STARTING TO FEEL THE HEAT!

So we had been forewarned about the effect the heat has on the students, but we are now seeing it in full force. This week has been one of the hottest yet and I am starting to see a huge change in the behaviour of my students. I can't say that I really blame them, while I am teaching I constantly have beads of sweat pouring from my forehead and loose my train of thought. Since I am the artsy Drama major we sometimes pretend that we are on a ski hill in Canada freezing our buns off. They love hearing about the snow and think skiing is hilarious. They can't wrap their heads around weather being too cold. One day one of my students said, "miss please take me back to Canada with you where it is nice and cool!".
Another one of the major challenges this week is that here there aren't substitute teachers. When another teacher is gone the lead teacher (my teacher) is expected to fill in and cover both classes. So Cindy (my teacher mentor) and I have been rotating between the two classes. This other class is a major challenge to say the least and it seemed like the elements were against me today. It was super hot and the pre school was having their parade blaring punta music right outside our classroom. I try to see obstacles as opportunities to be a better teacher and grow but let's be honest, when it is plus 40, I am dealing with a class that is constantly breaking into fights in the classroom and trying to yell over punta music, it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel (even for me). This group of kids is extremely violent towards each other and it seems like every time I turn my back some sort of fight breaks out. I think today was the toughest I ever had to be as a teacher,although it did help me realize what I am capable of in such challenging situations. It isn't rare to see these students punching, kicking or slapping one another and not just a little bit, hard. My secret weapon for this difficult class- reading Robert Munch! I use it as a reward for their good behavior and it's the only time that I have all of their undivided attention. Thanks for sending those here mom, they have been a God sent!
To be honest it made me really appreciate my class when I returned to them in the afternoon for Language Arts. But, at the end of the day Cindy and I have a good laugh at how ridiculous some of the situations are and pull it together for the next day. It just makes me realize that as teacher I will always continue to learn....well off to grab an ice cream and try to cool off!