- No matter how much I want to be social with everyone, I still find myself needing time to myself at the end of each day just to unwind. I guess that doesn't change with my environmental circumstances like I thought it might.
- I've always been a planner. Changing lessons as needed on the spot has always been one of my stronger traits, but up until this trip, I never really had to jump in and teach a lesson with absolutely no planning. Even though this was outside of my comfort zone, I have become extremely comfortable with this aspect of my teaching experience here.
- I'm more adventurous than I thought! I expected to be a little bit anxious going into dark caves, scaling walls, or zip lining through the forest, but I jumped into all of my activities head first and had an AMAZING time with all of them!
In relation to my future classrooms in the US, I do believe that some of the schools aspects I've been exposed to here could be implemented and useful. However, the biggest thing that I have realized is that I feel that students here are given more of an opportunity to embrace their childhood and truly just be kids. While I haven't forgotten the importance of education, I do think that a more laid-back structure (a cross between that of the US and San Pedro) could be more beneficial for students. In terms of emotional and social well-being, I think that this time to find themselves and form relationships with their peers is very important.
On Monday, we headed back to the schools! I was so excited to get back into the swing of things and to see the students. The first week I was in the schools was extremely laid-back with a lot of games and activities for the students. This confused me, as I had really never seen something like it in the US. However, it was the end of the term, and the students came back on Monday acknowledging that it was time to buckle back down and focus on academics. The teaching style here is much different that what I have seen in the US and is primarily focused around taking notes and discussions. Stephens and I have been team teaching a lot in the Standard I (3rd grade) class, and having the opportunity to team teach has been awesome. I hadn't really experienced this in the States, but Stephens and I work really well together and are able to just flow off of each other in lessons.
I also started to pull out students who had been identified by the lower grades teachers to provide additional support. After assessing where these students were, I grouped them with other students who were around the same level to provide small group instruction. By doing this, I am being more efficient with my time and am still having the opportunity to teach in the whole-group setting in Standard I. One of the biggest challenges I have faced when pulling students out is the lack of resources that I have. I have become so accustomed to having everything at my finger tips in the US, but I am pretty good at thinking on my toes, and the kids I am pulling out are loving writing in the sand on the playground :)
In other news, my kids have been asking me to teach them songs, and even sang two at assembly, in front of the entire school, this morning!
Love to you all back home!
No comments:
Post a Comment