Gonna Be a Bright, Bright, Sunshiny Day

The week has finished. I'm still standing. It's a miracle.

Accomplished:
Wrote 3 tests and corresponding review sheets
Conducted 3 review sessions
Proctored 3 tests
Dragged myself Spanish Club
Completely winged it...excelente
Avoided minor disaster on playground monkey bars
Planned a Poetry Cafe
Rehearsed for Poetry Cafe
Decorated for Poetry Cafe
Emcee'd Poetry Cafe
Cleaned up Poetry Cafe
Survived Friday

Thursday was probably the longest day of work ever (7:00am-8:30pm) but one of the most fulfilling, too.

Thursday morning I worked with my ESL students. We laughed together while playing word games. They finally trust each other. It's been an issue since January, when we added a pair of Portuguese-and-Russian-speaking brothers to our group. On Thursday, they translated for each other, Spanish to Portuguese to English and back again. Victor has found enough confidence to speak up, even though he still forgets to say "and" in English. Philip turned 14. Gabriel's favorite subject is now English Grammar. And sweet-spirited Issel tells me every day that I'm her favorite teacher, even though it sounds a lot like I'm her favorite t-shirt.

The rest of the day was devoted to Poetry Cafe-related preparation. The actual event started at 7 pm, in the dusky heat.
Can I describe for you the beauty of 30 students in Grades 6-12 finding not only their inner source of poetic expression but also the guts to stand up in front of 100 people and share that poem? How about the determination of an additional 30 student servers, bringing tea, coffee, and snacks to 100 guests?
Which is to speak nothing of the students who worked behind the scenes, listening patiently and giving constructive feedback to poets, writing menus, designing posters, lighting candles, preparing server badges. I literally burst with pride for my students...no for real, the seam on the sleeve of my dress split when I bent to pick up something!

Our Poetry Cafe was so beautiful. It didn't have the white tablecloths, tea lights, and paper lanterns that I pictured, but it was beautiful in its own way...checked tablecloths, plastic chairs, and powdered cappuccino mixes notwithstanding.
I'm not usually good at delegating to my students, but they totally took ownership and the result was fantastic. It was truly their night. I still put in a ton of work, but it was so worth it to see them shine.

I feel like I've been unintentionally depriving myself of good days, like I'm allowing my stay/go decision to hang a black cloud over my head. Thursday blew that cloud away. It was like God whispered, "For one day, forget the decision. Go ahead, remember why you love living here. And be thankful." And I was. For the day itself, for my students who surprise and amaze me, for this place that brings me joy.