Everyday Life

So, there have been some gentle reminders from people that I haven't updated my blog that often lately. (I won't mention any names) :) It's true, I have been neglecting it, but I am begining to really feel like life here is becoming so normal. However,regular days can be interesting too sometimes, so I will give you a bit-sized piece of my everyday life.

Today I helped out with the track and field practice after school. Because I have had some experience with sprinting, I volunteered to offer my guidance while the students practiced their track and field events. To tell you the truth, I wasn't too excited about spending my precious after-school work time on the field, but I went on out anyways.

I did some stretching and tried to get some kids to practice their sprinting, but they seemed to be more interested in the jumping and javelin. So, I just chilled on the grass and waited for the kids to make their way over. Eventually, a few came over and I offered them some advice for their warm-up 50m. I was disappointed to see that they didn't really put much effort into the race. One of the PE teachers suggested that I race with them to give them some motivation. Whoever I beat would have to do 20 push ups. I was game and so were the kids. We lined up, me giving them a head start, and we ran down the field. Again, they weren't too motivated, so I headed back down to the start and waited for the next batch.

That quick little race reminded me of how much I love to sprint, bue also how tiring it can be! The next group of kids were more into it, so I took off down the field at the same time as them. They were older boys, so all but one boy beat me. By now, I was warmed up and ready to win. Ironically, the next group of kids were kids that I teach. They thought it was pretty funny that I was going to race them. So, we came up with a plan. If I beat them, they would do push ups, and if they beat me, i would do push ups. We went up to the line, got set, got ready, and we flew down the field. I beat all but one student! They laughed and congratulated the winner. I guess they didn't think I was that fast. :) So, I told them all to get down on the grass and i counted from 1-20 for us all, except the winner, as we did our push-ups.

The rest of the afternoon I hung out with the kids and helped where I could. It felt good to just get to know the kids outside of the classroom and show them that I am a normal person too. Somehow students always think that teachers don't do normal things. It kind of cracks me up actually because I used to think that too. Just a few weeks ago, some of my students were picking out some music for their homeroom dance and I grooved to the music a little, just for fun. One of my students saw me and was like "Ahh, that is so weird!" I was quite offended. Really? What is wrong with a teacher dropping a few moves?

I guess is is all about perspective, right?