Teaching Already!

The past couple of days I have been taking on more and more responsibility. As I said in my previous post, flexibility is a must for Costa Rica. Prime example: Yesterday my cooperating teacher asked me to teach a lesson on Persuasive Letter Writing for our 5th grade English class. I have taught an entire unit on this in the past, so I felt confident about the content. However, I didn't know about teaching it until right before it was time to teach. There was a PowerPoint presentation already prepared, so all I really had to do was go through it and talk about it. Although it was SUPER last minute, it went really well. My cooperating teacher loved it and gave me great feedback. The students were really engaged and I was able to use my previous knowledge to make the PowerPoint come alive. It was fantastic.

I also had a great week with our 4th graders. The started a really cool project the other day where they were assigned a classmate and they are to predict their future. The objective for this project is for students to practice using the future tense in English. They are to demonstrate their competency through an oral presentation and written descriptions. We provided magazines for them to cut out pictures and create a poster of their person's life. This project was so fun. We finished the project today and the students began to present. They had so much fun with it! I love when students get enthusiastic about their learning. This project really allowed for them to be creative and express themselves.

Overall things are going great! I'm really tired at the end of the days though. My brain gets tired from the back and forth of English and Spanish. I'm lucky I have a decent background in Spanish, but I'm nowhere near fluent. I pick up on most things, and most people are willing to speak English if necessary. My goal is to work on this a lot and come back near fluent. It's going to take a lot more practice, but I think I can get there...or at least closer.

Currently, Rachael and I are looking into our first weekend excursion. I think we might try to get to the beach...somehow. Public transportation down here is pretty easy and inexpensive. People have been so helpful in telling us how to get around. We're hoping to make it to the beach, or do some more urban exploring. If the beach isn't an option, we'll spend some time in San José. There are a lot of museums and art exhibits that are supposed to be pretty amazing, so I hope we get a chance to check those out.

I'm having trouble loading pictures today...probably because of the rain. There are some on facebook. I will continue to add as I'm able. Love you all! Oh, if you have questions or want more detail on ANYTHING, leave a comment below and I'll answer your questions in my next blog post.

First 2 days of school:
Costa Rica continues to amaze me in its beauty. On Monday, Rachael and I began our time at our school. Each day, we ride the city bus to and from school for 190 colones (about 35-40 cents). It was a little intimidating at first, but our host mom came with us on the first day so we knew where to get off. As we approached campus, she left us and we started our walk in. The entrance is gated and monitored. The campus is HUGE! The school includes Elementary, Middle, and High School. They have so much property and use it all beautifully. The gymnasium is outside, surrounded by palm trees and the jungle. Classroom doors are left open to the outside during instruction. Many classrooms have sliding doors on the wall opposite the entrance, so those doors are often kept open, allowing for a wonderful cross-breeze. There is a beautiful courtyard in the middle full of flowers and surrounded by picnic tables. It's breathtaking.

I met my cooperating teacher who is an expat from Colombia. She is amazing. She teaches 4th and 5th grade English, as I will be soon. I've spent my time this week getting to know the students and her classroom management style, as well as helping her with small tasks. She had me helping to teach lessons right away. On the first day I helped with a 5th grade Spelling lesson, and today I helped with a 4th grade Spelling test/lesson. I also got to re-vamp a bulletin board, which as most of you know, I LOVE doing.

Everything is pretty laid back. There is A LOT of prep time, which is super nice. The schedule changes every day but typically I have almost 2 hours of prep time in the morning. Since I don't have anything to prep for yet, I have been helping my teacher get ready for her lessons, helping out other teachers with their things, and asking a lot of questions about the curriculum usage and implementation. They have a program called ATLAS which houses all of their curriculum, complete with objectives, activities, materials, and procedures. There is a very high standard at this school for education, so the administration and parents want to be sure that the curriculum is appropriate and challenging.

