la escuela - the school

Some things about the school are striking me as very funny and just different from the way we´re used to things back home. There are set periods to the day, eight of them, and all of the teachers (not just the volunteers) travel around from classroom to classroom during the day. There´s no ¨homeroom¨ like we would have back home, it´s a bit more like high school actually, but with the kids staying still and the teachers moving. When the periods ends is a bit vague - there is a schedule, and whenever it seems to be time for the next period to start, one of the teachers usually remembers and goes out to ring the bell (a doorbell actually) in the courtyard to signal the start of class. But our watches aren´t synchronized, and today Jonno and I purposely didn´t ring the bell to start class again because we were having fun watching the boys play soccer (football here) at recess.

We give the kids homework every day, but they often don´t do it. Carol gave out report cards today, which look a lot like US report cards, with grades for each subject and then conduct. But apparently the grades are just made up!! It´s rare for a kid to actually fail a class, because Carol feels like their parents spend a lot of money for them to attend this school (turns out it is a private school, tho there are scholarships for some students, and these kids are by no means rich). I haven´t had any experience with the grading system yet, but will be prepared to make a stink if several of my delinquent students end up with high grades.

I´m getting used to teaching elementary school too. It´s different - the kids want to play games all the time, which we can´t do, and the principal wants us to use the textbooks all the time, which we can´t do either. But I´m getting the hang of alternating them. Sometimes a quick 10 minute game is exactly what we all need. For the second and third graders, they also really need time to color or just move around the room. I´m racking my brain for all those old camp games and creative ideas to use with them!

On a medical note, Papa is now eating ice cream and talking a bit, and they may move him into a regular room tomorrow. My dad is leaving town as well. So it´s just about a complete reversal from a few days ago, and things are looking up, at least for now!