For the love of puppets.

Other than being so very busy over the past few days (picking up more classes and taking on more responsibilities, being observed by my US, and being involved in after school meetings, just to name a few) my CT has given me the challenge of becoming a puppet master.

I've seen her in action with the puppets, the children LOVE it. They freak out when they see a puppet for the first time. They also freak out if the class puppet has been missing for too long, right now she's in Martinique. Using puppets is a great way to "trick" the kids into hearing more of the TL and to keep them engaged. And right now that's what I need since I am working with the same material for a few more days.

So I've made my foray into the field of the puppets. Sometimes I forget to move the puppet's mouth while it talks, sometimes I forget that I'm wearing the puppet at all. One girl has said "la bouche", which means mouth, a few times to remind me. It's been interesting. Yesterday, I had a total giggle fit in front of a class because what I was doing just all of a sudden seemed so absurd. The class liked it though. I think that they got to see I was a human after all and not some boring adult.

I go home at night and practice my different puppet voices. I also have to practice my technique, I have to animate the puppet more. The students really get attached to this piece of cloth and stuffing. When one of the puppets was reciting a poem for a class and doing the gestures that go along with the words the students said "awww" because they really thought it was cute. Sometimes I'm glad that young children can be so gullible.