When the bell rings it takes 2-3 minutes plus for everyone to get inside. The teachers don't start moving for at least that long. The first 5 or so minutes of the class is punctuated with repeated cries of "May I come, miss?". Over and over, because each kid says it individually. It's quite fun to see them go running for the classroom when they see me coming down the stairs, and they always look somewhat sheepish when they don't make it in time. The kids won't enter a room with a teacher in it without first asking permission, no matter what room it is. If you say no, they won't come in - I did that once to a kid who showed up 10 mins before class ended.
Period 3, in which I have class 3 and Caitlin has Class 4, is my favourite of the day. Every day when I walk into class I'm greeted with handfuls of red flowers. Sometimes they're even tied together with leaves to make a proper bouquet. By the time class is over my pocket is bulging with them. I've accidentally stained the inside cover of my textbook because I had nowhere else to carry them.
Class 3 is challenging, but a ton of fun. Everyone loves writing on the blackboard, so if I'm not careful there will be a full on stampede - I kid you not, kids crammed together to get as close as possible - when its time to fill in the answers. There are a few kids I need to pay particular attention to, like Munisa, who will fill in as many answers as she can instead of just one, and Ram, who gets so excited he runs out of patience and fills them in early. Overall theres lots of shouting a laughing, and its a ton of fun.
The kids are at the age of passing tons of notes in class, and the boys shot elastics at each other for a few weeks. Now they're on to paper airplanes, because I confiscated all the elastics. Kept my house in elastics too, we don't ever need to buy any!
Leaving the room is difficult, as the kids all want handshakes or high fives, and some like to hold onto my hand as long as possible. There's often quite the throng, and lots of yelling from the door of the room.
Immediatly after Class 3 comes Class 7, which is a nice change of pace. The classroom is much quieter, and everyone stays in their seats. They're just as much fun though, once you get to know them a little. We've been doing a lot of reading comprehension lately, and when someone puts an answer on the board, everyone tries to fix any grammar mistakes. It's fun to watch them discuss among themselves where the problems are. They love to hear us say 'no mistake', and ask it constantly. Caitlin thinks is because it sounds like 'namaste'!
The class has really come out of its shell over the past few weeks. At first they were hesitant to come to the board, and now about 1/3 love to do it, and compete with each other to get the right answer first.
There are over 60 kids in Class 7, the largest class Caitlin or I have - although Caitlin's Class 4's come pretty close! Everyone is so crammed in that you wouldn't think there are that many, but there definitely are. Marking their exams took forever! There are two rows of benches, one for girls and one for boys. The size of the class determines bench space per kid - in Class 7 there's 4 to a bench.
By this point it's 1pm, and we have another free period before lunch. It passes in the exact same manner as the first two periods. Caitlin and I are becoming masters at playing snake on her cell phone! And then its time to eat!
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