一年级

I've been watching a lot of variety shows lately, and 一年级 is one of the staples. Not only is it in the same time slot that 爸爸去那儿 was in, it also has 陈学冬, whom I think is really cute. I will shamelessly admit that I quite enjoy watching 小时代 with all the eyecandies. 

The show is about two actor and actresses becoming first grade teachers for a few months. My goodness, these kids are in grade one and their parents sent them to boarding school. I don't think I would have the heart to do that to my kid. I remember I used to really want to go to boarding school because I thought it'd be cool to wear uniforms and be with your friends all the time. Watching these tiny children saying goodbye to their parents make me very thankful my parents never considered sending me away.

Shows with kids can never really go wrong. My dad asks me why I would watch a show that's so similar to what I do everyday, but I think that's exactly why I love it; it's almost exactly what I do everyday! I think this show proves to me that kids will be kids regardless of nationality or geographic location. Some of these kids are cute as buttons, and some are as crazy as pineapples. There's kids in the show that are so frustrating and, at least I think, are beyond help unless their own parents start stepping up. I can relate so much to what the teachers are going through. At first I was hoping the experienced teachers in the show had some good tips on management. However, so far I haven't heard anything that wasn't taught theoretically in teacher's college. What I love about the show is the acknowledgement that teachers can't solve every problem and it really highlights the frustrations we encounter. We don't go home at 3:00. We are not just singing songs with kids all day. We're not just interacting with a child, but also his parents and extended family (there totally should have been a teacher-parent relationship course available during teacher's college). Most frustrating is; if a child is "good", the parents have taught them well. If the child is "bad", the teachers have failed them.