First Day of Teaching!!!-- long post, sorry!!

So today was the day! I ventured out (on my own) to the community called Cantel and taught my first 2 English classes, each an hour and a half long. They went wonderfully. I started with the fourth grade class that has about 10 children and the were amazing! They were all so thrilled to have me and so so so willing to learn a new language. Today's class consisted of learning introductions such as, "Hello, my name is" how to express how we are feeling, days of the week and a quick review of colors. After teaching them some key phrases that went along with those topics I realized that I was only a half hour into the class. So I quickly made a memory game where they had to match the English word with the Spanish word so that they could get some context to what I was teaching them. They loved it!!! And it really enhanced their understanding of the different words.
I was extremely impressed with half the circles understanding of the days of the week, especially because the other half wasn't really grasping all too quickly. It wasn't until about half way through the first game that I realized there was a poster on the wall that had the days of the week in both English and Spanish. . . They were cheating!!! I quickly covered up the poster and not surprisingly, the half of the circle that had been so great was not anymore. After the poster was covered the game was perfect because everyone was actually learning! The kids helped each other, we talked about what each card meant in the other language, and even practiced certain phrases as words were turned over. That took us till the end of class and then they were off to recess.
After recess I taught the combined class of 5th and 6th graders. They were a little more difficult because there was more children in that class,they knew a little more English and in general it was harder to keep their attention. We worked on the same things as the 4th graders and played the same game. They definitely learned a lot but I am thinking of some ways to get them more interested and involved. Overall today was fabulous and very exciting. I am looking forward to the next time I teach.
Tomorrow I am going to a different community where I will be teaching recorder classes. I am pretty nervous but I am sure it will be ok. Wish me luck!!!