Yesterday I had yet another first-Fisrt day of teaching, and I now have a new found respect for teachers. Both for their knowledge of subject material and how to pass it on to others, but also their patience.
I have two classes as I said before. The first was of 11 children ranging from 8-11. The second are adolescents from 12-15. Although initially I believed the younger group more difficult to teach, i was suprised by their eagerness to learn and their ability. I was not prepared for their energy! I should have paid better attention to my brother's children at Christmas!! I almost don't have the energy to teach them for an hour and a half. I am just not accustomed to their attention span.
The adolescents were much more difficult to animate. I would have have had better luck talking to a brick wall! The second class is of 8 students, and two of the boys in the class seem "too cool for school." Tomorrow I will attempt some ice breakers, like talking about sports, or movies, or just putting them to work immediately.
It was also difficult to determine their level of English, some are better than others, and at times I'm not sure where to begin. I think the alphabet is a good place, and place most importance on pronucation. They seem to know some vocab., but just butcher the prounciation. Sounds like some classes I took for Spanish.
I must make an admission, if not a confession. May favorite saying while I was in college was, "Those who can't do, teach. Those that can't teach, teach gym." I retract this statement, well, at least the first part. I still hold no love lost for gym teachers, but that's just me. Maybe I should try and give soccer lessons here, I'd probably kill myself for the difficulty!
Once again, I am humbled from what I have learned, and for the kindness I have found south of the Equator.
On a fun side note, I'm going para-gliding I believe Sunday (weather permitting) and I'm gonna try and take some video and post it. Although here in Lima, I've only had two days of sunshine-so it'll probably be cloudy. I'm getting antsy to see the rest of the country and experience more culture.
For those of you interested in traveling to Peru in general, I suggest www.livinginperu.com
Or for those of you still wondering about what I'm doing: www.sonrisasdeesperanza.org
(it's in English and Spanish)
Take care all,
tomas
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My kindergarteners at Rossiyanka School were by far the best students I had. Attentive, energetic -- one of them came to class every time with a book about American cars, and asked questions -- "Den, you car have???". Hold on to them. Tell them stories and stuff. You won't forget their attention.
As for your teens, yeah, they are a fucking brick wall, especially girls. The sooner you stop caring about them paying attention, the faster they will pay attention. Maybe things will work out differently for you, but I strongly recommend NOT trying to engage them about sports/music and shit. Be hard,be cold, make them work and don't care that they don't seem to care. They'll appreciate you later when they loosen up, and they'll only do that on their own. If you try to meet them face to face now, they'll walk all over you. You're being tested, though not deliberately.
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