Do you know what an Elk is?

So as I mentioned in my last post, Saturday was my first day of teaching. What fun! Did you know that kids are all the same, no matter where in the world you are? Seriously, all the same. There are the shy ones, the precocious ones, the ones who hate singing and the ones who love Star Trek... wait Star Trek? That's right, I was greeted Saturday morning by a little boy who gave me the Vulcan hand symbol for "Live Long and Prosper". Now, I'm all for nerdy kids, loving crazy things, but isn't he a bit young for Star Trek? I was actually taken aback... I'm too young for the star trek where Spock was popular... I watched it in re-runs. So how did this 7yr old little boy get on to Spock? I blame the parents. Not that I minded much, it was quite cute and funny.
For my first class I had the 7-9yr olds. there were 6 of them. We started by talking about the rules of the class and then about how to stand with good posture when we sing. It was like any other day back at stage coach. Then the questions started coming at me: "Where are you from?" "Are you from America?" I answered each question in stride and refocused the group on singing. that is until one little girl asked me if I knew what an elk was. To this I answered yes, which prompted her to ask me if I'd ever seen an elk. Again I answered yes, and was growing curious about the line of questioning. "Is that because you are from Canada?" was the young girl's next query. I said I figured so and she launched into a story about how she had been to the Rockies in 2006 (baring in mind that she is 8) and that she saw an elk. Then she asked if I'd seen a glacier (pronounced glAh-cier) and once I replied that I had she got very excited about the glacier walk she did when she was in Canada. I assume she meant the Columbian Ice Fields, up by Jasper. It was a very nice bonding moment for us as I was reminded just how amazing a country Canada really is.

The rest of the class went fairly well, with only one little boy scowling with musical hatred, and then it was on to the older children. Aged 10-15 these kids are very talented. Smiles all around, we talked about favourite musicals and songs, and I quickly realized that I need to hone up on my musical knowledge. There is so much happening in the world of musicals here in London that never ever makes it to Vancouver. I am old and out of touch...and foreign. The favourite singers of these children are people I've never even heard of. British stars who never make it across the pond. I'm going to have to go troll the magazine stands for clues as to what is hot in Britain these days!

So, with week one of teaching a success, its onto planning the term. I always hate this part, afraid the kids won't like what I choose for them, or that i will be to simple/hard for them. Its always a bit of a guessing game for me. But I'll sort it out. If all else fails, we'll do a Canadian unit and I'll teach the kids Oh Canada and the Great Saskatchewan Pirate.

Cheerio!