Even though many have asked questions, I haven’t taken the opportunity to write about my school life yet…and the reason for this is, well, I want to be honest with you, my dear blog readers. Not everything has been rainbows and butterflies. (Not that I expected that.) But what I have wanted to do is to give you a good, real, and honest overview of not just school life, but also what it has been like to transition into being an assistant teacher. And processing everything that has happened this past semester has taken some time, so, thank you for your patience. Now, without further ado, I present to you: Liceo Polivalente Arturo Alessandri Palma Longaví, Maule, Chile Classes/Tracking
Daily ScheduleThe school year begins in March and ends in December. Each day, Monday through Thursday, begins at 8:30 and ends at 16:35. Friday classes are dismissed at 13:30. There are 9 class hours in the day. We run a block schedule of 90 minutes for most courses, however some are just 45 minutes long (depending on various factors).
Wall SpaceIf you ever entered my classroom at Great Plains, you probably realized that I enjoy using my wall space. (Ok, maybe that was an understatement…yeah, I LOVE it!) For various reasons, which are not important to discuss here and now, there is close to nothing hanging on the walls. It doesn’t completely drive me crazy...just a little bit. At least they aren’t white! {ha ha ha} StudentsThere was a movie released a few years ago called “Babies". The idea behind the documentary is that no matter what country/culture we are raised in, there are some universal things in humanity because babies are babies, and, people are people. I think it would be just as easy to make a documentary called “Adolescents” and come to the same conclusion: passing love notes (or texts), making paper airplanes, girls writing lists of boys’ names they like and giggling, seeing how much they can get away with before the teacher gets angry, talking about the latest song releases, boys punching each other, asking questions just to get the teacher off topic, worrying about a test, girls doing each other’s hair and makeup, wondering about the future… Being A Teacher's AssistantThis part hasn’t been easy. For the past 8 years I had my own classroom with my own management and procedures in place...when I arrived here, I entered someone’s classroom, in a different country, halfway through the year as an assistant...just a bit of a change, but I was intrigued by the challenge.
The first few weeks I was able to observe and absorb the teaching methods/styles, school procedures, and try to pick up on all the “unwritten rules” of the school. Many classes I am able to help small groups work on a worksheet or practice some pronunciation and some days if one of my teachers is gone I have been able to teach a lesson. Pro: almost zero prep time! Con: kind of boring. Placing native speakers as assistant teachers in the Longaví schools is still a rather young program and so some kinks are still being worked out. Unfortunately, two of those kinks were: 1) that my classroom teachers were not informed that they were going to have an assistant teacher and 2) the teachers were not well informed on how to incorporate this program into their classrooms. Jon & Elise had a bit of a smoother transition because their schools received native speaking assistants last year, but I was the first to come to the high school. Those kinks have made the transition a bit harder than expected and, as you can assume, caused me to second guess my decision to move. {I confess this to you because I want to be honest and real, so please don't think I am packing things up to leave!} Kingdom Workers, the Department of Education, Jon, Elise, and I are all committed to making this program work long-term in Longaví, and so we are already getting excited for next school year and discussing the steps we can take to make it better! I rest in knowing that God will use every decision made to his glory. I truly enjoy the time I get to spend getting to know my students and co-workers at the high school and I am praying that I will be able to work there next year as well. I ask you to pray for everyone involved to make good decisions as we finish this school year and work to make the next one better!
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A few visitors have kept us busy here in Linares this November (but we’re ready for more)! Laura, our coordinator from Kingdom Workers, was able to visit us here in Chile! The week was full of meetings, get-togethers, and a beautiful drive to see horse-hair crafts and the mountains. It was great to get to know each other better and there were some great opportunities to meet with leaders and teachers in Longaví and discuss the future of the English Teacher Assistant Program. During that same week, Chile was also graced by the presence of Pastor Mike Hartman, coordinator for Academia Cristo and Missionary in Mexico. Academia Cristo is an online outreach tool for sharing the gospel in Spanish. We have been using the resources for our Wednesday evening Ladies' Bible Study and Sunday evening Men's Bible Study. They are based on the movie “Come, Follow Me” and give an easy to follow and understand overview of the Christian faith. Pastor Hartman was able to give our congregations an encouraging presentation and overview into the history and process of Academia Cristo. Check out Academia Cristo on Facebook or www.academiacristo.com .
Also, the lovely Carla Alegría taught the refrain of this song to Elise & I...and we certainly didn't annoy our daper driver Jon with different versions of it...{cough cough}...we would never do such a thing...{cough cough} Across the room I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing.
This was just. too. crazy! How I would love to know the story of this shirt! It doesn’t surprise me too much that this shirt came from small-town USA to small-town Chile. (Have you ever thought about what happens to all the extra clothing that thrift stores don’t sell? I’ll save that topic for another blog post…) The craziness for me is that both are small towns where I have lived! It’s a small world after all… Today I would like to introduce you to Snow Day’s amigo latino: “¡Paro!” (“Strike!”). The students of my high school are on strike. They have demands they want to see met: they want improved educational facilities and they want a better education. Tuesday morning about 25% of the student body joined together, marched through the town streets to the Department of Education and the Municipality offices requesting a meeting to discuss their complaints. A meeting was organized for Wednesday afternoon with the teachers, mayor, head of the Dept. of Ed., and the delegation from each class at the high school. (No students came to school, but teachers were here working, of course!) Strikes are not an uncommon occurrence here in Chile (or Latin America in general). Just before I arrived the teachers of Chile ended a month long strike. Soon after I arrived, some bus drivers went on strike. Just a few weeks ago, the workers of the Civil Registry have also gone on strike. At the beginning of this week, the school cooks went on strike.
This is quite a cultural difference, and one that I definitely appreciate (even if my upbringing causes me to wonder about the necessity). If a group of Chileans believe they are being wronged, they want to be heard. I love the camaraderie it brings and support they show each other. In a discussion in the teacher’s room on Monday afternoon, most teachers agreed with the students having a strike, even if they didn’t agree with all of their demands. In one rather heated moment, a teacher stood and declared: “We were on strike for a month and that had an effect on the life of the students...how can we not back them up now when they want to be heard too?!” I almost jumped up clapping, ready to shout “¡Amén!”. Almost. But I didn’t...because I’m a reserved girl from the midwest. But hey, who knows, {cue emotional music} maybe someday I’ll share a picture with you. And in that picture I’ll be holding a sign. And I’ll be standing with a group of people, chanting for our demands to be heard by others. Sigh. A girl can dream, right? |
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