I guess that I got a bit ahead of myself in the last e-mail. I didn't realize that organizing 1500 students into classes of 50 each in order of age was all done (essentially) by 4 people. Needless to say, the first week at the high school was chaotic with students in the wrong grades or at the wrong time of day and teachers with more than one class at the same time. Now, things are smoothed out and it looks like I'll be observing the classes that I'll be working with until the end of first semester in June. Next week, I'll probably begin co-teaching with the two teachers that I'll be working with.
In the meantime, since I haven't been teaching/working much at the high school (just observing a few classes) I have been working with a Canadian woman who is giving classes to 6 university teachers from all subject areas and 10+ high school English teachers. The classes are primarily designed to improve pronunciation and to give the teachers a chance to converse in English.
Outside of work...I have found a true friend in my host sister and we spend evenings chatting or watching telenovelas. My host family also introduced me to a single, trustworthy, male neighbor and he asked me out the next time we met (and I accepted). We'll see what the future has in store.
I don't have any pictures of my site yet...My camera is on loan right now, but when I get it back I promise that I'll make an effort to upload a few pictures of the city that I live in.
My hour is up at the internet cafe...I'll write more when I have access again.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
Time to Work!
After having 3 weeks to relax and read (in English and Spanish), I went to work this week. The Ministry of Education provided training sessions for all of the teachers across the country. Conveniently, the teachers in my "state" met across the street from my house at the high school where I will be working. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet most of the English teachers that I will be working with for the next 2 years and to renew my contact with the teachers that I worked with in May and June last year.
Next Monday is the first day of school here and even though I don't know my exact schedule yet, I do know that I'll be working primarily in the mornings at the high school. In the afternoons, I'll be working with the university to provide free English conversation classes to high school students, college professors and high school teachers. This is probably the part of my job that I am most looking forward to because I'll have classes of only 20-25 students in contrast to the 50+ that I'll have in my classes at the high school. Eventually the University would like to expand the program to provide workshops for University professors...but I'm going to wait until I have everything else under control before offering any additional assistance.
Next Monday is the first day of school here and even though I don't know my exact schedule yet, I do know that I'll be working primarily in the mornings at the high school. In the afternoons, I'll be working with the university to provide free English conversation classes to high school students, college professors and high school teachers. This is probably the part of my job that I am most looking forward to because I'll have classes of only 20-25 students in contrast to the 50+ that I'll have in my classes at the high school. Eventually the University would like to expand the program to provide workshops for University professors...but I'm going to wait until I have everything else under control before offering any additional assistance.
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