A great week for the kids' class

Yay! Puppets are the way to go :)

So since the puppets were so successful last semester, I decided to incorporate them again this semester, even though many of my students are veterans of my class. In fact, I'm not sure that they're even signed up for the class, they just come because they came last semester, liked it, and just show up twice a week at the same time! I don't have the heart to turn anyone away, not even the kids who come with 1 or 2 younger siblings in tow. Today I ordered 30 juices for my students (we give them boxes at every class) and had to scrounge around for 3 more! I take it as a sign that they are enjoying the class.

Last semester, as you'll remember from my beautiful photo (I promise to incorporate more photos soon!), I created a beautiful puppet theater that I was immensely proud of and that the kids enjoyed playing with... perhaps a bit too much in fact because it was nearly destroyed within days of its introduction and even after one repair attempt. For today's class I was going to built another one, but exhaustion and a bit of nausea (I've been eating just hummus and Oreos for some time because I can't be bothered to cook!) prevented me from making it in time for class. My sage friend and fellow teacher Doris offered some wonderful wisdom: why not just let the kids make the theaters?

Yes!

I managed to find about 5 or 6 boxes of suitable size and have them ready for class. Then, miracle of miracles, all FIVE of my volunteers showed up today. This was unprecedented. I was able to divide the students into five groups, each headed by a volunteer, and each with a bit of cardboard to cut, paint, sticker and glue into their very own puppet theater.

With all of my kids and volunteers engaged, I was even able to manage one student of mine who has been a bit of trouble. He is a great kid, very funny, but tends to get alienated and wander off with his yo yo. He and I built our theater together and for next class we'll put on a show with it together.

At the end of the class, most of the groups had time to tidy up their space a bit, though some will have to finish their project next week. I handed each a juice box and said "shukran! ma salaama!" and they headed home.

If one out of every ten classes goes as wonderfully as today's, I will be immensely immensely happy :)