Kirsty and I walked down the mountain today, which I haven’t done in a few weeks so it felt good to get that exercise and spend that time chatting with Kirsty as well. We arrived in town and desperately needed to go to the bank because we didn’t have money. We were close to the bank when Gustavo, a mototaxi driver we know, pulls up and asked where we were going and was like Vamos. So we got a free ride the rest of the way to the bank. Apparently everyone needed money or got paid on Friday because the bank was SO busy. We got to the bank at 11 and it closes at 11:30. We waited and waited and finally got out of the bank after 45 minutes. They only had two tellers instead of three, which didn’t help things. We kept seeing people we knew at the bank, too so every 10 minutes we’d turn around and there’d be our neighbor, or another teacher from school, or someone else we knew.
After the bank I headed to Guancascos and stayed there for quite a while for internet and lunch. Late in the afternoon, Kirsty and I went to get things for our kids for our prize boxes for good behavior. Some of my kids will be getting 10 stars soon so I needed to get some prizes for them. I bought things like pencils and erasers, stickers, markers, mainly school things; I also bought some things for when kids get twenty stars. It was also Doble Saldo for Digicel, which never happens. This means if you put 100 Lemps on your phone, you’ll get 200 Lemps. They match what you put on your phone, which is great; Tigo (another phone company)does this often, but I don’t think Digicel does often. So Kirsty and I put some money on our phones to take advantage of that deal. We went to get popsicles while we waited for our mototaxi ride back home. I was the only one home for a while, so I just did some things around the house, had dinner and then the rest of the girls came back from town. We had a great night just chatting and listening to comedy on our computers.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Friday November 13- PT Conferences and 9 week grades
Parent Teacher conferences today! I almost sent one kid to the office today. He was constantly getting up out of his seat, talking to other kids and playing his air guitar and riding his air motorcycle in class, so it was distracting to the other kids. The only difference with this kid is he has ADD, so it’s hard for him to stay focused, which I understand. I try to help him, reminding him to take things out for class, reminding him to focus, asking if he’s understanding. I don’t know what else to do for a kid with ADD in my class. How much of his ‘misbehavior’ can be attributed to his ADD and when does it cross the line into his responsibility? I constantly have to tell him to listen, stop talking, stay focused, sit down. When is he just not listening and obeying and when is it because of the ADD? I try to be patient, but doing that everyday along with telling other kids besides him wears me down sometimes. So any suggestions are welcome!
The kids got to go home early at noon so we would have time to prepare for parents to come and pick up grades and talk with us if they have problems. We had lunch, got ready (we had to look nice and wear our full uniform of pants and suit jacket with white button up shirt) and then the parents could come to pick up their grades between 2 and 6. It was a long day. It was weird to be on the other side of PT conferences, being the teacher and not the student. It made me appreciate my teachers more, as this whole year so far has been teaching me. I had an overall good experience with the parents; it just helps when they can speak English! I had a few parents who spoke English, some I did by myself in Spanish and got my point across, others Mr. Bran and Mr. Lara translated for me because the parents had more complex questions and issues and I wanted to make sure I was communicating what I wanted with them.
Most of the questions and problems I had with parents were over their grades in Language and Reading. Let me give some history as to why this may be difficult for many of my students. Last year, while the teachers were great, they didn’t follow the curriculum as closely as the administration wanted them to. So now I come in this year and the administration really wants us and expects us to follow the curriculum more closely, which I have been. Also, it’s a new grade so the curriculum is not only being followed more closely, but it will be harder; that’s the basic logic of education. My reading scores may be low because we have a reading quiz over vocab every week, which counts as a test grade. So if the kids don’t study or don’t do well on those, their grade will drop. Otherwise reading is participation in class and doing worksheets which test their comprehension and speed. Some of the kids have trouble with this (understandably so since it’s in their second language), but I try to give them extra time than the sheet states to give them a better chance. Language…English and English grammar is just hard. The verbs we use are just consistent in the way they change from present to past to future; the singular to plural nouns don’t always follow the same rules for all words. I feel for these kids and the difficulty with trying to understand it. Some things they just need to memorize, others they just need to practice. So in class they do well, but they all seem to have trouble on the tests. So I have kids who are failing or having trouble with subjects stay for tutorias on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
It’s interesting to me as well that the students who have very good grades, but have a 90 instead of a 95 in one class are concerned about that one class and why the grade is low. Its like, just be satisfied in your children’s performance this time, encourage them to keep at it and try a little harder if you want their grade to be higher, but have a little grace they’re in 5th grade. Another parent was very concerned that her student’s grade in 2 subjects were below 80, which is also understandable. It’s just the way she expressed her concern almost made me feel like she thought it was partly my fault her daughter had low grades. She said her daughter had never had this low of grades before, why they were that low and what she could do to help her at home. I gave her suggestions to help her student and told her to try that and then be patient and see how things go this 9 weeks.
