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 :)