A Whole New Term

It's hard to believe, but I have been here for over 3 months now. The time has flown by. At CDI, the students and teachers begin a new term every 3 months. The students either level-up to a higher class in the progression, or stay at the same level, depending on their test scores. The books, of course, change for those who do not level-up. This also means new classes for us teachers. We receive a new schedule, and a whole new lot of students. This term I have 5 different levels instead of 4, but the same amount of hours (last term I had a repeat of one class). The extra class is hardly extra work, though...maybe 20-25 minutes extra prep, if that.

I don't want to speak too soon and jinx myself, but so far, the term has gone off without a hitch. I am definitely feeling enthusiastic about the upcoming months. This is mostly because my students, overall, are awesome. My first class of the term was my lowest level that I will be teaching this particular term. Even though the younger kids are always more talkative, it is not wise to have high expectations on the first day. It usually takes a few weeks for the kids to warm up to us enough to feel comfortable to participate. Well, that was definitely not the case with this class. Almost immediately, the kids were shouting out answers, asking questions, finishing my sentences, even laughing and joking with me. That has thus far been the best of all 5, but the others I have been pleasantly surprised with as well. Not only do the kids have good personalities, many have really impressed me academically already. It's always nice having intelligent kids in class because first, obviously they make my job easier, but also because they understand my jokes and actually--god forbid--laugh with me.

My one student, Jooui, who I had for about half of last term also, gave me a box of chocolates from Japan today. She also mentioned that they were very expensive, which made me laugh and she did not understand why. I definitely don't think she was lying though, because wow, these chocolates are a delectable treat. Maybe that is what inspired me to write this post. It's possible my students aren't as good as I am making them out to be...
Only time will tell. Tomorrow I will probably be annoyed with them.