Beyond the Classroom Walls

One super cool thing about teaching here at CSC is that I get to hang out with my students a lot outside of class!  That is a rare thing in the States, so I have loved and appreciated it here.  I have gone to my kids' birthday parties, done special events with them, helped with shoe shopping, watched movies with them, played Sardines on a non-school night, and celebrated holidays with them too!  In all of those capacities, I am still TEACHER Michelle, so it's fun to take full advantage of learning opportunities outside of the classroom walls....something Tammy and I do often!

Not only do I get to teach them cool things, but I get to see a bit of that home/family side with the application of those things too.  I love....LOVE.....it when we're at the homes or out and about and one of the kids lights up and excitedly exclaims something they notice that perfectly relates to something we've learned in class!  Whether it's pointing out the transparent window or escalator at the mall, the erosion on our road by the shelter, the condensation on the side of a cup, seeing reflection in a mirror, pointing out an insect using camouflage, or wanting to play a game about force at home, it always makes this teacher proud! :)  (Okay, maybe not when I'd just gotten out of the hospital and had clearly lost some weight and one of my girls said, "Teacher Michelle!  Your face is erosion!"  Proud moment or offensive moment?!  Hmmm...)

Last week, I decided to have a special hang-out with my core class of students, Level B1.  They are the kids I teach all morning for 3 1/2 hours - reading, writing, and math.  A couple changes have been made this quarter, but these were my primary students for the first half of the year.  They were SUPER excited when I announced our special hang-out earlier in the week, and they kept anxiously mentioning it.  One girl would come up and whisper in my ear, "Friday?", to which I would answer, "Yes!  Friday!"  She of course grinned from ear to ear every time!

Friday did indeed come and Tammy, Andrew, and I took them first to McDonald's for dinner.  The boy who prayed for our dinner included in his prayer, "Thank you that they love us so much", referring to us staff taking them out.  Wow, tear jerker...  The kids gobbled up their chicken, spaghetti, and burgers, and then we were all surprised when the manager walked over with free ice cream cones.  He thought we probably worked for a charity (Did the 3 Americans and 8 Filipino kids have anything to do with that assumption??) so he gave us all cones! 

Then we took the kids to the house where Sandy, Tammy, and I live and we watched the VeggieTales "Jonah" movie, as we enjoyed microwave popcorn and chocolate!  Yep, we spoiled 'em!  At one point during the movie, I just looked around at each of those kids and was reminded again of how much each of them mean to me.  It's incredible how much love I have for these kids, considering I've only been here for five months.  They mean the world to me and I feel so protective of them and hopeful for their futures.  It'll be neat to see the paths God takes each one of them on in life.  I'm grateful and humbled to be a significant part of this season of their lives, and blessed beyond measure that they are a significant part of mine too!