Wow! Has it really been a month since I wrote here? So much has happened.

On August 19 I started teaching reading to an unruly mob of 7th graders. What a trip! This is so different from teaching high school seniors. They have so much energy and are so antsy. Some want to learn and others want... well, something, anything else.

And I am trying to teach reading. I have a small bookshelf of age-appropriate books and I told them to select one to read. I explained that we would have 15 minutes of independent reading at the beginning of every class. The next class they came in and forgot to pick up their books. Once we had that sorted out some of them were appalled to learn they would have to read for a whole 15 minutes! And that they would have to continue that every class!

One boy, who had chosen the thinnest volume, kept telling his neighbors that they had chosen books that were too thick. I explained to him that there was no such thing as a book that was too thick. He asked if I had read any of them. I explained I had not read all of them but I had read every one of the Harry Potter books on the top shelf. I told him I loved to read and could spend hours reading. He was literally shocked to think anyone would read for more than the few minutes it takes to scan the newspaper sports page.

He made such a fuss over others choosing large boks that I told him I would assign him one of those books if he didn't drop the subject.

The second time we did this the class was shocked to find they would have to continue with the books. One asked how long he had to read the book. I told him he would continue until he finished it at which time he would start another. I appear to be straining the incredulity of these children. I don't know what will happen if the kid who complained about size ever finishes the tiny child's book he selected.

I introduced the concept of prefix root and suffix to them with words written on the board. They were words like purist, telephone, asteroid, etc. They were skeptical about writing them down and did not want to believe that the words came from a 5th grade reader! One said that they shouldn't have to work this those words because American schools were more advanced than Guam schools. I told them they would work with those words and more!

The school is the first public school I have worked in. There is no copy paper so I had to bring in my own. I have two air conditioners but only one works with the remote control. I have to turn the other on with the reset switch which means that one runs at maximum all the time. My classroom has not screen so I have to point my projector at the side wall. The projector is my personal property, not school property. I pointed out to the kids that the only thing in the room owned by the school is the furniture. Everything else is mine. There is no computer but there is a line to connect to the internet... I think. I haven't tried yet.

The building is made up of blocks of four rooms connected by outdoor covered passageways. You can cross the whole campus without getting wet when it rains... which it does often because this is wet season. Windows are aluminum jalousie louvered windows with a sheet of plexiglass on the inside. The window controls don't work so the louvers stay permanently closed except where they are missing.

More in a bit.