You Don't Speak Southern American?

I have spent basically every class period with students for the past two days! I didn't handle a computer, an iPhone, or any other electronics at all! The principal has started assigning me to certain classes for part of the day, so I've actually been teaching, not just making balloons and playing games. I'm doing things a little out of the box for India, but the kids sure enjoy it. I was teaching fifth grade English and they had vocabulary words, so we played Hangman on the chalkboard to find out what the word was; then, I would explain it. I'm also pretty animated while I teach and for sure make faces that the other teachers would never think of making, but it makes it more fun for them and me, and I think they actually are learning something. Hopefully, anyway.

One issue I'm finding is the students read and memorize English, but most of them don't actually comprehend it, so I don't know if they get what I'm teaching or not. I often ask if they understand. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. I'm sure I'll get better at reading them.

Another issue is my accent. Indian English and Southern American English are quite different. haha. Today, I found myself speaking with an Indian accent so the students could understand me. By the end of the day, I couldn't stop. I was trying to carry on conversations with a couple of friends, and I couldn't snap out of it. I had to laugh at myself.

During free periods I'm still making balloons for the classes I missed before Christmas. Today the boys were crowding all around me and asking questions and touching the balloons and driving me crazy while I was trying to make balloons for the girls. I said some things like, "Y'all are driving me absolutely nuts, and I'm about to go insane right now." (Yes, I used the phrase "y'all"). Then, I would bust out laughing because they have no idea what I'm saying. I'm finding this to be the advantage to them not fully comprehending English. I don't know why I find that to be so entertaining. I'm sure they can somewhat tell by my face what I'm communicating at least. Praise the Lord things seem to be getting so much better. My heart is very encouraged!