Trouble Brews in Grade 3 :P

Teaching grade 3 can be so frustrating that it's comical. Compared to kids in the States, they are very well behaved and dedicated to their studies. However, my grade 3 students are full of crazy pills lately! We were told that our class were "perfect angels" - in the most sincere sense. Whoever said that was full of crap.

We just hired a new Mandarin teacher and she came to our class for the first time yesterday. She doesn't have much of an identifiable means of classroom management, but I'm sure after visiting my class, she'll quickly work on that. While she was teaching the other day in my room (both Budi and I have to sit in and basically keep the peace), she turned her back to the students and began writing on the board. Momentarily, all of the boys got up and began wrestling! What the junk! It was as if someone linked their brains all together and flipped the "on" switch. I ended up having to raise my voice and tell them that if they tried it again, they'd all be in for recess. It didn't happen again. As the kids settled down and started listening to the new Mandarin teacher, Budi and I laughed.

The newest rage in Grade 3 is sliding on the linoleum floor. Students will be roaming around or handing things in, and instead of walking back to their seat, they slide (as if they're sliding into 3rd base). And while we're talking about new developments, one of my students just discovered that he can make farting noises with his hand and armpit. Randomly during free time, you'll see boys pull up their shirts and attempt to make this noise. It's like a choir of obnoxious air bursts. However, I cannot help but laughing. I sit at my desk thinking, "so this is what Mrs. Koster (my 3rd grade teacher) had to put up with." *Side note - my class was infamous for this kind of junk*

Today in chapel, Budi and I came to the realization that our Grade 3 class will never win the "Spotter Award" for best chapel behavior. The spotter award goes to the class that is well behaved (which includes not talking to their neighbors, not being overly antsy, and not having to pull students aside or moving them to sit by the teacher). Yep, my class and grade 2 rule the roost when it comes to poor chapel behavior. Okay, okay, so I'm not proud of it. We work on it with our students on a daily basis, but I have to admit, some of the riff raff that goes on between grade 2 and 3 is hilarious. I mean seriously, who takes off a shoe and slams it against someone's head? Even when we're singing and doing motions, things get out of control. We sang this song "I love Jesus" - and it talks about how his love is deep down in our hearts. Each time we sang the word "deep", we were suppose to crouch down. What do my boys do? They flop on the floor like fish out of water. At least that only happened once. I did my "snap of death" (which basically includes a snap and a threatening "you best be quiet" look. You'd think my "snap of death" would instill some fear and good behavior in them during chapel. Haha, yeah right! They just find other trouble.

Okay, so I don't want to portray my Grade 3 kids as bad kids - they are just rambunctious. They like to have fun, however the line between fun and chaotic mayhem seem to be blurry to most of them. However, we have achieved success in terms of working quietly in the classroom when it comes to doing assignments and silent reading. I put on a mix of classical music and movie scores. The kids love it and always ask to listen to it so that they can "focus". They seem to calm down and unwind while both listening and working. What a huge improvement!