Summer English Camp (Written Feb. 17, 2012)

Starting February 1, two of our Spanish language classes began giving free English lessons to interested participants in our town. We literally put up signs and spread the news through word of mouth. It seemed sort of willy-nilly. However, during our sign-up day at the school, people showed up. It turned out to be a large affair, and on any given day, there were about 75 students split up into one of six classes based on age. The classes were an opportunity to see how Panamanian students behave in class, and to have a first-hand experience of teaching a class (lesson planning, adapting, learning from mistakes, etc.). I co-taught a class of 12-14 year-olds. The group began with an almost overwhelming 22 students, but ended at a manageable 12-16 students per class.

At first, it felt like getting thrown into the fire. We had no idea of the students' previous knowledge. My co-teacher and I had never really planned a lesson before. And furthermore, since our students are complete beginners, we had to start from square one, which is actually a lot more difficult than it sounds. Where do you start, aside from Hello and How are you? How do you, as a teacher, determine for your kids what is and is not important? And most relevant of all, how can you make any real progress in only 8 two-hour classes? All very pressing questions. But we had to go for it anyway.

The classes ended up being a positive experience, enlightening in the best ways, and never at any point unbearable. As any teacher in Panama can attest to, classroom management and shyness when speaking the foreign language are two of the largest challenges I faced. Thankfully, I already sort of knew that going in, so I knew what to expect. Of course, coming face to face with a classroom full of students-and having to conduct an introductory English class entirely in Spanish-is a great way to learn about teaching in Panama. And to learn what you're made of.

After the initial anxiety subsided, routine set in and the classes ended up going rather smoothly. My co-teacher and I planned our classes, often with lofty objectives and activities, usually the night before the class took place. We entered the class with a set-up consisting of an entrance activity, new material, review of the old stuff, and a final activity. We also made sure to include as much fun as we could in the class. We kept it as simple as possible, focusing on the following concepts:
-intros and greetings
-colors
-numbers up to 100
-feelings
-school supplies
-family members
-this, that, here, there
-other things I can't think of

So if approached by an English speaker, my students would (hopefully) be able to say (or at least answer the following questions):
-How are you?
-What's your name?
-How old are you?
-What's your favorite color?
-How many people are in your family?
-What is this?

I guess I should be proud, because before that, they only know the few Panamanian words borrowed from English, such as pritty (their spelling of pretty) and icing.

On February 11, we had a special Saturday class, a day filled with fun and games. The purpose of that day was to give every Teaching English trainees the opportunity to conduct class, since up until then only about 12 of the 31 trainees had been teaching. We basically ran around with the kids all day and had one real English activity.


(The Store. The English teachers and I planned an activity where students had items they had to buy at different stations in the classroom. We gave the students a list of items in order to review classroom objects, colors, and numbers. They then had to ask in English for their items. Then we had a follow-up where we asked students about each other´s items.)


(Playing Red Light, Green Light with the kids)



(A group playing Double Double This That, one of those old-school hand slapping games)

February 15 was our last day. In honor of that momentous occasion, we played extra-fun games, including BINGO, which they take very seriously in Panama.


Our class (12-14 year olds)

In the end, I think our students liked us a lot... I mean, we did give them cookies.