First day of school

Today was our first day of school for 2013 in Munoces.  The students didn't know we were coming and were surprised...and I think happy...to see us. 

They seemed quite eager to talk to us in English and they seemed to remember some of the most basic phrases pretty well.

We began the day with parvulario (kindergarten).  There were supposed to be 14 students but only 4 students were there this morning.  We had not worked with kindergarten last year and we found it very difficult to make the connection with some of the shy ones.  Teaching English when they are just beginning to learn letters and numbers in Spanish may be a problem but they are adorable and we'll enjoy just spending time with them.  At one point 3 of the 4 students got up and ran out of the classroom.  I guess one of them had to go to the bathroom so they all just left!  I've heard that teachers don't grow old....they just loose their class!...now I know!

After a short recess we plunged into the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade classroom.  This year the students stay in the same room and the teachers rotate.  There are 26 students in these 3 grades and they are housed in a crowded classroom.  The abilities and maturity vary greatly from a 13 year old boy in 3rd grade to 5 year old 1st graders.  We reviewed some things from last year and tried to assess what they remembered and what they had forgotten. I'm afraid there's much more forgotten than remembered!  All three of us took turns reviewing and teaching different things and then we broke into 3 groups to practice.  We mixed the grades so that some of the older students could demonstrate and help with the younger students.  The small groups met with "mixed" success...too much chaos and noise in the room, a child eating paper ended up with red all around his mouth, paper was being thrown in one group...but amid the distractions some good practice occurred with older students helping younger.  Our teaching is certainly a work in progress.  This year the teachers are busy teaching their own classes so we are on our own and sometimes our limited Spanish makes communication and discipline difficult. 

Then, much to our surprise, the day ended early.  We're not sure if that is true every Friday or if there was a special reason but we were ready to call it a day.  It had already been a long day...beginning at 5 AM, the hour and a half commute to school, and the challenges of teaching in a foreign language had all taken their toll.  After another hour and a half commute back to Berlin we had the opportunity to Skype this afternoon with Doug Smith's 6th grade class in Newton and answer their questions as well as listen to them practice their Spanish with us.  Unfortunately, it looks like it may not be possible to Skype between the school in Munoces and Doug's class in Newton.  The teachers in Munoces report that they do have Internet but it is very slow and unreliable and will probably not support a Skype connection. 

Next Monday we will do it again with a full day in Munoces after which we will begin our afternoon class at the Casa Pastoral.  If how tired we are tonight is any indication, it could be a loooong three weeks!

P.S.  The reason we have no pictures of Kimberly today is that she was busy taking the pictures you see and I have used them with her permission.  Warren and I will try to take some pictures in the future so that you can see Kimberly at work, as well.