Feb. 2 (Thurs.)

I have never seen this group of kids so interested and motivated to do a good job as they were today preparing for their speeches. They were so excited they could barely contain themselves through the first half of class. Several of them kept pulling it out to practice or add a little more here and there. The best part was that Minah and Sumaya were really ready to go too. I was afraid that they would be too nervous, but they were both confident. The class behaved very well, and they were so sweet and supportive to both of them. Gabby and Joseph were absent (because of the speech, according to Johanna and Claudia), but they will do theirs when they come back.

All of the other students did really well with their speeches too. They were much longer than I had hoped, and most made it to at least 2 minutes, if not closer to 3. Several still have to go tomorrow, but they are off to a great start. Anthony did really well, especially after practicing with me and Mrs. Turk yesterday. Jaime even did a really good job (and volunteered to go first, which was a little scary…) I am really proud of what they have accomplished, and I think I will try to do another speech before the year is out. They will be doing their Hercules play, but maybe we can squeeze in something towards the end as well.

The most amazing part about the whole lesson, is that their speeches were clearly not copied from the fable text I gave them. The words came from them and they really proved their understanding of the moral. Jerome was the only one so far to really miss the point. He was doing Hen and the Apple Tree, and somehow he got off track and started telling the story of the three little pigs. I’m not sure what happened there, but since he had nothing yesterday, I wasn’t able to help him practice like most of the others. At least he had something to present and practice speaking in front of the class. I’m looking forward to hearing Robert and Luis’s tomorrow, since they are both funny and creative. I hope that Johanna is able to finish tonight so that she can present.