Grade 3B

Teachers tend to go overboard bragging on their students and talking about how amazing they are.  I really try not to do that here because it's boring and I don't want to turn one of our 7 blog readers away, but I'd just like to take a moment to declare to the world that I have the number one best class in the history of the world ever (besides my 2nd class at Corey - they're perfect).  

We started with a wee 11 students in August and have slowly grown to 16.  

Here are our class demographics:

2 students from the USA
1 from the USA/England

1 from Turkey

1 from Czech Republic

1 from Poland

1 from Saudi Arabia

1 from Algeria

1 from Egypt

1 from England/India

1 from Brunei

1 from Lebanon

3 from Korea

1 who has lived in Paris, Holland, Kazakhstan, Texas and now Dubai - sheesh.

 We have native English speakers, ELL students who speak fluent English, ELL students who are getting better at English every day and ELL students who speak no English.  Their reading levels range from kindergarten to the end of fifth grade, so I obviously have to differentiate the shit out of their work.  One student read 3 of the 4 Lightning Thief books in 10 days while another is reading books with one sentence on a page.  In typical classrooms, students start to realize who's ahead and who's behind, and the kids who struggle are usually made fun of.  It's definitely my least favorite part of teaching. 

But not my class!  The best thing about my class this year is that they don't do any of that.  They are THE sweetest class ever.  Ever.  They encourage each other, support each other, and really go out of their way to take care of each other.  They hold hands as they're walking to lunch.  They squeal and hug after a long weekend.  They make sweet notes for each other, and my favorite thing is they have become masters at taking care of new students who don't speak English.  They guide them through the halls with their hands around their shoulders.  They play with them at recess, even though they can't communicate with words.  They repeat my directions really slowly with hand signals and show them what to do.  It's pretty amazing to watch.  

Last week I was absent two days in a row, thanks to my annual February sickness, and the substitute left me the most glowing report.  She loved them so much she took pictures of them on her iPad and sent them to me with a sweet email that said how very lucky I am to have such a great class.  She also left a little note about each of the kids.  My favorite one said, "Seyeon is an absolute star in every way."  It's absolutely true.

All of my kids are stars and I'm super lucky to have them.  I always love my students but this group is extra special.  Maybe it's because of the small class that we've had so much time to bond, or maybe it's just because they're amazing students, but I think they will forever be one of my favorite groups of kids.

I wish I had a picture to show you, but they're all at school.  Maybe I'll sneak one up at work tomorrow so you can see their amazingness for yourself. :)