Hey Ready Readers! (sorry... getting into 5th grade mode)
Here's an overview of my professional schedule down here (as opposed to my personal):
We have Summer Institute, a 6 week span of teacher training, before school starts. This is my third week so far. For the first two weeks we had pretty intense pedagogical theory and practical techniques workshops for many hours a day. We have two trainers fly in from Tegucigalpa, the capital, and they're doing a really great job giving us all a crash course on teaching and helping us feel prepared. They're gringas and both have been working in Honduras and the states for a good number of years. That's one of the many things I really appreciate about BECA (an impressively well-run non-profit), just having them here to guide us because sometimes I feel so lost and unqualified. Here's my schedule:
2 weeks of workshops (check)
2 weeks of practice teaching (current): Summer Academy
1 week of individual preparation time
1 week of working at school (to prepare the classroom, get the final touches ready for the big first day and first units of class)
Yesterday was the first day of the Summer Academy. The Academy just two classes, one for the teachers who will teach the younger grades to practice in, and the other for the teachers of the older students (including me--5th grade). In my class, we have about 15 students who are risng 6th and 7th graders come everyday from 1-4pm. I teach most of the Language Arts periods and will also be guess teaching Math and Science before the end of the Academy so I get practice in all the core subjects. As yesterday was the first day of the Academy, we (me and 3 other teachers) did a lot of ice breakers and introductions. I had the whole class to myself for the first time today and it went much better than I expected.
Notes about my theme and today's activities:
-Unit Goal: prepare students to present to new teachers at the first assembly!
-Major themes: different types of questions, interview techniques, presentation techniques
-Today: Intro of topic, flow chart of what's to come, intro of new vocab, puppet show of gossip conversation, circle discussion of puppet show, and idea storm of topics to ask new teachers
-My feelings: FUN!!! I had a really good time interacting with the kids, trying to keep them engaged, and doing my best to spark conversation. They got really excited about one of the vocab words: flirting, and really enjoyed the puppet show. Excited about having my own class and creating a class culture!!!! yay!
I was feeling pretty overwhelmed a few days ago about teaching in general and about being observed during the academy but today went really well. I'm learning how to engage kids at the 11-13 age group and didn't even really notice the observers.
That's all for now. Some preview of awesome topics you'll enjoy reading about:
1. how i chipped my front tooth
2. honduran wedding + national curfew = ???
3. and other general things about my life here....
Oh, and yesterday when I was walking home, I ran into 6 people I knew. First time I felt a part of the community.
Nos vemos,
Jess
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
7/13/09
Hi all! Bienvenidos a mi primer blog! (Welcome to my first blog)
Thanks so much for coming to my blog to keep up with what I’m doing down here in Cofradía, Cortés, Honduras. Feel free to invite others. This first entry was written a few days ago before realized I want to blog my topic instead of focusing on recapping days so it will be different later on. I will start blogging with topic headings like Homestay, BECA Voluntarios, Health, Community, etc so everyone can pick and choose more easily what they want to read. I’ll also write just a general introduction later so everything makes sense to everyone. But for now, enjoy this window into a day and know that I’m safe, healthy, excited about teaching, bonding with other volunteers, meeting students, adapting, and in good spirits.
7/13/09
Trying to journal has been pretty challenging here. Everyday I have so much I want to put down in words but just so little time to do it. Very little alone time. But I’ll start jotting down a few of the major things tonight before I forget.
Today was the first day of the Summer Institute, or the 6 week training session for the yearlong teacher volunteers. We started off the day 8am with a Spanish class held in the courtyard of a church. For the greater part of the 2 hours, we played an icebreaker that was amusing but seemed a little endless and didn’t involve very much Spanish at all. I’ve been craving some more formal Spanish instruction as I’ve been here about 4 days and have just been picking up new words here and there in many confusing conversations. The Spanish classes are taught by a Honduran teacher, one of our colleagues SJBS quien se llama Linda.
Next, we had a meeting at the volunteer house to cover some logistics. I really enjoy Laurence, the program director, and Mike, the program administrator, but the meeting seemed to last forever! Beside logistics, it was an introduction to the conceptual basis on which BECA was founded. We briefly spoke about educational reform in the context of economic development, a topic I love talking about but the heat of the early afternoon was rolling in at that point.
Then it was finally time to break for lunch. We split into groups to scavenge for different parts of a meal around town. I was on the hunt for tortillas de maize with some other guys and we took a beautiful walk as we tracked down some fresh tortillas. We visited four different homes until we found one with women in action. Thirty tortillas for thirty lempiras. This house is right across the street from one of my favorite features of our area, the Wisdom Tree, a great tree that must be thousands of years old with something about it that just seems to emanate a sense of calm reflection (except it’s next to a soccer field).
Lunch for the eleven of us cost about 7 dollars.
After lunch, we went to the school for the first time. School to be described more later...
Katie’s workshop. One of the teachers here is an experienced teacher and she has started giving us some pointers about how to prepare for our classes. We’re currently in the stage of going through a lot of material left from the previous years. Will write more in “Becoming una maestra.”
