Arries Weblog

Today was my third day of teaching at Escuela La Hispanidad in Barrio Camilo Ortega. I have been slowly making the rounds to all the classrooms of the morning shift, and at this point I think grades 1-5 have all finished my English lesson one and two. The opportunity to do this is definitely a “success” as the team at this school last year didn´t have a chance to teach the children. I have reinstated the English lessons for the teachers of the morning shift that the 2007 team began. The lessons for the children are the basics, numbers, counting numbers out-of-sequence (to check for comprehension), in sequence, a song using numbers, a conversation using puppets that I made from kits graciously given to me by Cat.

The teachers´lessons are roughly based on the Side By Side Book One.

Challenges: teachers are physically exhausted by 11:45 AM. Due to a bureaucratic nightmare one teacher hasn´t been paid for five months, and none of the teachers were paid on time this month. Morale can´t be high. Blackboards vary in quality, some being painted boards, others are very nice white boards. The overhead project that was recommended as a donation - pilot project by last year´s team here seems promising, but remains and unproven intervention. One problem is that the room in which I teach the teachers is brighter than I recalled - or last year´s team noticed - and therefore the projector isn´t of any use at all in that location . I have been assured that it will be used in other rooms, including a computer room that is somewhat darker and is used for seminars. I have also mentioned the problem to Doña Gloria, my host, who is very involved in the school parent group. The curtains that Lauren mentioned as a possible project for parents wasn´t rejected out-of-hand. That conversation raised another challenge, however; Doña Gloria insists that I write a letter clarifying that the donation of the projector was made to improve instruction and is not the personal property of the staff. Her concern is that the firings of principals that took place after the last elections have sometimes resulted in the removal of materials at other schools, and she wants to avoid any misunderstandings while assuring that the projector remains at La Hispanidad no matter the personnel changes that might take place. Other challenges: I need to schedule some time to do some minimal training of best practices using the project and the acetate sheets and the markers.

General challenges: my host family insists that I go nowhere unaccompanied, which sometimes slows my access to the computers in the Cybercafé. No health problems at all.

General observation: food prices have tripled since last year. How do people surive?

We are having a good time with the classes.  For now I enjoy the older children more since the classes are smaller and it is easier to play  games with them. There is more space to move around in the classroom. 

In the lesson I revisit what I have taught them from the previous lesson and then  introduce the new phrase to the class. I write the new phrases on the blackboard for them to copy in the notebooks and I have them repeat the new phrases several times. I then have a game for them to play allowing them to use what I have taught. Today I introduced emotions and in the game, a child came to the front of the classroom making the face of a particular emotion such as “tired”. The children guess what emotion the student is tring to express and I ask ¨Are you tired?¨ And the student answers ¨Yes, I am tired¨ The children laugh and have a good time. They seem to be loosening up a little.

So far, I do not know how we can meet the teachers one- on- one in order to establish a more intimate relationship. Lauren has been able to talk with one teacher in particular for some time. She happens to ride the same bus that we do.

I am anxioous to interview the parents and teachers and find out what they consider to be the most important needs of the school and how they would like to see our partnership develop.

Since all classes are on very basic levels, I am able to use the same lesson plan with younger classes that I use with the older classes.  So far, this has been a very positive experience.

 I am happy to have Lauren here to explain games to the children, but I am trying to rely on her less and less. 

Today I was able to start recording video of the physical space of the school, important as Cat considers which project to propose, such as one that requires electricity, for example. In the classrooms we have seen, there haven’t been any outlets, but lightning has been wired from above. Today the municipal census was taking place, which meant that three of the teachers (including the principal) were not working at the school. They finished early today, however, and I had a chance to talk to the principal. The good news is that they may finish a day early, on Wednesday, and Cat and I may be able to start dialoguing with/interviewing the teachers as early as midday on Wednesday. However, while it still appears that Thursday will be the day for the formal teacher meeting, the principal told me he may not be able to confirm the status of finishing the census until Wednesday afternoon.

Although many students did not show up for the 6th grade English class (normally taught by a teacher involved in the census) because according to one of the teachers, “When they hear it’s just one class, they don’t come,” the 10-11 person group that did make it to the school was active and engaged. Cat can share more about her lesson plan from today, but I will just share that we had a lively question and answer session about her and my lives after the English portion of the class, which I believe helps provide the cultural exchange that the school is looking to have along with English instruction. When they heard yoga was my favorite past-time, an impromptu yoga class ensued with the 6th graders, which I feel could be very beneficial relaxation tool in a country where people are under such extreme economic pressure. In fact, in the 5th grade section, the other section that we had today, the teacher, after learning Cat’s phrase “I am ___” basically told me “I am tense” in Spanish; I showed her some yoga for herself. The need for mind-body-spirit health here surfaces in all parts of society, including in the schools. This conversation allowed me to continue to get to know her and her role in the school, and toward the end of the class, to ask her to start thinking about what she believes are the prioridades or the main necessities of the school. I hope that slowly we can talk to more of the teachers in this way.

We were able to set up a meeting between our group and the teachers at the school for this coming Thursday, August 14. While we would still like to find a way to sit down and talk with the teachers individually, this is a good first step. Meeting is hard because the bus only comes once every 40-45 minutes, and since all of the teachers either have second paid jobs and/or jobs as mothers or fathers, the time they spend at school after class is limited. On Friday, however, we were fortunate to be on the same bus as the 5th grade teacher and we got to talk to her for about 25 minutes. When we asked her why she had stayed at the school such a long time (over 20 years), she answered simply, “I like the campo” (ie the physical setting, the peacefulness, the lack of crowds of people). When we followed-up on this question she added that she had worked at another rural school nearby first as well as lived in that community, although she is originally from the city of Masaya and lives there now.

On a similar note, in order to get to know the parents and their needs, the director told us on Friday that he would move up the monthly school-wide parents’ meeting from the end of the month to a day that falls during our time at the school. This will give us a chance to better understand the priorities of the parents.

Cat presented two lessons that were very well received by the students, as evidenced by the chorus of children singing her song in English down the road as they were leaving the school. The director said the lessons were very alegre and he liked how she incorporated writing, reading, repeating, and singing.