A Fairly Un-Wacky Wednesday

Every morning, Learning Enrichment hosts something called Reading Group, where boys who need a little extra help come in and do reading practice.  I'm normally around to help out with them, and that is how I started off today.  There are a few boys there, from year 9, 6, 5, and 4.  They read some pretty simple books and then go through worksheets; it's pretty fun because the boys are always trying to get sidetracked, which I'm more than happy to go along with.  Today I brought in some Sour Patch Kids for them -- they had never tried them before, and I still had some left over that I brought from home.  It was so funny to see their reactions -- they cringed as soon as they put them in their mouth.  I guess they're not too used to sour candies! (or "lollies," as they call them)

After Reading Group, I went off to a year 7 class (not exactly my favorite grade).  They were doing some stuff on the computers, so I wandered around and helped, trying to engage them a little.  They're just so unresponsive!  I love working with the primary school kids, and the high school kids are great -- but the in-betweens are just a challenge!  I suppose it is good experience to get, though -- who knows, I might wind up teaching in a middle school someday.

I got a bit of a break, then sat through a year 8 science class, then went to the year 2's.  I was greeted with a chorus of "TJ the DJ," which even included DJ hand motions.  They all seem to love calling me that -- I suppose that'll have to be my nickname in there!   They were doing show-and-tell, so I got to sit in and watch what they were all presenting.  It was really funny to see them present and then ask questions and comment about each other's presentation.  One boy talked all about measurement, and said how he thought it was crazy that some countries don't go along with the metric system -- I'll stick with my feet and inches, thank you.  After show-and-tell, they watched a snippet of "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King.  Three of the boys were hanging all over me during it, and I was probably even more engrossed in it than they were -- I was supposed to have left for a year 7 class already, but I had to stick around a bit longer!  The boys in that class are so much fun, and I can never pass up watching The Lion King.

My day ended with a year 7 class, but it went much better than this morning.  I think I managed to click with two of them, so it might just be a longer process than with other levels.  I'm up for the challenge though!  Tomorrow I'll be going into the city markets with Gregor, Friday is the male mentor day, and then this weekend I'll be headed to Kangaroo Island -- I've got a busy few days up ahead!