Miss Janet Dollars ;)

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This past week flew by so fast, I felt like I couldn't catch up. It is now Monday and I haven't written here in a whole week, I believe. Last week was awesome! Honduras played their first game and so of course I went out. On a school night. Never a good idea.

We all went out to Sangria's and they had tables and even bleachers set up with a big screen t.v. We ordered beer and nachos and basically, we watched Honduras lose 2-0. It was a completely different experience watching a soccer game here instead of back home. Everybody was at the bar and they were cheering and booing and I felt anxious the whole time. It was a good game. The Honduran goalie made quite a few good saves, but just not enough. I kind of equate them to the Maple Leafs back home. If they are losing by even one point, they throw in the towel and basically forget that they are playing. But, who knows. They still have 3 games left, they could really make some improvements by then. Even though Honduras lost, most people were just happy that Mexico lost as well.

I stayed out way too late that night. It is never good to shut down a bar when you have school in a few hours. But, it was a huge event and I knew that half of my class wouldn't be there the next day because, they too would be tired. Turns out, I was right. Although, I still should have got home long before I did, I will absolutely do that again for the next game. There's plenty of time to sleep later. I just don't want to miss all of these moments that I know are going to be great and ones that I can't get back.

The rest of the week was rather uneventful. That is, until Friday. I didn't realize how insane valentine's Day is here. Wow. I had set up a pizza party for my kids for that day. I decided to do a 2.5 hour party after lunch and just have some much needed fun with the kids. I know how Valentine's Day is back home and I can officially say we are getting ripped off. They go crazy here! I walked into my classroom that day and was inundated with teddy bears, cards, flowers and entirely too much candy. I actually had a hard time getting it all home. back home, we get a few cards and some cinnamon hearts and call it a day. not here. It is a whole celebration.

Friday was a great day at school, but an even better night. We went to the Parque Central to go and have a drink. They were fire dancing there! A ton of people were in the centre and were dancing and breathing fire to beat of at least twenty drums. It was absolutely amazing. Some of them had on masks and costumes and others were just dancing with the fire. I am now looking into learning how to do it. It's incredibly beautiful to see and I think it would be awesome to know how to do that.

Saturday night, we all went out to a new club that was opening. It was Deja Vu. Going out here on Valentine's Day is even stranger than going out on most nights. The men don't seem to understand that just because you are single, doesn't mean that you are looking to not be. I don't mind dancing and in fact, i enjoy dancing and having fun. What I don't appreciate is being mauled. We did have a ton of fun though. This club was air conditioned at least, which is a huge positive in this town. I will be going there again for sure.

Sunday I didn't do too much. I should have actually got way more done than I did. But oh well, that's what next weekend is for. I am going to try my best not to go out next weekend and just relax. i could definitely use it right about now.

I am not looking forward to tomorrow. Tuesday's are really bad for me. My schedule is crazy at school and I know that it is just the beginning of the week. Thursdays are pretty crazy too, but at least by then I have Friday to look forward too.

Things are going great with the kids. We have settled into a routine and it seems to be going well. I have started some newer things to help with behaviour and some other things also. We now have the Problem Solver every week. So they get badges at the end of the week for solving the weekly math problem or getting perfect on their spelling, things like that. Their favourite thing so far though, is the Miss Janet Dollars. That's right, I have a currency now. I was having problems with them sitting down and being ready at the bell for class. Now, when they behave and follow the rules, I put money in their "bank". At the end of the month I hold an auction with small things like pencils, notebooks, stickers and glowing pens. Things kids like. It only cost me about 100 Lempiras a month to do it, which is about 5 bucks. It is most certainly worth it. They get to bid on the items that they want with their Miss Janet Dollars. If they didn't behave well, they have a hard time being able to afford anything and it actually does modify their behaviour rather quickly. Not that want them to not do anything unless they receive something, I just want them to understand the rules of the classroom. This by far, has been the best thing yet. The money I made is cute and so are the badges, if it gets them excited, my job is much easier. Plus I get to be remembered as the cool teacher that auctioned off prizes with their own currency...who can beat that!

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Comments

[Julie]

OMG!!Tads teacher does the money thing too!he gives the kids 100 to start with and at the end of the month they can buy stuff from the box!He loves it!!Glad to hear you are doing that it seems to work wonders in Tads class.It is good to hear that you are not missing out on any of the activities around you the old saying goes why do today what you can put off till tomorrow!!!Love ya lots!!!!