At the end of the night I was so tired from the long day (like 10-11 hours), talking to parents, explaining the same thing more than once and trying to concentrate in listening and speaking Spanish. We walked home in the dark (I had a flashlight this time!) and had easy leftovers for dinner. I relaxed by watching a movie and fell asleep.
The kids got to go home early at noon so we would have time to prepare for parents to come and pick up grades and talk with us if they have problems. We had lunch, got ready (we had to look nice and wear our full uniform of pants and suit jacket with white button up shirt) and then the parents could come to pick up their grades between 2 and 6. It was a long day. It was weird to be on the other side of PT conferences, being the teacher and not the student. It made me appreciate my teachers more, as this whole year so far has been teaching me. I had an overall good experience with the parents; it just helps when they can speak English! I had a few parents who spoke English, some I did by myself in Spanish and got my point across, others Mr. Bran and Mr. Lara translated for me because the parents had more complex questions and issues and I wanted to make sure I was communicating what I wanted with them.
Most of the questions and problems I had with parents were over their grades in Language and Reading. Let me give some history as to why this may be difficult for many of my students. Last year, while the teachers were great, they didn’t follow the curriculum as closely as the administration wanted them to. So now I come in this year and the administration really wants us and expects us to follow the curriculum more closely, which I have been. Also, it’s a new grade so the curriculum is not only being followed more closely, but it will be harder; that’s the basic logic of education. My reading scores may be low because we have a reading quiz over vocab every week, which counts as a test grade. So if the kids don’t study or don’t do well on those, their grade will drop. Otherwise reading is participation in class and doing worksheets which test their comprehension and speed. Some of the kids have trouble with this (understandably so since it’s in their second language), but I try to give them extra time than the sheet states to give them a better chance. Language…English and English grammar is just hard. The verbs we use are just consistent in the way they change from present to past to future; the singular to plural nouns don’t always follow the same rules for all words. I feel for these kids and the difficulty with trying to understand it. Some things they just need to memorize, others they just need to practice. So in class they do well, but they all seem to have trouble on the tests. So I have kids who are failing or having trouble with subjects stay for tutorias on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
It’s interesting to me as well that the students who have very good grades, but have a 90 instead of a 95 in one class are concerned about that one class and why the grade is low. Its like, just be satisfied in your children’s performance this time, encourage them to keep at it and try a little harder if you want their grade to be higher, but have a little grace they’re in 5th grade. Another parent was very concerned that her student’s grade in 2 subjects were below 80, which is also understandable. It’s just the way she expressed her concern almost made me feel like she thought it was partly my fault her daughter had low grades. She said her daughter had never had this low of grades before, why they were that low and what she could do to help her at home. I gave her suggestions to help her student and told her to try that and then be patient and see how things go this 9 weeks.
At the end of the night I was so tired from the long day (like 10-11 hours), talking to parents, explaining the same thing more than once and trying to concentrate in listening and speaking Spanish. We walked home in the dark (I had a flashlight this time!) and had easy leftovers for dinner. I relaxed by watching a movie and fell asleep.
Thursday November 12
I finished the rest of my planning today; this is why I really like Thursdays. One of my students has been absent for over a week now and she’s not sick, so the administration was trying to figure out why she didn’t want to come. Mr. Calderon said she doesn’t want to come to school, so we should make her cards saying we miss her and want her to come back. In my mind, if a kid doesn’t want to come to school because something’s happened I understand, but I don’t think that’s the case here; it’s the parent’s job to be like too bad you’re going to school. She’s so far behind on everything already missing tests and such…its frustrating because I don’t even know where to start to get her back on track. It continued to get colder and rainier as the day went on and I only had on a long sleeve and cardigan, I was so cold. Compared to at home right now it probably wasn’t that different, but remember…I haven’t had very cold weather here, everything is open and breezy and there’s no indoor heating; my living area is essentially a big walled in porch!
