First Few Weeks of School

Part of a class (about 30 some-odd students in each class)

The Peace Corps recommended a 4-6 week observation period where we could familiarize ourselves with the teachers, students, and classroom dynamics.  However, my experience working in the elementary schools, Madre Bernarda and San Juan, in La Boquilla has been a bit different.  I believe the vast majority of other volunteers are entering schools with ‘established‘ english departments or at least English teachers, but my schools don’t have any of the above so that meant that when the teachers wanted to start teaching English the first day of school it took a lot of convincing to even work my way into one week of observation.  

During this week I learned that the elementary students of La Boquilla are really cute, love to fight, and eat tons of junk food.  As for the teachers, they all have varying levels of English.  There is one that I can hold basic conversations with, she also brings me fruit on Tuesdays!, and then the others that...... well know some words in English.  The hardest aspect by far for both students is teaching pronunciation.  There was one day where I was practicing English with a teacher and for the life of me could not get her to pronounce the T in PUT and she kept saying the word pu-CH.  She later changed the topic to “Beeeeer and Daaaancing” so all ended well.

So after a few weeks I now kinda have a “schedule” and it looks like this:

Monday, San Juan:  Co-teach from 10-11 (4th Grade), plan and practice English from 11-12, Lunch and Break, co-teach from 4-5 (5th Grade), plan and practice English from 5-6

Tuesday, Madre Bernarda:  Co-teach from 10-12 (4th Grade), plan and practice English from 12-1, lunch and break, co-teach/plan from 2:45-5 (4th Grade)

Wednesday, Madre Bernarda:  Co-teach 7:50-8:50 (3rd Grade), lunch and break, co-teach from 2:45-5:00 (4th Grade), Community class in Tierra Baja, an even smaller and poorer town 5 minutes away, from 6-8

Thursday, San Juan: Co-teach 7:00-8:00 (4th Grade), Break and lunch, co-teach from 4-5 (5th Grade), plan and practice English 5-6

Friday:  Community Outreach with an organization called: Formación Humana para Ensenar al Servicios (or FHES), a girls/women’s empowerment group that teaches girls/woman skills to make them more attractive for job opportunities 2:30-4:30.  Also I hope to set up a conversation club at the HS.

And if you are familiar with life on the Colombian coast then you will know that this is only a rough outline and that being said many days I stray from this schedule in all sorts of ways.  So what I am saying is that it is very important to be flexible at all times and sometimes no expectations can be better than high expectations!!!  

Kid with a cast getting after it

Memorable class activity:  On Valentine’s Day we made bilingual heart shaped cards on construction paper.  The kids loved this art project and were all so proud of their work.

Some student work

More student work

Lasting Memory:  So one day when I was walking out of school, Madre Bernarda, I hear a teacher saying, “inside the butt-crack” (in Spanish obviously).  I then pass the teacher on the school patio to find she is with a little preschooler who is cleaning herself off because she just pooped her pants.  The adventures never stop here in the elementary schools of La Boquilla.


New Feature:  So I love music and am almost always listening as I am writing these posts.  So my new idea is to post a song that I was listening to as I was writing.  This post: tUnE-yArDs: Gangsta