When we got home, the other BECA volunteer I’m staying with, Katy, and I made tortillas with Juana, the mother of Seydi, my hostess. They put us to work because I had mentioned the night before that I’d like to learn how to cool local food. It was amazingly difficult to make tortillas that were up to par but definitely a lot of fun as Juana is quite a character (read: likes to give me a hard time and joke with me even though she knows I barely understand her)
Ending notes (more snippets of today that I don’t have time to elaborate on)
Getting a lot of mosquito bites because I’m trying to limit my use of deet bug repellant. Don’t worry, it’s not yet dengue fever season.
Dinner with Seydi and Juan (a friend of the family) during which we chatted about seafood, taking a trip to Los Angeles (a nearby community), chopsticks, fruit... Feels great to start to get to know Seydi as I had a lot of trouble communicating with her the first few days.
Used the wireless internet at the apartment, a common space for BECA. Talked with Dave while I was there. Inspired me with some pictures of his sculptures and shows he’s put on. TBContinued when I write about the other BECA volunteers (I really like all of them so far).
Went home and spent some more quality time with Seydi looking at baby pictures and showing her and Moises my WuSauce Dance-off video. Moises clapped at the end.
Thanks so much for coming to my blog to keep up with what I’m doing down here in Cofradía, Cortés, Honduras. Feel free to invite others. This first entry was written a few days ago before realized I want to blog my topic instead of focusing on recapping days so it will be different later on. I will start blogging with topic headings like Homestay, BECA Voluntarios, Health, Community, etc so everyone can pick and choose more easily what they want to read. I’ll also write just a general introduction later so everything makes sense to everyone. But for now, enjoy this window into a day and know that I’m safe, healthy, excited about teaching, bonding with other volunteers, meeting students, adapting, and in good spirits.
7/13/09
Trying to journal has been pretty challenging here. Everyday I have so much I want to put down in words but just so little time to do it. Very little alone time. But I’ll start jotting down a few of the major things tonight before I forget.
Today was the first day of the Summer Institute, or the 6 week training session for the yearlong teacher volunteers. We started off the day 8am with a Spanish class held in the courtyard of a church. For the greater part of the 2 hours, we played an icebreaker that was amusing but seemed a little endless and didn’t involve very much Spanish at all. I’ve been craving some more formal Spanish instruction as I’ve been here about 4 days and have just been picking up new words here and there in many confusing conversations. The Spanish classes are taught by a Honduran teacher, one of our colleagues SJBS quien se llama Linda.
Next, we had a meeting at the volunteer house to cover some logistics. I really enjoy Laurence, the program director, and Mike, the program administrator, but the meeting seemed to last forever! Beside logistics, it was an introduction to the conceptual basis on which BECA was founded. We briefly spoke about educational reform in the context of economic development, a topic I love talking about but the heat of the early afternoon was rolling in at that point.
Then it was finally time to break for lunch. We split into groups to scavenge for different parts of a meal around town. I was on the hunt for tortillas de maize with some other guys and we took a beautiful walk as we tracked down some fresh tortillas. We visited four different homes until we found one with women in action. Thirty tortillas for thirty lempiras. This house is right across the street from one of my favorite features of our area, the Wisdom Tree, a great tree that must be thousands of years old with something about it that just seems to emanate a sense of calm reflection (except it’s next to a soccer field).
Lunch for the eleven of us cost about 7 dollars.
After lunch, we went to the school for the first time. School to be described more later...
Katie’s workshop. One of the teachers here is an experienced teacher and she has started giving us some pointers about how to prepare for our classes. We’re currently in the stage of going through a lot of material left from the previous years. Will write more in “Becoming una maestra.”
When we got home, the other BECA volunteer I’m staying with, Katy, and I made tortillas with Juana, the mother of Seydi, my hostess. They put us to work because I had mentioned the night before that I’d like to learn how to cool local food. It was amazingly difficult to make tortillas that were up to par but definitely a lot of fun as Juana is quite a character (read: likes to give me a hard time and joke with me even though she knows I barely understand her)
Ending notes (more snippets of today that I don’t have time to elaborate on)
Getting a lot of mosquito bites because I’m trying to limit my use of deet bug repellant. Don’t worry, it’s not yet dengue fever season.
Dinner with Seydi and Juan (a friend of the family) during which we chatted about seafood, taking a trip to Los Angeles (a nearby community), chopsticks, fruit... Feels great to start to get to know Seydi as I had a lot of trouble communicating with her the first few days.
Used the wireless internet at the apartment, a common space for BECA. Talked with Dave while I was there. Inspired me with some pictures of his sculptures and shows he’s put on. TBContinued when I write about the other BECA volunteers (I really like all of them so far).
Went home and spent some more quality time with Seydi looking at baby pictures and showing her and Moises my WuSauce Dance-off video. Moises clapped at the end.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Day One
It's the first night in Cofradía and I'm so glad I decided to come. However, I'm completely beat today and will write about my eventful first day and warm welcome I had. But for now, it's Jess's time for bed. Nightie night all!
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