From "Hello's" to an "Exquisite Heart"

Sometimes it's a joy to jump from tiny little one's to young adults.

We were back to work after a day off. I feel bad that the local teachers don't receive the actual Tomb Sweeping festival off. A few of the local teachers have to take their own vacation days to go to their family's hometown to care for the tombs of their family members.

It was a quieter Sunday than normal since a lot of people are away. I had two small star classes this morning. I actually got to hear one of my tiny small stars say, "hello" for the first time! It was a bit of a thrill for me! Now, we are starting to work on learning the names of Roddy and his friends.

After lunch, I only had two students in my oldest class. We reviewed the last two units before they had to take their quizzes in the first hour. Then, in the second hour, we did the Star Trek life club I wrote during the Winter where we talk about teamwork and equality. Both girls talked about how their teachers treat the girls very differently than the boys. One of the girls said that her main teacher tells the girls that they should be as smart as the boys, but that they should not talk as much in class. However, both girls agreed that in Beijing it is possible for women earn the same equal pay for the same job as men do, but that it's a completely different story in most of the smaller towns and villages in China.

We talked about how even though it is possible that all people can be equal, it does not mean that we have to be the same. Totally got inspired with that idea because I had been listening to Barbra Streisand's "The Concert" album over and over again throughout the Winter and she talks about how "We all should be equal, but definitely not the same!" I had the girls write down three things that make them special and gave them a chance to share if they wanted to. Both girls talked about how they are special because they have good hearts and that they do good things for other people. One of the girls wrote that she has an "exquisite heart." She had to look up what exquisite meant, but it was still beautiful.

We then went on to watch a few minutes of the Star Trek movie and I had the girls write down all the different types of "people" that they could see and we talked about working with and being friends with people that looked very different from us. Then, the girls wanted to talk to me about bi-racial marriages. It was interesting to get their points- of -view on the subject. I think one of the best parts of teaching is that sometimes the students teach you so much more than you could ever teach them.