Dennis and Vicente came today because the scholarship kids at all the kids get doctor checkups. Dennis came a few weeks ago for fiesta tipicia, but we haven’t seen Vicente in a month so it was nice to see both of them for a little bit. I had tutorias after school and they went pretty well for Language and reading. The mix of kids in tutorias is difficult sometimes because they are usually the ones who pay the least attention in class so even in smaller groups they are still kinda distracted or not listening as well. I’ve been trying to be more patient and understanding with my kids making sure I don’t sound too angry or mad when I’m frustrated while still being firm and being able to take or make a joke. It seems like when I have days like that, they go better so maybe I’m kinda getting the hang of how Rachel Sneden can be a teacher haha.
I went home after tutorias, had dinner, and we had decided to start a Bible study with Mrs. Laurelais, our Filipino neighbor. I think it will be a good thing to do as a way to grow spiritually besides attending church in Spanish. Laura Beth, Kirsty and I were there and we got to share our faith stories with each other, so that was nice. She’s very nice and so petite and cute and really on fire for God; almost to the point where it’s intimidating! She’s just very passionate about letting God be our EVERYTHING and only walking with him and following him, which I totally agree with. It’s just when she’s sitting across the table sharing these things with you so passionately and then just staring at you to see how you react to it, I didn’t know what to do except nod my head in agreement. I guess I just haven’t been around someone that passionate in a while and I was taken aback. I want to love God with that same passion and be in love with him, but I think the way I’ll express that with others isn’t going to be the same way she does. I am looking forward to what we’ll learn from her and from each other though.
Dennis and Vicente came today because the scholarship kids at all the kids get doctor checkups. Dennis came a few weeks ago for fiesta tipicia, but we haven’t seen Vicente in a month so it was nice to see both of them for a little bit. I had tutorias after school and they went pretty well for Language and reading. The mix of kids in tutorias is difficult sometimes because they are usually the ones who pay the least attention in class so even in smaller groups they are still kinda distracted or not listening as well. I’ve been trying to be more patient and understanding with my kids making sure I don’t sound too angry or mad when I’m frustrated while still being firm and being able to take or make a joke. It seems like when I have days like that, they go better so maybe I’m kinda getting the hang of how Rachel Sneden can be a teacher haha.
I went home after tutorias, had dinner, and we had decided to start a Bible study with Mrs. Laurelais, our Filipino neighbor. I think it will be a good thing to do as a way to grow spiritually besides attending church in Spanish. Laura Beth, Kirsty and I were there and we got to share our faith stories with each other, so that was nice. She’s very nice and so petite and cute and really on fire for God; almost to the point where it’s intimidating! She’s just very passionate about letting God be our EVERYTHING and only walking with him and following him, which I totally agree with. It’s just when she’s sitting across the table sharing these things with you so passionately and then just staring at you to see how you react to it, I didn’t know what to do except nod my head in agreement. I guess I just haven’t been around someone that passionate in a while and I was taken aback. I want to love God with that same passion and be in love with him, but I think the way I’ll express that with others isn’t going to be the same way she does. I am looking forward to what we’ll learn from her and from each other though.
Wednesday, Nov 11
Wednesdays my kids have art. Miss Holly, one of the teachers from Britain, is the art teacher and she had my kids make saltdough creatures. I really enjoyed watching them use their creativity in making animals; they got so into it. They tried the dough even though we told them not too and were like ew this is gross! And we said we told you! We also had a meeting after school which consisted of instructions for parent/teacher conferences and giving grades on Friday. They also reminded us to keep locking our doors, which is even more important because money has gotten stolen recently from our rooms. These meetings always seem to take longer because they need to be interpreted and everyone wants to give their two cents about everything; I usually plan on at least an hour. We went to town afterwards, got internet and then dinner; Kirsty, Sarah and I were starving and ate our tipico food so fast. The only unfortunate things is that because of meeting , we weren’t able to go to the bank so I have less than 100 L ($5) until Saturday…not fun. Kirsty and I rode up with Juan Carlos, whose son Candido is in Jackie’s K4 class; he’s so cute joking around with him. He asked if I wanted to come see a movie in his house, but I was like you need to sleep… J so cute.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, Nov 10
My day today went well overall until my last hour. We had penmanship and towards the end of the hour it just got crazy. My kids were all finishing, and they were asking to put their stars on their card for good behavior and asking if there was tutorias all within the same 10 minutes. I hadn’t given any names for tutorias so I didn’t know if kids should stay or go, so I didn’t know what to tell them. Meanwhile the bell is ringing, buses are leaving and I was getting stressed out. I didn’t want kids to miss their bus or their parents to be confused whether they were supposed to be here or at home…ugh. So once they all left I just sat down on the floor of my classroom and had to breathe deeply for a little bit and compose myself. I had one kid who missed his bus because of the confusion so I worked with him on math, then packed up and headed home. We got our laundry, hung it up to dry some more (it’s been so damp here it takes forever to dry outside), then I did dishes. Then dinner, more dishes, grading, planning and finally a little relaxing at the end of the night.
