My English Name is Pablo

Pablo. Pablo. Pablo. Look at that face. Adorable! He is always at my side asking me to check his work. Now, I grab his little head, spin him around and pretend kick him in the tush! Goodness. 

Obviously this little Burmese rascal's name is not Pablo. ;) I gave my 25 1st graders (ages 6-12) all English names, so I could remember them all, and so they could become more familiar with English sounds. Most of them got names of friends and family back home, until I realized I should have given all of them one syllable plain Jane names! And what's up with my friends having fancy names?! Berenice, your girl is just Bere. Genelle, yours is Gena. :)

The following is just a little of what I have learned about some of my students. They are all fantastic!

Amy sat in the front the first day, so that is why she got that name. I used her as an example too much, so she sits in the back now. :) She is one of the first to get her star because her work is perfect. If I call on her she pops up quickly and at the top of her lungs yells her answer with confidence. All the older bigger girls flock around her, she is a magnet!

Hersson knows he bears the name of my brother, and that it's very dear to me, but he'd switch it in a minute! I walk over to him a lot and hold him to a high standard. ;) Thankfully, this little handsome boy has intense integrity in his work.

Bryan is a total wise-ass. He sits suavely in the back, riling up the other boys and at times mimicking   me (I lightly say mimic because how many sounds are they really connecting with meaning?) I try to say very little that isn't connected to our objective (hahahaha!! Sorry, teacher joke.) Anyway, the second I go to check his work he holds it up and gives me the, "You thought I wasn't working? Teach-uh, please" look. He laughs constantly and is very charismatic. He was also the first kid for me to turn teachery-mean on. His work yesterday was awful, not his usual, so I circled a number 12 on his paper and pointed to him (his age). Then, I circled a 5 and pointed to his work, and shook my head. The other boys laughed, they got me. (Herss, I thought you would've called me "mean" for that!) Well, Bryan wasn't going to leave it like that. A much neater assignment was shown to me a few minutes later, so he could earn his star.

Ilene is a spit fire! On one occasion, she though I called her name, but I had said Lexi (see? sounds mean nothing!) She was already standing and ready to answer, in the ensuing confusion and rapid Burmese yelling, Lexi, who is twice her size, almost lost her life. It's funny, now.

Mary is brilliant just like my Mary back home. She is one of the few that I actually can see learning English and picking up on the point of the lessons. She remembers everything and processes like a champ! 

Anna is a little born teacher. The first time I tried cooperative learning, I used her as one of my  teachers because I could see her helping the girls around her. The experiment failed, but that wasn't Anna's fault, these kids just don't learn that way. Every subject is taught/learned by rote memorization. It is painful to teach this way, so we add our flair, but I think the kids see this time as "play time" since it is so different than the way they usually are taught. 

Hersson and Pablo

 

My view as I ride my bike into the school each morning.

At noon the bell is rung the students recite something to their teacher, then class by class they go outside to get their lunch. They all have these little silver pails filled with rice and curry.  It's so cute to watch them trade curry bites. All the kids eat inside the hut alone, while the teachers eat outside. No one is watching them, but they do alright. I couldn't even fathom leaving kids in our lunchroom with no adult!

 

Just wanted to share a little bit of our ministry with you guys. In the afternoons we have had meeting after meeting with NGOs and each other as we brainstorm and hash out a plan for partnering with the Burmese migrant schools.