So, I woke up this morning, and realized that I had not set an alarm the night before. However, I felt well rested because class did not start until 9 for me, and I did not have to wake up to an annoying alarm! I did wake up at 7:30, so I had PLENTY of time to get ready! I ate breakfast, and saw Sofia leave (she told me last night that she was going home!). Even though I had so much time this morning, I saw sooo slow in getting ready, and did some last minute lesson planning stuff, and felt like I was late again. However, I was still early for Italian standards. Whhyyyyyy do I fret about these things? I swear by the time I leave here I will stop fretting over this and other things.
So, when I got to school, earlier than needed, I had to get someone to make some copies for me so that I could do the "Christmas in Dixie" lesson plan with my students. Once these were finally made, I went to the classroom, and thankfully we were able to use one of the rooms with a computer so that we could use youtube for the song! So, once again this lesson went well! We listened to it twice so that they could fill in the blanks, but I took away more words for this class. The boys were so funny swaying to the song with their arms around each other. We talked about how Elvis lived at Graceland, something they did not know, and then about what "the city's on the move" means. I had to explain that south = southern, and that I feel this song is "southern". Nick had never heard it, or heard of it for that matter. We labeled the cities, talked about some other cities and states, etc. I was once again impressed with my students' knowledge...not that I doubted it, but I was amazed still! They sang to the song, and we laughed a lot!!! We discussed nicknames, other cities, other states, etc. Then my favorite part was that they wanted to sing for me! They chose their songs! They started with an Italian song, and then sang Michael Buble's version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". I videoed it, and it was so much fun!!! Valeria and some other students who had been doing some testing came in while everyone was singing! It was SO much fun! I promised Valeria that we did an actual lesson!! Haha, but see...when you have fun, you learn more! I could feel that I was smiling ear to ear because I was really enjoying it, and they seemed like they really enjoyed the hour as well! I left that class feeling like it was a wildly successful hour spent together.
As I was leaving this building for the other one, the Principal spotted me and asked the others who I was. She did not recognize me, but then again, I have not seen her since that first day I went to their school and we had coffee in the bar together!
My second class, Patrizia's class, started off weird. One of the tech guys came to get me to try my Rockette dvd in their dvd player! I had completely forgotten that I had to try it out. It did not work because their dvd players do not read our dvds, and vice versa. So, by the time I returned to the classroom, and had "Christmas in Dixie" copies made, Patrizia had arrived. So, with 20ish minutes wasted, we started the lesson. I had them look up the song on their phones and work in groups. Some tried to cheat and just looked up the lyrics, but it went well other than that! I explained the same phrases, Graceland and city's on the move, and we labeled the cities and states! They are not as lively of a bunch as some of my other classes, but overall I think it was successful!
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| The students huddled in groups around cell phones to listen to "Christmas in Dixie". Only in Italy! |
When this class was over, I went back to the other building to print train tickets for when my momma comes! I got some coffee from the machine, decaf again, and just relaxed for a few minutes before I headed back to the other building.
Linda's class was my last one for the day, and I love them! I was sitting in a window in the stairwell when the bell rang. I was distracted, and the students came out of the room saying, "Elyse!!!" I LOVE the way they pronounce my name...I cannot figure out how to write it to make anyone understand, but it is so cute! They all (well, actually a lot of the boys today) gathered around and were talking to me in Italian! They kept telling each other, "lei capisce Italiano!!" She understands Italian! Yes, I do...if you speak clearly and slowly! I love that they are eager to talk to me though! Makes my heart happy! So, then we commenced with more of their student presentations. I learned some more about Cosenza of course, and when one girl was presenting, and talking about Cuddruriaddri, they were all laughing because she has trouble saying it. -So, I stopped them and made them all say it one-by-one while I videoed. Some have trouble saying it, and some say it differently than others. It was so much fun though, and I am glad I have it on video! One of my fave girls, MG, was crying. I never found out why, but sweet girl, I hated to see her upset! They all said that I say it better than the girl who was presenting...poor girl...but I was secretly really excited about their approval of my pronunciation...FINALLY!! There was one boy that is always REALLY shy about speaking in English, but he did REALLY WELL with his presentation! I was super proud of him! One girl (the cuddruriaddri girl), talked about some of the modern art here in Cosenza, and her grandfather is the artist! I thought that was pretty cool! We laughed A LOT during our hour together! This is so important to me because I want the students to have fun, learn, and enjoy the learning process! I really enjoy this group of students!
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| Tree in one of the school buildings |
Nick text me to tell me that his train from Paola to Cosenza was cancelled, so he would be later than anticipated! However, he still made it here by like 11:20, and I was so excited to see him! We stayed up a little talking, but were both exhausted. Yay for Nick coming to Cosenza again so soon!
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