First 2 Weeks Teaching

My roommate and I were asked to help with the school schedule.    We used a computer program that tracked for errors and generated class schedules.  However, it took about a week. We didn't think
that it would be such a tedious process.  When we finally completed the schedule (or so we thought), it was changed two times after that.  It's a little flustering because I set my schedule where I'd had Fridays free but with the new schedule, I have to work Monday-Friday.  Additionally, I was told that the schedule still isn't solidified and may change this week.

Another challenge is that there is a national curriculum that I have to adhere to. For example, the 9th graders have to learn present simple tense for this module.  They have to conjugate verbs such as "to sing" to "she sings".  The tough part is, most of the students didn't know what a verb was, so I had to teach verbs, nouns, and adjectives.

On the bright side, there are about two or three students in each classroom who are pretty good in English and they are determined to learn more. That's very encouraging for me.  In addition,  the unit that the 9th graders are on is sports and entertainment.  To go along with the theme, I came up with an idea to have a singing contest between the 9th grade classes that I teach.  The kids jumped out of their seats with excitement when I proposed the idea.  I had each class chose a song in English.  This week I'm bringing in the lyrics for them to copy.  As a class we'll learn the meaning of the words and they'll identify the present simple verbs within the lyrics.  These kids really know how to dance and they're already planning a choreography. One class is doing Thrill by Michael Jackson and another is doing Justin Bieber's rendition of Love Me.  Another class is stilll deciding on which Rhianna song they want to sing. Unfortunately, with the schedule change, I already lost one 9th grade class and I'm down to three.  Hopefully I won't lose any more. I plan to record the singing competition and posting it on here.  I'll let you know how it goes. :)