Class Pictures

On the last day of class, I took pictures of all of my classes. Each one has the whole class on the top (attendance rate: ~60%) and the star students (those who managed a 75% or better) on the bottom.

8A, my rowdiest class -- equally entertaining and stressing. These kids alternate between making me want to laugh and scream.

8B, the class with a lot of my favorite students, (especially Jaurencio on the bottom left there -- such a goofball -- and Izaquel next to him.)

8C, my zombie class -- except for three students who know what I'm talking about, everyone else just stares. There's this ONE kids in the very back who fails everything, but at least smiles at me all the time.

9A, the source for most of my REDES girls. Silvia, the girl in the middle of the bottom picture, stops by my house to converse a lot and brings me dried maçanicas.

9B. Helder, on the bottom right, is by far my brightest student. He's the only one who can actually hold a conversation in English.

10A, source of many of my English Theater kids. They're very hard-working, but unfortunately tend to lose whenever they play Jeopardy against the other 10th grade class.

10B, one of my favorite turmas. Mouzinho, the kid in the top picture sitting on the desk, is so thoughtful and friendly. I'm going to miss them when they graduate!

Most of my 10th graders are graduating next year, and I probably won't be teaching the 8th graders when they move up to 9th grade. But I'm really looking forward on focusing much more on the 9th-becoming-10th graders next year, hoping to work intensely with them so they do well on their final exams.

Despite the frustrations with the school system, the corrupt grading, the lacking work ethic -- these kids make it all worthwhile!