The British Accent Crack-Up

I don't know if I told you about this but Mr. Gunderson gave me the opportunity to lead reading groups outside the classroom. It was challenging working with certain students who just were not interested in doing any work. I spoke to Mr. Gunderson at the end of the day and he said he was glad that I experienced that because he really wanted me to understand how difficult it is to manage a class with rambunctious kids. That experience just reinforced my admiration of teachers.
Now, to the more recent past. My work schedule for the past three weeks has been different. The first week I was not feeling well so I asked Mr. Gunderson to send me a project he and I had been talking about. The project involved coming up with ideas for the Africa section of his curriculum. It was more challenging than I expected it to be but it was an interesting project. It was empowering for me to have the chance to incorporate political and economic crises that I have experienced into a lesson plan. He seemed pleased with the project and said he would share it with the other Geography teacher.
The next week I went in for half the day because the students had MCA tests in the morning. The day before, Mr. Gunderson had sent me an email asking if I could read out aloud to the students. I agreed. The article was an op-ed by a Nigerian woman. In this op-ed the woman shared about her life in the US with the goal of breaking Americans' stereotypes about Africa and Africans. Goodness, was this just not an experience and a half! When I read out aloud I sound more formal and the British tilt to my accent becomes stronger. One kid in one of the classes was just laughing uncontrollably and had to leave the class. It was actually funny for me and I actually kind of saw it coming. That was the only dramatic response though. The rest of the students in that girl's class and in the other two classes listened attentively and applauded at the end. That's the British Accent Crack-Up story :)
Last week the students still had MCA tests but I could not go in that afternoon because I had to attend the Community Recognition Awards ceremony. I asked Mr. Gunderson if I could cover more hours after my classes and exams end and he said it was fine because they only close in June. I think I have 23 hours so I need 7 more.