A Lovely Friday

My bus ride to school today was definitely one of the best yet. It’s just a short ride but since it takes me about 30-35 minutes to walk to school, I usually take the bus on the way there to cut some time. Anyways, I was immediately greeted by a “Hello Kate”. It turns out one of my 3^rd graders was on the bus with her grandma. I also learned that she has always lived with her grandma since something happened with her mother and/or father. She’s a very sweet girl and is very enjoyable to be around. I’m glad she has a caring person to live with.

At the next stop two women got on with a baby girl. The bus was packed so it was hard to find a place for them to sit however people moved a bit and they found a place. The woman who sat down with the baby was beautiful, someone who makes you look twice and not because of how they are styled. I wish I could have taken a photo. The old women all sitting around her immediately asked if it was her baby as she obviously was not very old. She said it wasn’t, it was the other woman’s baby and she was just holding it. She said she was 17 and was married but didn’t have any children. The baby was also adorable with her cute little pierced ears and interest in touching my hair. They simply made for a great ride that ended all too soon.

After arriving at school I had a spelling/speaking class with my 3^rd graders. Out of about 50 kids that could have come, there were 30 there so I’d say that’s a good turnout (this was the 2^nd group of 3^rd graders this week). There weren’t even enough chairs in the room to fit them all. I’m going to have to figure out if we can get anything accomplished with that many or if I’ll have to find a way to split them into two groups. After spelling I had a bit of a break until my 1^st class however since they were taking a test and the next class was as well, I wasn’t really needed. So I went into another room and worked on decorations for our school Halloween Carnival at the end of the month. I ended up making about 30 pumpkins and a “Happy Halloween” sign. Plus I finished the “stick the mouth on the pumpkin” pumpkin.

The surprise of the day in the 3^rd grade was seeing a very familiar face when I walked into one of the rooms. It turns out one of the boys who frequently begs for money at not only the train station but in the center of town is now going to my school. He’s not much older than the rest of the 3^rd graders but he hasn’t been in school for a while. I’m hoping he stays as he is obviously a smart kid, he just needs an education so he stop begging for money. He’s sweet and wanted to talk to me quite a bit once he found out I would be helping to teach him English. He thought I spoke fluent Bulgarian. Haha, no, I definitely do not but I get by.

The other two classes of third grade went well. I worked with two kids out in the hallway during most of both classes and some of them surprised me. They’re all great kids, it’s just hard to know what they know in a large classroom setting. We’re able to get things done so efficiently and I can easily assess them while we’re working in a small group. I also got tons of hugs and a few pictures from the kids today which are always nice. Now for a  relaxing Friday evening of some dinner, online TV, skype, and probably a bit of knitting. 

Peace, Love, Literacy, and Reckless Curiosity.