The first two weeks of school

I've now been an official teacher for two weeks, and have been overall loving it but could probably sleep for two months. My school is really terrific, but we are having some unfortunate scheduling things, teachers moving on to better opportunities, etc., that are leaving us shorthanded, staff-wise. Our fourth grade and fifth grade classes are now taught together, which is somewhat difficult. I teach English and Life Skills to grades 4, 5, and 6 (and have taken on a period a week of grade 7 Life Skills). There is a very noticeable difference in ability in 4th and 5th grade students, as 4th grade is the first year where students have all classes in English. On top of all this, our teacher who teaches 4th and 5th grade was called to Maseru for a weeklong workshop, so those students were sort of just running around and hitting each other. But on the plus side, I have FINALLY found a group of people who will, without me having to inform them that this is the proper title, call me "sir." My lessons I plan are going pretty well, but the times when I was trying to watch over the class without a plan, desperately trying to get them interested in the impromptu lesson I was teaching on soil erosion (which we were both seeing for the first time) were works in progress. Overall, it has been an exciting, stimulating, exhausting two weeks, and I'm excited to keep it going.

One of my students' favorite, favorite activities is the fruit salad song, which they request I sing approximately 5 times a lesson. The song is to the tune of, I think, Frère Jacques, and goes "Watermelon, watermelon/Pineapple, pineapple/Banana banana, banana banana/Fruit salad, fruit salad." The students LOVE this song, particularly the "banana banana" portion, and I've heard them singing it during classes, on break, out in the village, and at all other possible times. So I've made a difference!