First full day teaching experience

I taught my first full day today :) I was able to create some review activites for today and tomorrow to do with the kids. We did a charades-type game to practice past tense verbs and wrote example sentences. I explained the directions very slowly and clearly but there were still several students that struggled because they have limited English comprehension. I found it beneficial to provide an example so they could see what to do as well as hear what to do. Understanding the directions in English is the most difficult challenge for the students to overcome. There are several students with curriculum adjustments and they need additional instruction time and more explanation. 

It is almost impossible to go around and individually explain it to each student. They really struggle with directions and following instructions. It is something I have noticed during my observations the past two weeks. I plan to work a lot on understanding instructions and following directions.  No matter what I say, how I say it, or how many times I say it, there is always two or more students with questions. They might ask a question that I just explained 5 seconds before. It seems quite bazaar. 

However, when I checked the notebooks, majority of the students did the exercise correctly so I was very happy about that J

The classroom management is very different that in the U.S. I am very fortunate to have a lot of previous classroom management experience so I am not completely overwhelmed with the chaos or multiple interruptions. The students don’t necessarily misbehave but they have a lot of energy and it seems common to make noise, talk with each other, etc. They dont necessarily know how to pay FULL attention to the teacher. I have learned so much about and feel comfortable with responsive classroom, PBIS and using responsive language but it doesn’t seem to be commonly used here. I am trying to introduce to the students about what it should “look like and sound like” when the teacher is talking. I think that is something that will work with them once they become more familiar with the terms. I am very excited to implement some strategies that I have learned in my training.

A problem I have noticed is that there is not much concern for transitions between activities. I have noticed that is the prime time for students to become distracted and more out of control. The constant interruptions or chatter does not necessarily bother me but it is definitely different. I am excited to work with the students more and use my strategies and techniques that I have learned from previous classroom experience in the states. My cooperating teacher is fabulous and extremely supportive and encouraging of my ideas and suggestions.

I am excited for another full day of teaching tomorrow and will have to see how my sentence sort activity goes ;) Wish me luck! It is definitely some very exciting teaching going on and there is never a dull moment. 

My favorite moment of the day:
A student was asking me how to say something in English but I did not know the word in Spanish. It is very difficult to translate for them when I dont know the word they want to know....but i'm learning! So I did not know what the student's quesiton was....they were trying to find other ways to describe or explain the word (this is beneficial to them becuase it will help them understand the vocabulary better). I still was not figuring out the word. Another student went to his backpack and pulled out the book "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" to show me what word they wanted......diary! I was so grateful and the kid was a genius :) I thought it was great! I often have to take out my dictionary to find a word for them and they LOVE that. It is so fun for them to make the connection that I am learning their language as well. 

Pura Vida: Caribbean Coast

                                             Hola!

I just returned from my long weekend getaway to Puerto Viejo in the Limon province! It was absolutely beautiful....and definitely the most amazing place I have been so far. We woke up at 4am on on Thursday morning, in order to get into San Jose and catch the 6am bus to Puerto Viejo. Well......that did not work out as planned. We went to the wrong bus station (apparently there are two different buses into Puerto Viejo and we went to the one that didn't bring you directly to the beach.) SO, we had to taxi to a different station and wait until the 10am bus. We sat down at a small coffee shop by the station to wait for our bus. We had coffee, told stories, and lounged around in San Jose. I have learned quickly that no matter how much we plot and plan......in Costa Rica, it is very common those plans will fall through. You just have to go with it and be flexible. We finally got on the bus and arrived in Puerto Viejo about 5 hours later. The bus ride through the Caribbean was amazing and the view was priceless. There were trees and jungle everywhere...and the ocean to top it off! We still got there with plenty of time to check into the hotel and make it to the beach. The first beach we went to was Playa Negra with the black sand. 

We stayed in a really nice bed and breakfast hotel called Pura Vida (that was also the saying in Puerto Viejo). It was fabulous. Very quiet, open and relaxing. There were several hammocks to lounge around in and relax. We went to the beach, swam in the ocean, looked in the shops, and ate at delicious restaurants. My favorite restaurant was Saturday night, we found a place on the beach with live music. I ordered shrimp tacos for the first time and was in heaven because they soooo delicious. We were very satisfied with the food and the service there.


On Friday we went to the Jaguar Rescue Center near Cocles beach. We rented bikes for the day and rode through the jungle. It was amazing, we had the ocean next to us the whole ride as well. The rescue center had a tour that allowed us to play with the baby monkeys. One crawled up on my shoulder and I got to hold another one....then it started to bite me playfully so I put him down. There was one crazy monkey that stole things from people so we werent able to bring our cameras inside for pictures but we could take them from the outside. There were several other animals that we saw and learned about. The rescue center keeps animals that have been injured and treat them in order to release them into the wild. 

There were white tailed deer wondering in the center that would approach us and start licking our legs.....a deer licked me!!! All the way up my arm as well...it was really gross but

A DEER WAS LICKING ME so I secretly thought it was awesome. I highly doubt that opportunity will strike again. It was so cool to be so up close with the animals and interact with the monkeys. The sloths were also very entertaining :) It was way better than a zoo and I loved our tour guide. It was also cool because there were several tourist in our group that were from Germany and other parts of England. 

