So 1st day of teaching in Honduras under my belt...Well I would hardly call it a day of teaching...It was a half day and I taught 2 classes. The first class was helping 7th graders open their lockers and the 2nd class was trying to get them to say 2 words. 7th graders are scared. It is fun and refreshing to be a new teacher and have students scared of you. Maybe it is because I stand head and shoulders taller than them. They are so little! I have my 8th graders tomorrow...that should be interesting. I hear they are a little more challenging. I have my inflatable bat to knock them into place. No really I do...
I wasn't nervous this morning. I guess I am at peace for where I am at. It is a blessing. I am just thankful I am here! I decided to not teach the mindless method. I was told I didn't have to so I am not. I decided that yesterday after talking to my peer coach. She is an amazing teacher and challenged me to do whatever I felt comfortable doing. In my opinion teaching should be a conversation with your students and filling in the blanks is definitely not a conversation. Math to most isn't fun so I want to attempt to make it a little fun. We'll see how it goes!
So what are my kids like? I will be teaching 7-8 white kids out of 140 kids. So they are Honduran kids. They have to wear uniforms. I am glad I don't have to wear the uniform. They are forest green pants with white and green checkered shirts. They can wear whatever shoes they want though. The kids have to speak English in my class. You can definitely tell that English is their 2nd language. Some of their sentence structure is weak and phrasing different things. Like typically I would ask you 'Where are you from?' They on the other hand asked 'Where did you come from?' It will be interesting to teach math in their 2nd language. Math is hard enough in a 1st language! So the kids are just kids. They love to socialize, just not when the scary tall teacher is around!
One of the benefits of living on this mountain is the gorgeous walks you can go on. Granted you can't go by yourself but the different areas that you can walk around are endless, and it is a great work out. We don't live at the top of this mountain so there are lots of hills to climb.
Oh so you all are going to love this. My roommate and I are the chess club advisers! No one else signed up to do it so we said, hey why not! And I am a Math Olympics Advisor and probably a basketball coach. And I am going to lead a 11th grade Bible Study. Maybe I am getting a little too involved but hey, why not?! If I get burnt out I'll back off.
It is 9 o'clock and I'm going to bed. It gets light at 5:30 and dark at 6. And I have to be at school at 6:55!
Some of you should comment on this blog so I know people are actually reading it...It is nice to have a little reinforcement!