I decided to take it slow for a while and simply observe, sit in on several classes and determine how I could best serve the schools. At my site there are two schools: primaria (elementary) and primer ciclo (a technical school of both middle and high school levels, often preparing its students for professions in agriculture). Since my counterpart is a primary teacher, I spend most of my time with him. However, I´m trying to spread myself across all four teachers´schedules so that I can help all around. For nearly every class thus far I have just sat in the back of the classroom, quietly taking notes on the teachers´ style, interaction between teachers and students, how much students participate in class, etc. I wrote so much that every time a student looked down at my notebook, they would say, "No te cansas de escribir?" (Don´t you get tired of writing?) I really don´t, but even after one day I wanted to throw down my notebook, get in there, and try and help make things better.
I´ll give you an example of what I´ve seen thus far. Imagine you´re in first grade. Your English teacher arrives (since the students don´t typically change classrooms). The teacher comes in speaking primarily in English (a broken English, but what do you know? You´re six). Usually, you spend most of your time copying words from the board, a tedious process, seeing as how you´re six years old and are just learning how to write in your native language. Meaning, spelling, and pronunciation of English are a blur that have no connection to the words you´re writing. Yet you cling to the notebook, doing matching exercises, tracing words (WTF?), and translating because that´s what your teacher is accustomed to.
I witnessed extensive copying as early as first grade, and all the way up through sixth grade and beyond. As a result, for the most part, students only knew how to translate from one language to another. When posed a question, even one as simple as "Where do you live," it proved very difficult. Plus, since English seems a new requirement, and supposed upper-level students have only taken one or two years of instruction. Yet, they are expected to read paragraphs of English and answer questions. As a result, lots of primer ciclo (high school) students used a dictionary to look up every individual word, even ones as simple as don´t or you.
My head was spinning, thinking about all the work I have to do and the high expectations the community and the teachers and the school have for me. A long and winding road lies ahead.
(I tried to be a fly on the wall, but it´s hard when the students have probably never seen an American before, let alone one so devilishly handsome.)
That isn´t to say that the week was a complete nightmare. The students are very excited to have me in the classroom, which is essential to their success. My counterpart has given me a few opportunities (either of his own accord or since something pulled him out of the classroom and left me alone with the kids, sometimes for as long as forty minutes) to work with the kids. Once, he put me in charge of reviewing some introductory phrases like "What´s your name," "Where do you live," "Lend me your pencil," or my personal favorite, "Please don´t speak." I tried to implement some things I´d learned during training. I made sure to drill pronunciation and repeated myself several times, since I am likely the first native English speaker they´ve ever heard. I made gestures when helpful and appropriate. I asked simple yes or no questions to get the kids listening to English in action. Finally, I made sure to ask the kids those key questions to get them to understand that English isn´t simply foreign words written on a board, but a way to communicate.
My counterpart was pleased with my performance. So pleased, in fact, that he made me repeat that same thing with two more classes.
So I think there´s a light at the end of the tunnel. Eventually, the kids will have the skills and, more importantly, the courage, to use English to communicate with each other and express themselves. But for now, it´s on me to mix things up in the classroom and light their fire within.
(Some cute kids, huh?)
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