We stayed at Rocking J's on Saturday night and slept in hammocks! It was not the most comfortable sleeping situation but was suprisingly better than I thought it would be. It was right on the beach and we spent the night playing games and meeting new people :) It was an amazing experience. Everything about the Caribbean intrigued me. There was no urgengy, no sense of time, and no obligations. It was free and easy living-Caribbean style. We went at our own pace and the locals were so open and kind. It was a such an unbelievable place to be and we enjoyed everything about it. And Bob Marley was everywhere!

 I already miss the caribbean heat, laid back vibes, and awesome music! I LOVED IT and would consider going back. I would probably stay in Punta Uva...which if further outside of Puerto Viejo but had the best beaches and swim area. I feel so lucky to have been in Costa Rica such a short amount of time and to have had this opportuniy to travel already. PURA VIDA! 

"Relax, enjoy the scenery and remember patience is a virtue" -dreadnut coffee shop 

This quote was hanging on a colorful sign above their store and was a common theme in the Caribbean. Sometimes we all need a little reminder to slow down and enjoy the moments we are living in :)

PURA VIDA!

Mi Primer Día de Clases

My first day of school :)

Saint Clare is such a welcoming, fun and supportive school. I will be teaching third grade English and will have approximately 65 students. 

There are three third grade sections; 3A, 3B, and 3C. 3A is my 'homeroom' class. I will be in charge of teaching grammar/writing, listening/speaking, reading, spelling and phonics. 

Instead of the students rotating classrooms, the teachers are the ones that switch rooms. The three sections have their own classroom with their 'homeroom' teacher. The teacher will teach three 'lessons' and then rotate to the next section. The scheduling is very different than the United States. 

Each day is a different schedule. On Monday and Wednesdays, my teacher does not start until 8:40am, but on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday she begins classes at 7:30am. There are different times when we do not have class and we use that as 'prep-time'. In Costa Rica they call them 'free lessons'. It will be hard to get used to the schedule because it is different everyday. 

The school is completely outdoors; except for the actual classrooms. The students are able to run and play in the open areas during their recess times. There are three different times in the day when the students have 10-15 minutes to play. 

During recess I am able to communicate with them in both Spanish and English. While they are in the English classroom, they are only allowed to speak in English. We encourage them to use it at all times during class. I use recess and after school to practice my Spanish with them. A few other teachers speak English, but mostly all speak Spanish. They are extremely helpful and work with me to understand. The students learn every other subject in Spanish, the only class they must use English is in the English class. 

The students are so excited to be learning and have such high energy levels. Their willingness to learn is inspiring and they are very eager to use their English skills. The students enjoy talking with eachother and asking questions. They were extremely curious about me and my life in the United States. I cannot wait to share more with them and learn more about their culture in Costa Rica :)

Cartago Soccer

I had a very eventful weekend! I was able to experience the bus system and get comfortable with it becuase that is the main form of transportation here. It is extremely cheap and only 300 collones to ride; which is less than an dollar! On Saturday we made a trip to Walmart and purchased things that we needed. The McDonalds here sells DOUBLE BigMacs. It is a BigMac with 4 patties!! Absolutely insane.

Today we went to a Cartago soccer game and it was amazing! It was so much fun and the stadium was packed. The fans are crazy and chanted/yelled/sang/banged on drums/blew air horns the entire game.

During the intermission, there was a helicopter that flew right over our heads and landed in the middle of the field! We were so confused about why and it ended up happening three times.



On the third time when it flew over, a gentleman next to us yelled up at it and called out "Estados Unidos!!!" (a.k.a. United States) and put his arm around us. He also did this when the photographer came by and made her take a picture of us.....we were pretty much celebirties at the game ;)
The game was very action packed and anything goes. The police were dressed in armor like uniforms that was really different than how cops dress in the U.S.
I have never been a soccer fan but in Costa Rica, futbol is the main sporting event to attend and it was a lot of fun. I am so happy we decided to go and scalp tickets!! It was only $20 and totally worth it. We did leave the game early so we could catch to bus back into Tres Rios before it got too dark outside.  It was a great weekenda and I am excited to start my first full week :)

Arrival

I am finally here and it feels great to get settled in! It was pouring rain when my plane landed and I am going to take that as a sign of good luck :) It feels amazing to be in 80 degree weather again and I cannot wait to feel the sun on my face. I have my own bedroom in a smaller guest house that is connected to Emelia's main house. I am sharing the house with two other roommates and they are awesome. They have both already been living here for about a month and are able to answer questions that I have......which are A LOT. They can also help me with communicating in Spanish; if we all work together we should be able to learn the language pretty well ;) I need to brush up on my vocabulary!

The traffic on my way into Tres Rios from San Jose was absolutely insane! They have certain rules about what cars can drive on certain streets each day of the week based on the liscense plate numbers.....I found that completely bazaar. (I could have misunderstood her explaining that since it was in Spanish...I will have to find out further details!) If you thought driving downtown was bad, you have not seen anything until you cruise the streets of San Jose on a busy afternoon! I didn't mind that we took the long way because there is so much to see. The trees and flowers are gorgeous and are found everywhere.

I am getting settled in tonight, unpacking and planning on visiting the school tomorrow morning to meet my cooperating teacher and the third grade class I will be teaching. I was extremely nervous but now that I'm here I am overly excited to get started!

The guest house where my roommates and I are staying. We each have our own room and share the bathroom and shower. There is a door right in between that leads out onto the balcony :). We also have a backyard that gets sun for majority of the day!