After a hard day at school, the best pastime I can think of is surfing, which is right at my front door. Can't complain about that. I email my family and some friends some surfing pictures. I've been surfing every day for the last four days. I'm super stoked! Unfortunately, next week the tide will be low in the afternoon and I'll have to take some time off surfing. Grrr! I guess I can snorkel in the pools, there is lots to see, but I've seen it all. I think I know the fish on a first name basis, if that's possible. It's great to be in the water though. Lately we've had really extreme tides. That's good because it makes it deep at high tide and the surfing is a lot safer that it was at the beginning of the week when I got barrelled. I haven't been able to get barrelled except for one time briefly. The waves just haven't been barrelling. They were really chopping and mushy today. Still great fun though and really big!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
August 20th
Yay! Tomorrow is Friday of our first full week of school. I am so stoked I've almost made it through it. It's been a really long week to me, but I feel like I'm getting off to a good start with the 8th graders. They are starting to test me to see how far I will go. I told my friends last night that today I'd have to crack down. Before I could even set my plan in motion, a group of kids run off and disobey a direct order. I punished them by making them stay after school and write sentences. This is a soft punishment. I don't want to have to ramp it up, but I will if I have to. The kids are great kids, but they love to talk in class. I cracked down on that today, but there is still more than I want, but less than yesterday. Tomorrow I'm going to be even tougher. One thing that is hard to deal with is they are talking in another language and sometimes I have a really hard time knowing who is talking because it all sounds the same to me. I will start punishing the whole class if I have to though. If I do that, they will police themselves. They already are, which is a good deal. I have kids that get other kids to be quiet.
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Hey sounds like your doing well. I think that disciplining is really hard but it sounds like your learning a lot. I want to encourage you to give stickers or prizes for good behavior or correct answers. The kids that are doing good need to be encouraged. Also know that God is in you. The Holy spirit is ready to help when you need him the most. Are you making any efforts to learn their language? Kids love it when you try. They think it's funny. By the end of the year your will be very close to your class. Know you are laying a foundation right now and that you want to keep the atmosphere as positive as possible. Learning is fun! not entertaining...... but inspiring. Show them what they can do and where they can go if they will learn. Also make sure that outside of class you smile a lot and give them hi-fives. maybe even take them surfing. I don't know what your aloud to do with them but I hope they can have some fun time with you. Michael it's sabbath here and I'm praying for you. Have a wonderful week!
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