topic. The kids were a bit confused, so my teacher decided it would be hilarious if I was the first "expert"- First of all, public speaking causes a bit of anxiety in me so I was having a bit of a panic attack at first (haha)- His introduction: "Coming all the way to you from Africa, we have a famous African dancer, Miss Kalisz!"- Oh dear god...what was I going to do? So I stand up there and my kids are laughing in their seats- they can't stop- Then? Somehow I started making things up off the top of my head, and the next thing I know, I'm performing an "African Monkey Dance" for them, as they are laughing their heads off.

That day I was their teacher, but I also became human in their eyes, because I feel as though they saw me in a different light- and I feel I earned their respect by making a fool of myself in front of them- my associate loved it so hopefully that'll show in my evaluation somewhere ;) (haha)...

Hopefully next week will be just as memorable...Candace, I cant wait for you to meet my munchkins!