My 3rd week in school, and actually a very good one!
It was Monday morning, and Music was one of my first lessons of the day. As I was arriving, the kids were going to their tables and sitting down as per. What happened next, however, was rather suprising but also incredibly satisfying. One of the kids, Alejandro, had actually saved me a seat and basically 'told' me to sit there, next to him. Which I did, of course. I don't know why he asked me too - I havn't really spoken to the kid. But I remember that on the Friday before, I saw him outside of school walking up the road when I was with some other Auxiliars. I said 'Hola, que pasa?' to him, and he smiled and said 'nada' back. Maybe it made his day, maybe it didn't, but I can't help but feel this had something to do with it - maybe he realised I am a normal human being, not a stereotypical 'teacher' whom everyone naturually thinks that they don't have lives and they are not normal people. But we are!
Anyway, during the lesson we talked about Spanish music. I personally havn't heard much, if any, Spanish music before, so I handed round my notepad and asked them to jot down any recommendations they had for me to listen to. There's quite a lot as well, so I've got some listening to do this weekend!
The kids were saying to me that they prefer English music to Spanish music - there was more rhythm, the lyrics were better, and basically Spanish pop was crap in comparison to English music. I then proceeded to play an English song on the laptop-speakers that they use. My example was the song 'Like a G6', as this was currently big in America, and was a genre of music I was sure they wouldn't have heard before. They absolutely loved it! Infact, they all asked me for the name of the band and the song so they could write it down and listen to it when they got home.
I had the same class on Wednesday, for Music once again. This time, two of the kids saved me a seat. One of the kids I don't even know his name, I think it's Jose Maria, and the other one is called Dario. Normally these two boys are fairly quiet, but during this lesson they seemed to be trying hard - answering every question in the best English they could. Maybe it was because I was sitting next to them, maybe it wasn't, but I think more so the former.
This is encouraging for me - to know the kids are accepting me and beginning to like me makes me feel more secure about myself, that I am doing the right things, and that I am not a weirdo. To actually have the kids wanting me to sit next to them really does increase my confidence when I go to their lessons. Infact for the next lesson, I've been asked to prepare some work about British music, or music related to Manchester. I think I'll prepare work for both of these topics, and spread it over 2 or 3 lessons, as different aspects can be mentioned. Maybe I'll take this class by myself next time, and it would be the first time that I would have done this, but I feel that with the kids on my side, it will be possible.
Anyway, I hope things stay this way, and I hope soon that the rest of my classes become more co-operative and friendly like this one. Only time will tell, but things are looking up!
I'll post up another blog tomorrow about the rest of my week at school. More good things have happened this week and I want you all to know about them, because I'm sure you want to hear about them...
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