Ask any teacher. Working with kids is equal parts rewarding and exhausting. But like anything in life, having a plan and some patience will help maintain positive energy and productivity.
This sums up our experiences at El Colegio San Jose, the grade school we've been teaching at. It sits on the shore of Lake Titicaca and students from as far as the Uros Islands attend.
After being thrown into the fire immediately by teaching English to fourth graders with no lesson plan or knowledge of their level of understanding of the language, we were a little skeptical of how well we could get through to the students.
The following days, however, we began to teach computers to a much greater effect. We started each class having a general idea of what we wanted to accomplish and adjusted according to how the kids were responding to the assignments.
One thing we've noticed is the gap in knowledge and ability level of the kids. While teaching the sixth graders, we set up a math game for them to play on their computers. Some kids breezed through it without a problem and immediately looked for a new challenge. Ken satisfied this desire by showing a few of them how to do triple-digit multiplication tables, using a visual model to better conceptualize the numbers.
As for the others, we tried to help them out as much as possible by giving them close individual attention. Very few of the older kids resisted the activities we assigned, even though we had a slight problem with girls searching for Barbie websites and boys for Dragonball Z while we weren't looking.
This sums up our experiences at El Colegio San Jose, the grade school we've been teaching at. It sits on the shore of Lake Titicaca and students from as far as the Uros Islands attend.
After being thrown into the fire immediately by teaching English to fourth graders with no lesson plan or knowledge of their level of understanding of the language, we were a little skeptical of how well we could get through to the students.
The following days, however, we began to teach computers to a much greater effect. We started each class having a general idea of what we wanted to accomplish and adjusted according to how the kids were responding to the assignments.
One thing we've noticed is the gap in knowledge and ability level of the kids. While teaching the sixth graders, we set up a math game for them to play on their computers. Some kids breezed through it without a problem and immediately looked for a new challenge. Ken satisfied this desire by showing a few of them how to do triple-digit multiplication tables, using a visual model to better conceptualize the numbers.
As for the others, we tried to help them out as much as possible by giving them close individual attention. Very few of the older kids resisted the activities we assigned, even though we had a slight problem with girls searching for Barbie websites and boys for Dragonball Z while we weren't looking.
It was much more difficult to keep the attention of the younger grades, though. In both the computer lab and in the classroom teaching English, we couldn't help feeling like babysitters. The kids are undoubtedly adorable, but it's difficult to get through to them sometimes. In the classroom, we tried to remedy this by turning learning into a game. In one instance we formed a circle and threw a ball around, allowing only the person with the ball to speak. And in the computer lab, we gave the younger grades basic word processing assignments, with an incentive in the form of being able to use the coveted MS Paint.
All in all, we've enjoyed our time at the school so far and believe we've definitely left a positive impression on the kids. For example, Clare was talking to some sixth grade girls one day who were intensely interested in her life in America. They were so intrigued by the things she was telling them that they determined they must visit her someday.
All in all, we've enjoyed our time at the school so far and believe we've definitely left a positive impression on the kids. For example, Clare was talking to some sixth grade girls one day who were intensely interested in her life in America. They were so intrigued by the things she was telling them that they determined they must visit her someday.
Going forward, our group's consensus is that our time will be most well spent with the older grades, because they've been more receptive to our teaching. We're expecting to split our time between teaching English and computers. It's tough to say which subject we should be focusing on more, however. Obviously learning a second language is a valuable resource in the long run, but the school already has designated English teachers, although none of them are native speakers.
Due to the poverty of the area, many students don't have access to computers on a regular basis. And in the technological world we live in today, it's an essential skill to learn the basics of computer usage. As time goes on, I'm sure we'll figure out a happy medium of what subject will be best to teach the students.
Additionally, today was our first day traveling to the orphanage in Salcedo. Their need seems to be pretty great and there are many projects for us to work on throughout their living community. This will likely reduce our time spent at the school and we've determined that one day a week at the school will probably be all the time we can commit there.
Regardless of what happens, we've been having a great time living in Puno and getting to know the area. We'll be sure to post an update in the near future about how we spend out freetime and other unique things about the Puno region.
[Written by David Riva | Photos by Benjamin Antonio]
[Written by David Riva | Photos by Benjamin Antonio]
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