Monday, November 9
God really blessed this Monday it seemed like. Most of the time by the end of the day, I’m kinda tired and a little frustrated, but today everything went smoothly. It felt really good to end a day and still have energy. . I had to stay after school for 2 of my students to finish their last recup tests and then I could finally turn in my 9 week grades. t’s been kinda cooler and rainy so far this week so we’ll see if that continues this week. I may not have fall weather like at home, but this is a small taste of it with the cool and rain. I got to talk to one of my best friends from home and my fam today. I’m not homesick or anxious to get home for Christmas, but I’m definitely looking forward to it and it’ll be refreshing to be home for a few weeks. My parents told me this past weekend that they booked their tickets to come see me here in Honduras in February! I’m really excited for them to come see what my life is like here. So everyone but Mae is going to be coming to Honduras; she gets to go to France and Spain this summer though. Life here settles into a routine for normal 5 day weeks; Mondays and Fridays I walk home right after school, Tuesdays and Thursdays are tutorias, Wednesdays are nights in town, and at home I grade, relax, make dinner, clean, and head to bed. Such is my life in Honduras.
Saturday and Sunday, November 7 & 8
Saturday
Sarah and I went to town in the morning, went to Guancascos, did some shopping, and then went for lunch at a tipico restaurant where we got bolibaleadas (tortillas with bean, cheese, mantequilla and eggs). They were so filling and so not good for you, but taste amazing! Haha. Afterwards, she went to hang out with Gustavo so I met up with the girls again. I got to talk to some friends back home who I haven’t spoken to in a while, so that was great to be able to catch up with them. We headed back up soon after that and had a relaxing evening.
Sunday
I love the weekends for the fact you can sleep until you don’t want to anymore and it doesn’t matter what time you get up. I spent some good time with God, taking a verse and kinda making my own Amplified version of it since I don’t have any other resources for Bible study. It was sufficient and good for my soul. Soon after our neighbor, Mrs.Laurelais came over to help us make a Filipino meal. It was a little early (we had just finished a late breakfast), but the prep time took a while so by the time it was ready, we were ready to eat it. The dish was very similar to Chop Suey and had lots of veggies along with noodles, shrimp and chicken. We spent Sunday afternoon relaxing then most of us decided to go to the hot springs. It seems like a prerequisite for it to be raining when we go to the hot springs, because it definitely didn’t stop raining the whole time. We arrived and enjoyed the hottest pool, which is like a nice hot tub. It’s still kinda weird going there because people still stare and especially guys try to hit on us and stuff; it gets really annoying, like haven’t you seen a gringa before? But we still had a good time; we ate some grilled corn with lime and salt (yum) for a snack there and then began the process of heading home. We got home too late to go to church, but we all had things we had to do to get ready for Monday, too.
Sarah and I went to town in the morning, went to Guancascos, did some shopping, and then went for lunch at a tipico restaurant where we got bolibaleadas (tortillas with bean, cheese, mantequilla and eggs). They were so filling and so not good for you, but taste amazing! Haha. Afterwards, she went to hang out with Gustavo so I met up with the girls again. I got to talk to some friends back home who I haven’t spoken to in a while, so that was great to be able to catch up with them. We headed back up soon after that and had a relaxing evening.
Sunday
I love the weekends for the fact you can sleep until you don’t want to anymore and it doesn’t matter what time you get up. I spent some good time with God, taking a verse and kinda making my own Amplified version of it since I don’t have any other resources for Bible study. It was sufficient and good for my soul. Soon after our neighbor, Mrs.Laurelais came over to help us make a Filipino meal. It was a little early (we had just finished a late breakfast), but the prep time took a while so by the time it was ready, we were ready to eat it. The dish was very similar to Chop Suey and had lots of veggies along with noodles, shrimp and chicken. We spent Sunday afternoon relaxing then most of us decided to go to the hot springs. It seems like a prerequisite for it to be raining when we go to the hot springs, because it definitely didn’t stop raining the whole time. We arrived and enjoyed the hottest pool, which is like a nice hot tub. It’s still kinda weird going there because people still stare and especially guys try to hit on us and stuff; it gets really annoying, like haven’t you seen a gringa before? But we still had a good time; we ate some grilled corn with lime and salt (yum) for a snack there and then began the process of heading home. We got home too late to go to church, but we all had things we had to do to get ready for Monday, too.
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