Brazil, Chapter 5: In which I Decorate my Classroom

The internet’s down today, but luckily for you, my one follower, I’m writing a blog post on Word to cut and paste later. I’ve taught two days of school now, in Room 5:

It’s really fun but also exhausting. CCBEU has three types of classes: regular classes, which are divided by levels and follow books; conversation

classes, which have students from various levels and in which we just talk and play games; and VIP classes, which have just one or two students who come in for private lessons.

My first regular class yesterday was eight teenagers. I really liked them. One of the students, Diego, teaches the lower level classes at CCBEU, so it was kind of fun but also kind of weird to teach one of my co-workers. Another (handsome) student spent the class drawing on the (pretty) girl next to him. I’ll pull the mean teacher trick and make them not sit by each other anymore. But even they were willing to participate, and all around it was a good class. We just talked and got to know each other. Actually, that’s what I did in most of my classes. The adults are shyer than the teens, but I’m hoping that they’re just nervous because I’m their first native

English-speaking teacher.

It’s funny because everyone calls me “teacher.” I keep telling them to say Rachel, but they never do. Mr. Cheney used to call us “student” when we did that, so maybe I’ll try that.

I’ve also noticed a definite change in how slowly and precisely I speak. It’s a good habit for the classroom, since half the time they can’t follow my native accent. But it gets kind of weird when I’m talking to Diane. Luckily she does the same thing. Please excuse us when we come back in December saying, “Mer-reeee Chriiiist-maaas. Wow! It is ver-ry cold heeere.”

Our school is three stories, with classrooms, a kitchenette, a waiting area, and even a stage upstairs. The cleaning lady keeps it spotless, and everyone has a locker for their folders and stuff. I get my own classroom, which is really nice, because I can decorate it, which I have been doing for the last 2 days. I always used to make fun of the obnoxious posters on my classroom walls, and now I’m straining to remember their quotes so I can make them for my own room. I’m resisting the urge to put up Mark Twain’s quote, “I never let schooling get in the way of my education.” I love that, but if any of my students deciphered it, it wouldn’t exactly encourage them to come back.

Here's what I've settled on instead:

Yep. There it is. Virgil supposedly said it, but it doesn't look very dignified in my bubble letters.