Getting Schooled

Alright, so I've started teaching at my school, Juana de Castilla. After some confusion as to what I am supposed to be doing, we've settled on an amazing schedule (it's 3 PM and I'm home already... unheard of in Spanish culture) and I will be teaching art, technology, English, science, and helping out with social science (probably by making worksheets). My co-workers are all really nice... they are very welcoming, and have invited me out to coffee during the break both days!

One of my co-workers, Lurdes, lives a few blocks away from me, so we are going to meet up and speak English and Spanish together. Good stuff. Before every class (it's a different batch of students every time), Lurdes warns me: "This group is a little naughty." And they are. They all are.

The kids in the classes don't want to learn (but not like American students don't want to learn). They actively try to not pay attention. It's different with every teacher, but it took me some persistence to get them to pay attention to what I was saying.

Yesterday (the first day), was extremely difficult. Because of scheduling and talking to other teachers, I ended up walking into every one of my classes late, which made each entrance very pronounced (and embarrassing). It will take a long time for the students to respect me as a teacher, but I'm already feeling like I can get some things done in the classroom.

Lurdes was writing on the board while I was doing an activity, and I made sure that every student was speaking at least once a class in English. A student that she probably didn't expect to read or do anything answered a question, and she turned around and looked shocked. Maybe I can connect with these kids better than the actual teachers can. We'll see.

In the same class, I told the students a little bit about Ohio (what is there to tell, really?), and taught them O-H! I-O!. Hopefully I'll start hearing that in the halls. I plan to bring Buckeyes to school for the kids to try (they really don't have peanut butter here, so that will be an experiment).

Yesterday, I felt like a weirdo at the school, as well as a little frustrated (which resulted in me describing my day to the roommates with some language that can only be described as colorful), but today, students started to come up to me and say, "Hello!" (then run away), or ask me questions ("Do you have the pena de muerte (death penalty) in the States?"). It won't be long until I become a fixture there.

Overall, I'm feeling good about this decision, and I just need to embrace the uncomfortable moments.