Ciaos in my classroom

Ciaos in my classroom today
I had complete ciaos in my classroom today, I thought the principle would come and escort me off the property and not ever let me come back. It was bad! Here’s the story; According to my curriculum that I was given I was supposed to teach the kids to count from 1 to 100 last week in one class, which is one hour. I don’t know where I went wrong but that did not happen. At the end of the hour about 90% of the kids could count from 1 to 10 and about 50 % could count to 20, as a teacher I had failed them somewhere so today I decided that instead of just moving on to the next subject that we would continue counting and hopefully get to 100. I had brought flashcards and decided we would play a game. I dealt every kid 5 cards and if they had the number that I called out they would give it me and the one who got rid of all his/her cards first would be the winner....sounds easy right? Well, as soon as they saw me take the cards out of my bag they went nuts, they were so excited. Chiqueta’s little brother was screaming he was so excited (she can explain) as I am dealing the cards out ciaos started, they could not contain themselves.....it was hilarious. At first they didn’t quit understand that the point was to get rid of all their cards but they thought the point was to jump out of their desks and race to me as fast as they could to be the first to give me the card (there was duplicates in the deck) well.....chairs went flying, one desk got tipped over and kids were falling all over each other, and they were screaming and yelling in excitement. It was unbelievable! Once the game was over and I had lead Jose #3 in his victory dance they wanted to play again, I knew if we were that noisy again we would get a visit from the principle so I made some rules (why didn’t I think of that first?) No screaming allowed, no getting out of your desk, I collect the cards. This time things went much smoother although a few kids just couldn’t stay in their desks, but there was no yelling. Oh what fun I am having! Can they count from 1-100 now? No. I talked to my director and asked if I should keep moving along or stay on this subject until they have mastered it, she says to move on but take 15 minutes or so out of each class to review the numbers until I am confident that they know them. When my class is over they have a 15 minute recess but if we are in the middle of something and the bell rings they don’t race out of the class, they stay to finish. Especially if I’ve handed out worksheets, they love work sheets and will always stay and finish them. So I think I will utilize this time for reviewing the numbers. I’ve been asked if I am coming back next year, I can choose a different grade or move up and stay with this class. The director asked me if I would be willing to teach all 6 classes on the Island, it has always been too hard to find volunteers to come here so they have never had English classes offered here. Am I coming back next year? I am being asked this over and over and I have no answer. A lot to think about, and to pray about.