My BABIES

GUYS. 

I

MET
MY
BABIES
THIS
WEEK.

Five months of preparation, waiting, and talking to the Father about these guys and I finally got 'em.
MY BABIES.

I don't know if you noticed there, but the two pictures featured above aren't of the same classroom or the same kids. Why is that?
Well, I have a lot of babies---280-something of them, to be sort-of exact.

WHAT???

That's right. I've got eight different classes of second graders that I teach twice a week. There are 35 or 36 kids in each class.
That's a daggum lot of kiddos.

While classroom management is not the easiest thing in world, I'm actually really excited about having so many students. Why? Well, yes, because I get to touch lots of little lives, but also
BECAUSE I GET TO NAME THEM.

See, in English class, everyone gets an English name. Some of the kids got English names in first grade...boring names like Leo, Ally, and Sue. But Miss Love got to name all the kids who forgot their names or are new to the school and never had one. I get to name them whatever I want.And here are just a few of my favorite names:

Mickey, Piper, Luna, Ron, Harry, Dudley (those three sit together), Hansel, Gretel, Babs, Buddy, Fisher, Monty, Beau, Fiona, Kentrel, Rock, Barbie (and Ken), Walt, Ernie, Burt, Ramona, Raven, Lance, Prince, Flynn, Ryder, Myrna, Fabio, Channing, Ernest, Milton, Gus, and Ginger.

Not to mention my princesses: Cinderella, Belle, Snow White (she already had this name!), Ariel, Tiana, and Jasmine.

My team leader asked, "Laura, does this mean you are going to name your own kids weird names someday?"
I replied, "No. This is just my chance to do whatever I want."

Anyways, I've got lots of kids and 16 random 35-minute class periods a week. My time not teaching is spent in the teacher office hanging out with the Chinese English teachers and my two teammates who are also in second grade (the rest of my team is in first grade), so my schedule looks like this:

Oh, the Chinese English teachers. There are five in second grade and one of them accompanies us to every class. Whichever teacher this is helps with management, any necessary interpretation, and moral support. They are also loads of fun and all of us are looking forward to building relationships with them this year.

(My desk is the first one on the right. Obviously the messiest one.)

There are 20 second grade classes in the school, each with 35 or 36 kids. There are 4,000-5,000 students in the school altogether---and that's preschool through 6th (yeah WHOA that's a lot of kids). I have Grade 2 classes 12-19. Some of these classes had English last year and thus our classes begin:

Me: "Hello, class!"
Class: "Hello, Miss Love!"

Some of the classes are new to the school and our classes begin:

Me: "Hello, class!"
Class: "...herro, cnass.....?"

Sometimes I have this conversation:

Me: "What do you YOU like?"
Student: "I LIKE AH ORANGE. I LIKE MOM AND DAD. I LIKE MONKAYS."

Sometimes I have this conversation:

Me: "What's your English name?"
Student: *panicked blank stare*

Sometimes my powerpoints work and the students know some English and the lesson really hits it off. And sometimes the ceiling is leaking and there's a lake in the middle of the classroom and all the desks are pushed against the wall and the power isn't working and the students don't know any English and it's the last class of the day and it BOMBS.

But that's part of being a teacher.
I LOVE being a teacher.
I love my students.
I love my Chinese co-teachers.

I also love running into random really really really cute babies all over campus.

Some of the older students. LOOK AT THEIR CUTE TIES.

Structured recess...because unstructured recess would be more chaotic than the zombie apocalypse.

LITTLE TINY BABIES IN CUTE RAINBOW COATS AND BOUNCING RAINBOW BABY BOOTS.

This is where I was called
This is where I fit right now.
And I love it.