I was just looking through my photos to look for one that would be a good representative of the last few months, and I thought this one would work well. These are four of my dorm students (and Mary on the left, another dorm parent). We had a good time trying out all the different options on PhotoBooth one evening. Actually, here's another one I liked from that session:
It's hard to believe it's already April! I got quite a shock during Spring Break when I realized that there were only nine weeks of school left. Although nine weeks might seem like ample time for several units, I have discovered as a teacher that very little can get done in a week. Plus, you take that nine weeks and subtract one for the end-of-school craziness, another for the trips we take in the spring (two weeks for 8th grade), and another for the few vacation days we have and activities like Earth Week, and all of a sudden there's hardly any time at all!
By the way, I find adding lots of pictures to the blog rather tedious, but I do have several albums on Facebook, which you should be able to access even if you don't have an account.
We had school off today for Good Friday. When we have long weekends, the international dorm students are divided amongst homestay families, which both gives them a window into the lives of American families and gives the dorm staff a break. That means that I have had the rare opportunity today to not only spend time at home, but to spend it in quietude, without constantly getting distracted by eight students who easily command attention. I find that even when I'm not on duty, if kids are present, I am working. "Miss Love, can you get the password [to the computer]?" "Miss Love, can I get my cell phone?" "Miss Love, what was the Language Arts homework?" "Miss Love, can I have ramen?"
I tend to hear the students talking even when they're not here. After hearing "Miss Loooooove" enough times, it seems to have been imprinted in my brain. If such a thing can happen. There are 12 kids in the dorm this year, but four of them are five-day boarders, so only 8 are here on the weekend. Because I am only technically on duty during the weekend, I have gotten to know these students the best. They are all Korean, and they are here to improve their English and get into good American high schools. Each is very unique. I probably shouldn't broadcast their names, but let me introduce them to you. Let's start with the girls.
Of the four girls, one stands out as a leader. She is extremely smart, and she has had great offers for high school.(I could write an entirely separate post about the high school application process.) Her room is a total mess, and there doesn't seem to be anything I can to fix that. I constantly ask her to clean up. After one such request yesterday, she moved her suitcase to the side of the room and hid the junk on her desk under a poster that had fallen off the wall. It's no wonder she couldn't find her wallet when she went off this weekend! This girl is in love with everything CSI, and her CSI t-shirt is one of the most beloved elements of her wardrobe. When I asked 8th grade to write short stories a couple of months ago, this girl wrote a 20-page story about an "extreme second government" and a brilliant young woman who was being recruited to it. Writing out her fantasy, perhaps? I expect to see this student at the head of the CIA someday.
Another one of the girls is quieter, but she can be so giggly sometimes, and it's contagious. She used to be a ballerina, and recently I walked in her room to find her sitting on the floor, talking to a couple other girls while stretching in a really weird position. I've joined her in this stretching ritual several times, and I can tell you, I don't make it look nearly as graceful as she does. Another time when I checked in on her, she had laid out her clean laundry of shirts and jeans to dry on the floor, which gave the impression that a group of teenage girls had recently melted into the carpet. This girl has a strong love for a Korean boy band called Big Bang (actually, all the girls in the dorm share this passion), and she has their pictures plastered all over the walls. She burned me a CD of Big Bang hits, so now random Korean pop music comes around occasionally when I have my iTunes on shuffle. It's definitely raising my cool quotient.
The two other girls are sisters, one in eighth grade and one in seventh. They were both frighteningly quiet when they arrived in August (new this year), but they have slowly come out of their shells. Both play the flute, and they actually practice by choice! It's so refreshing to hear them play after literally dragging the boys out of their rooms for music practice. The eighth grader LOVES cats. I took her to Barnes and Noble several months ago to buy an SSAT prep book (that's the test they take for high school admission), and after finding the 50-pound book, the girl rushed over to the pet section and plopped down in front of the cat shelf. Her eyes lit up as she perused the books, and she finally settled on one that is filled with page after page of random felines. She tells me she has a growing collection of cat books. Her sister still doesn't talk in English much unless forced, but I've discovered that she has a fiery personality when she gets upset. When issues with roommates or chores arise, suddenly she is outspoken and fierce - I hope I never get on her wrong side!
