and then we watched "chalk"

and it was so funny that i cried. tears running down my face, cannot breath funny.

and it was funny only because there is an awkwardness that only first-year teachers can harness and use for the entertainment of other first-year teachers. it is what we do every friday evening at the mexican restaurant in Belzoni. we aren't making fun of our students nearly as much as we are making fun of ourselves. we laugh at how useless we are in the crazy situations that arise in our classrooms on a daily basis.

if you watch the mockumentary on netflix (you can watch it instantly), don't be led to think that it is a window into the global experience. the kids are really well behaved in the classes. if i gave my students 5 minutes of free time at the end of class it would turn into an all-out brawl/dance party. my classroom would be destroyed and i would be ready for a huge Coca-Cola from mcdonalds. huge.

we also don't have a teachers lounge.
or lunch breaks.
and our kids are a lot more hilarious.
and much more central to the whole teaching experience than the movie would lead one to believe.

i guess my next post wasn't on the joys of "the shack" after all. oh, the necessity of adapting.