Y oh Y

So I had my first ‘Y’ class today. The levels at my school go as such: Y-->M-->K-->A. Y kids are, obviously, the youngest, and this was a Y1 class. That means it was their very first day of English class, and for some, their very first day of being in a classroom with other kids period. They’re about 4-5 years old, which makes them super-cute as well as super-crazy. I was pretty excited about it but also stressed out because I’m used to kids understanding me at least a little bit. But, come on! Four to five-year-old Chinese kids? Awesome.

One little girl was sitting in the little chairs set up for the students when I walked in the room. The rest of the students were in desks talking to their parents. She was super tiny and super cute. She kind of looked like a Chinese version of the little girl in Monsters, Inc. and I instantly thought, “Aww, you’re going to be my favorite.” Yeah, she’s a psycho. But more on that later.

I got to name a student! I decided to name him Jack, since his Chinese name started with a “J” sound. My Chinese teacher asked him if he liked it, and he approved. I don’t know if he’ll keep that English name, but if he does, I feel honored to have named a kid (even if it isn’t very original). So we got through some “hello” stuff, with me and my puppet, “Bobby” saying hello to each student. The kids still don’t quite understand the concept of the teacher saying something and them repeating it, but they are slowly getting it.

So then we all get up and move to the back of the room to sing the Hello song. Little cute girl (Mia) runs up and hugs my legs. Aww, I think, you’re opening up sooner than I thought, you’re so sweet. Yeah, after that she went absolutely insane. This girl is nuts. She kept grabbing and hanging on to me, with all of her might. I kept having to pry her off of me while she giggled hysterically. If I was sitting on the ground, she would come up behind me and hang on my back, gripping my neck. I kept trying not to choke to death while I detached her fingers one by one from my trachea. When we paraded around the room, she kept hanging on to me. After a while, I felt my shirt being tugged and I looked down to find her with my shirt in her MOUTH. She was trying to eat the shirt off of my back. She was like a gremlin. Seriously. Tiny, quick, chasing and jumping on me…sometimes eating my clothes. A little gremlin.

Halfway through the class, she lost interest in torturing me physically and moved on to bolting out of the classroom, stealing kids’ junk cards, and taking my props away and trying to hide them. She does this all in good fun. She’s not evil. She’s just straight-up nuts. Or maybe she’s just 4. I don’t know, but the other students could sit there, saying “A” and “apple” without spontaneously bolting or attacking the teacher. Luckily I had my Chinese teacher there to help translate, teach the children what to do in the classroom, chase after Mia, and encourage the little boy who cried for almost the entire hour.

I underestimated how difficult this class would be. I just thought, “Wee! Little kids! This will be fun!” If we spoke the same language, it would be a little easier to describe concepts like how to behave in the classroom. We sit in our chairs, repeat after the teacher, play the games, sing the songs, etc. How do you tell a kid to sit down, when they don’t know what that means? I guess that’s why there’s a Chinese teacher in the classroom for the younger classes, but it is still tough to get 8-9 toddlers to all do the same thing when they don’t understand you. And I was told to bring a puppet to demonstrate to the children what to do, which didn’t really work. I felt surprisingly awkward with the puppet and the kids weren’t making the connection that whatever the puppet does, they are supposed to do. I also had 4-5 parents watching through the window the whole time, which was a little nerve-wracking when I had one or two kids running around and one kid crying. I observed a couple Y classes last week, but besides that I wasn’t given much direction for how to run my first day. However, I think I am going to like teaching them. We get to play lots of games and sing and color and run around, and once they understand how class time works, I think it will be less chaotic. That Mia is nuts, but she’s sweet. When we were in the elevator after class, she kept saying hi and waving to me. I was like, “You’re the reason I’m heading straight to the bottle of a Taiwan beer after class, psycho! But I can’t stay mad at you.”