Upstairs, there are four Korean boys who are equally entertaining to observe. In Korean culture, the oldest boy is the natural leader in a group; without saying a word, the others will look to him as an example and for direction. This year, that boy is one who could easily be a model for J. Crew (although he prefers Dolce and Gabbana). His style is impeccable, and he definitely takes his wardrobe seriously. Early in the year, he told me that he had lost one of his ties. (He wears a tie and jacket to school almost every day.) I asked him how that happened, and he told me that he was counting them one day and realized one was missing. "Counting your ties?" I asked, incredulously. "How many do you have?" "At least 60," he replied. 60 ties. He's fifteen. He also has a passion for 007, and he either wants to be a secret service agent or an architect when he grows up. I would love to see what he ends up doing; he doesn't really settle for less than he sets out to achieve.
Then there's the next oldest, a boy who has one of the most expressive faces I've seen (I know, that's saying something, coming from me!). He's a natural actor, even when it comes to protesting having his electronics taken away for not doing his chore. It's really hard to keep a straight face when disciplining this kid because he has such a wide range of angry, shocked, and offended facial expressions. I had this student for Secret Santa this year, and I decided to give him something small each day of the week leading up to our Christmas party (where I gave him Hulk boxing gloves that make noise when you hit something - they're pretty sweet). One of the things I got was a funny little stuffed dinosaur thing from IKEA. I saw it on his desk when he was packing to go home for Christmas break, and I made a joke about him taking it with him. To my surprise, he packed it, and then showed me again right before Spring Break that it was again accompanying him to Korea. That little thing has been around the world more times than I have!
The other eighth grade boy is my flute student, and it's with him that I have had many interesting discussions about life. He is really bright - another one whose future I am very curious about. He played the king in our school's production of "The King and I" this year, and the week of the performance, he asked if I would help him rehearse lines. I was concerned to see that he was still stumbling over lines (he is a classic procrastinator and only started working on them several weeks before the show), but I was really impressed to see how well he got into the character of the king when show time came. I have realized that I need to be really careful what I say around this kid, because he is a sponge and remembers even the smallest things I say. I've noticed him repeating ideas word for word - so if I give a wrong date or name, it will stick with him. It's a good reason to make sure I have the fine details down when I teach! No chance to correct what I do and try to pass it off later as what I had been saying all along; he would notice the difference.
Lastly, there's the one seventh grade boy. He has a hard time sometimes, being at the bottom of the Korean pecking order in the dorm, but he holds it well. He is careful about what he does, and he wants affirmation a lot. Earlier in the year, we were at a store together with the 007 boy, and I saw some ties that have musical instruments on them. The 007 boy plays the clarinet, so I was trying to convince him to buy a clarinet tie. He wasn't going for it. The seventh grader noticed them, though, and he started looking at the guitar ties. (He plays the guitar.) I successfully convinced him to buy one of these ties, and I am still waiting for him to wear it. It's pretty hip, I must say. This boy is also very particular about his desk chair; whereas all the others use the basic plastic ones provided by the dorm, this kid somehow bought a full executive leather chair. It's easily the nicest in the dorm... unfortunately, it's used much more as a clothes bin than a seat.
These kids can be so crazy at times, but I have the highest respect for each of them and immensely enjoy hanging out with them. The bright spots in my days are the little things like listening to the girls explain what makes Big Bang and - let me make sure I get this right - Lee Min Ho (a famous actor) so AMMAAAAZZZZING and gorgeous, or having intense pillow fights with the boys that range all over the top floor of the dorm. It's those moments that let you get past the constant reminders to turn off their lights and to put their dishes in the dishwasher and to leave for Chimes on time and to clean up after themselves in the bathroom and to turn in their phones at 9:15 and to take out the recycling and to wear a coat when it's cold, etc. etc.
That's probably enough for now. I could go on and on about the dorm for hours, but it's hard to put these moments into words. Here are two pictures from the play, though - and then I'll stop waxing lyrical about my kiddos. :)
Two of the girls acted, while the other two (in black) helped with the set changes.
Three seven-day boarders and one of the five-day boarders, holding up Mike, who is the guy I work with when I'm on weekend dorm duty.
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