Speaking of parents, at this school they are heavily involved. They are also heavily invested financially in this school. It's private and tuition is very expensive. Many of the students have private drivers, maids, nannies, etc. In spite of this, they are very considerate and respectful of their teachers. Their parents put high value on education and expect a lot out of their students.

In terms of my daily schedule, it changes. I typically catch the bus by 6:30 and school begins at 7:30. We finish with the students around 1:00, but there are often things going on after school. For example, we all stayed after today to plan a presentation for the end of the year, and watch the rehearsal for the talent show that is on Friday. Flexibility is a must for being in Costa Rica, but there are always people available to answer questions and provide guidance. There are a lot of teachers here from the states and some have taken us under their wing. They know the need we have as Americans to know things and be in control of things, so they try to give us advanced notice of everything...which is great.

As a part of my rent, my host mom prepares breakfast and dinner. It's delicious! A lot of beans but all very fresh food. The fruit and vegetables here are amazing. I can't get enough! For lunch our school has a subsidy program that pays for part of the lunches for teachers, then we fork over the rest. It ends up being just under $2 per day, which is perfect; and it's pretty good for school food! Way better than I've ever experienced. Today I had tilapia, and it wasn't creepy! It tasted good, and with some fresh roasted veggies and a salad with a pesto/lime/cilantro dressing, I was set.

Today was a great day, but super long. I'm off to bed before 8pm! I'll take some pictures of the school this week and post them here/on fb so you all can see how beautiful it is! Here's the website in case you want to check it out...there's a slideshow on the homepage.

Pan-American School

Hasta luego!

First 2 days

So I will try to keep this blog going, but no promises. The first couple of posts are just copied from emails, but I'll try to keep this more authentic as I go. Feel free to ask me questions too!

Arrival:
All is well! After a LONG day of airports and airplanes, I am finally here and getting settled in. Our host mom is cooking us dinner as I write this! I have my own little cute bedroom which is great. They all think it's really cold down here but it's like 68 and raining right now...Rachael and I are HOT!

First Morning:
We've already been exploring our town today! Rachael and I walked through the farmers market and pretty much the entire town...it's small and everyone is so nice! Pineapples are 2 for less than $2...and they're HUGE! I'm putting pictures up on facebook as I type this so have Shannon share them with you...only a few so far, but I'll add as I go. Here are a couple for a little taste. It looks like the scenery in Avatar...only no floating islands :) SO GORGEOUS!

The Spanish adjustment is going well...I should be close to fluent in no time...I'm using it so much already! I managed to talk to this REALLY old lady and get directions to the church...which is also stunningly beautiful. She knew exactly what I was saying and I understood everything she said, so, so far so good. We met Rachael's cooperating teacher this morning, she is awesome. She's from New York, came down almost 5 years ago for a 2 week vacation and never left. Now she's married and teaches 3rd grade at Pan-Am. We have to get up super early to be there though...we have to catch the bus by 630am! Our host mom is going to ride with us tomorrow morning so we know how to do it. She's been hosting student teachers and other travelers for 24 years! Her daughter lives next door with her husband and son Oscar...who is adorable. On the other side of us is a dentist.

The houses are very different here. It is easy to tell who has money and who doesn't. We're in town and everyone's house is super small, and kind of falling apart it seems, but still so beautiful with all of the flowers and trees that are just exploding with green everywhere. By the way, as I am typing this, my host mom just brought me a plate of fresh pineapple...I don't think I'll be able to eat pineapple at home ever again...it's unreal! Melts in your mouth...mmmm...Everyone seems so happy and they're all so nice. Money just isn't as important here. We saw a job posting today for $400/month.

I guess the students I'll be working with are the rich kids who live on the mountain...the houses are gigantic...kind of like Lake Minnetonka homes. We'll see! I'm so excited to get started. It was so nice to see/meet one of the teachers today. Well I think that's all for today...even though it's not even 1pm...it's been a busy day! I just can't describe how beautiful it is...I feel like I'm in the tropical exhibit at the zoo, without the funny smell. Love you all!