Student teaching em Rio de Janiero: Teachin' and beachin' :)

Second day of teaching and it's only getting better. Today I found my teacher and classroom with no problems, and that's saying something if you know me :p
I am really building a rapport with my class. I have about 7 of my 18 student's name's down! And let me paint you a picture... Their name tags say their full name, like Isabella Fernada Gudaloupa, and the teacher calls her FeFe... Makes it tough to learn a name, but the students are so sweet it's hard not to remember them :) They are all saying my name so well now too and it's only their second day with me! (It's so funny how they can say my name, makes me feel better that I can't say theirs just yet!) When I indtroduce myself to the staff they say, "Brittany, like Brittany Spears?" I think that's pretty funny.

The students are such amazing and smart children, I just cannot say enough about them. They speak Portuguese as a first language and English as their second. Well, not all of them. One little boy came from Spain last year and spoke only spanish, but here we are in the second semester and he's speaking English and Portuguese very well! He also helps the new student that started yesterday, he moved here to Rio from Argentina and speaks only spanish (for now). These kids catch on so quick! OH! I forgot to mention I am teaching third grade, which is neat because that is what I just taught in the states so comparing the to will be interesting. I talked to my teacher about their curriculum here and their standards for teaching and they are trying new things and really trying to challenge the students to get them where they know they can be. Those two boys are not the only natives to Brazil. There are two students in my class that are from Portugal and one student from America.

Seeing these awesome kids speak multiple languages makes me determined to learn all the Portuguese I can! I know they say it's easier to learn when you're young, but I'm not old yet ;)

Here is my classes DEAR section in the room (Drop Everything And Read) love it. :)

Some students in my class hard at work!

After teaching, Amanda, Claire, Caitlin, and I decided it was too nice not to go to the beach. Everyone told us Impanema beach was the nicest and youngest beach in Rio so we tried it out. After a 20 reais taxi drive...we finally got there and it was completely worth it. Even just driving in the taxi around the Laguna (lake) and passing the mountains was amazing... and sitting on the beach you could see those very mountains. Magnífico, see...

Impanema Beach