11:45 AM:
Good day. :-) The soccer videos worked well. I had decided to try soccer-quiz videos in the style of the movie quizzes. I've had fun researching the subject of soccer, since I normally couldn't care less about the sport. But NG suggested that the kids were into soccer and might respond well to soccer vocabulary, and I also noticed that the World Cup is coming up next month, therefore it was time to make a little space in my brain for futbol.
I very much liked learning about the World Cup, how often it happens (every 4 years, like the Olympics), how many teams are in it (32), and what America's chances are of winning (ha, ha, ha! no. nope.). I found out that my Yeonghan looooves soccer and we had a talk about our favorite players because, like, that's something I have now.
My 2-3, 2-4 class was way noiser than my 2-1, 2-2 this morning, but we did okay. I have more classroom control these days. No, Dongu. Sit down. No Hyunseop, we are not having wrestling matches right now. They're still little noise machines, but I'm keeping tabs on them. And I'm connecting better to my sleepers--Gunwoo, Woohyuk, Beomjoon, etc.
I bought my fish a 3-gallon aquarium last night, complete with plants, pebbles, a tank thermometer, and chlorine treatments. I let the water sit for an hour, then I lowered his glass sphere to float in the water, to get him used to the temperature change, if there was one. Then I let aquarium water into his sphere, then after 10 more minutes, released him into the giant aquarium.
Some websites say you should take up to 24 hours to slowly introduce your fish to his aquarium because of the possible differences in pH balance, but I didn't have time for that. I had to drop off my little guy and hope he was strong enough to last.
He is! My fish was happy and kicking this morning, and he really seems to enjoy his new environment. I took video of him on my phone, and I showed it to Minjoonie today. Taekyoon, HH and the other boys were all suitably impressed at how beautiful Minjoon's fish looked, and he got lots of recognition for giving me the bestest and prettiest present ever.
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5:30 PM Day was fine!
Did a speaking test for 3rd grade. They were mostly marvelous and I learned a few more names. Youngmin wants to be me when he grows up. Good luck on that one, sugar.
But my Seonwoo accidentally hurt me. I had fallen and bruised my hand on Friday--loose board on a bridge made me take a tumble while running. So I have a dark bruise across my palm, and when Seonwoo finished his speaking test, he high-fived me harder than any kid ever has.
It was so hard, I felt it in my wrist bones. I was just speechless for a moment, then I 'm sure I looked hurt, both physically and emotionally. I told Seonwoo that he could not high-five women that hard because it's about 3 times too much pressure. Seonwoo backpedaled by saying that the amount of force he used was equal to the amount of love he had for me. I had to administer the rest of the speaking tests while holding my hand loosely, trying not to use it much.
It really surprised me, because of all the kids who try to show their affection physically (often in dude-bro ways, such as wanting to arm-wrestle, to prove to me that they're bigger and stronger), Seonwoo has never been one of them. It's kind of out of character for him, but he clearly didn't intend to hurt me. I just don't know what possessed him to think that I could withstand that kind of impact easily.
He came to the office to apologize and he blew on my hand to make it better, so I guess we're calling this matter closed. So weird.
New afterschool went well! Only 13 kids, with just 3 of them coming from my previous afterschool. We're going to read and watch and discuss The Hunger Games, so we'll see how that goes. :-)
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