Journal Week 3

Week two of full-time teaching is officially in the books! This week, I had the pleasure of being on recess and lunch duty, I stayed late after school in order to attend parent/teacher night and I was given the opportunity to help with the preparation of the inauguration ceremony for the school’s new multi-purpose facility. All of the above, plus teaching full-time, turned out to be a long and tiring week.

I have been told many times since I have been here that the culture is very loud and talkative, but, I had never seen it in full affect until parent/teacher night. I couldn’t help but think, “So this is where the kids get it from?” As the administrators tried to start the meeting, there were parents standing outside the door hugging and greeting each other. It was if none of them had any regard for the people trying to listen inside. Once they were done greeting each other, they realized that the meeting had started and they eventually settled down. This is very similar to the behavior of the students in my class, except they never quite settle down.

My experience with the students this week went smoother than last week. They seem to be taking to me more. I am still in the process of figuring out the best way to handle classroom management.  I haven’t got a handle on it as of now, but things are slowly coming together. Since each class is different, it is hard for me to stick to one strategy. On the other hand, I am realizing that the more I bond with the students, the more cooperative they are. One of my students actually confessed that she does not like PE at all but since we have been building a relationship and she knows what I expect of her, she has been working harder during class. After that fulfilling moment, building a relationship with the kids will be a priority of mine.

In order to enhance better classroom management, I made a couple changes from last week. I made my transitions from one drill to the next as quickly as possible.  I also kept the drills as simple as possible. These changes helped to make the classes easier to manage. Though this helped with the flow of the class, it did not solve the behavioral problems.  

As an attempt to solve some of the more obvious behavioral problems, such as respecting the teacher while they are talking, respecting their classmates and following directions, we decided to remind the students that the syllabus clearly states their expected behavior during class and failure to comply would directly affect their grades. I also tried a technique of my own. For one of my classes, the students continuously talked over me. So instead of talking over them, I decided to patiently wait and not say a word until they were done being rude. This strategy worked for this class. Since they really wanted to play and be active, they eventually got the hint and I was able to continue with class.

This week I worked on perfecting classroom management. I incorporated some new strategies and tried to improve my instruction from last week. Some things worked and some didn’t. This will be a long and challenging process, but eventually I will figure out what works best for each class. As of right now, all I can do is try my best and get to know the students better.

Journal Week 2

Just like the previous week, Frans gave me ample opportunities to step in and get a feel for the class and the students. I was given more and more responsibility as the week went on. By Friday, I was teaching a few of his classes. Throughout the week I started to notice what he meant when he said this was a tough group. Most of these students lack discipline and they are very talkative. I have not seen a particular way in which Frans handles their misconduct. It’s always something different, depending on the student and the situation. Frans and I talked about the students and tried to figure out different ways to handle the behavioral problems but at the end of the conversation, there was not a definite answer. The only thing he could tell me was, “There is no right or wrong answer. You will have to figure out what works for you”. That Wednesday, I found out that I would have to come up with a solution quicker than I had planned.  Frans asked if I wanted to start teaching full time the following week and I said yes.

I started planning for the upcoming week, nervous and anxious about teaching the class on my own. Since we had already planned for the quarter, I knew what the next few lessons needed to be and planned accordingly. Frans looked over the lessons, approved of them, and wished me luck. After my first week of teaching I learned a lot. First of all, I learned that it takes a few times at teaching a lesson before its perfect. After each lesson I taught, Frans and I sat down and reviewed what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what could I do to make it better. After talking with him I made the adjustments and the next class went a lot smoother. Secondly, no one thing works for every class. I found myself tweaking and changing my lesson plan/activities to fit the personality of the class. For the classes that seemed unruly, I realized that it’s better to get them active as soon as possible to keep them in order. For others, I could give them demonstrations and explanations in the beginning of the class and then let them practice and be active afterwards.  Lastly, I realized that I am my own worst critic. A lot of times, when I thought a class didn’t go well, Frans would disagree. I think I will have to get use to things not going exactly as planned and just accept and perfect my ability to adapt and make changes as needed.

As for my cultural experience, the main difference here at the school is the lack of discipline and respect the students have for adults. That will take me while to understand. I can understand how and why they act that way but it is hard to accept. It is also hard to deal with. Frans has been teaching here for 29 years and the students still pick and choose when they want to show him respect. Frans said, “The teachers here have tried and are now so tired that we just deal with it”. In other words, they just ignore it or overlook it. In time I will figure out the best way to handle this situation. It’s only been a week and I’m still figuring things out.

Costa Rica 101

Just in case any of you decide to travel to Costa Rica. I figured it would be fun to post a guide if you will about at least what I have noticed and what I think may be beneficial for you to know!

• Dogs are EVERYWHERE. There are more strays than homeless people.
• You DO NOT have the right of way here. Crossing the street is a major life decision.  
• Public transportation is the way to go.  It only costs 330 colones (about 75 cents) to take a bus to and from San Jose (15-20 minute ride).
• If not public transportation, scooters, motorcycles, 4 wheelers, and bikes are the next best thing.
• EVERYONE loves soccer except this one kid in my class and his family is from Korea. lol
•  I'm almost sure u don't need a license here to drive. lol jk
• Cops only exist in downtown San Jose.
• Stop signs are just a suggestion, so people may or may not yield.
• NO one knows what it means to share the sidewalk.
•  The closest thing to American chicken would be what you order at KFC.
• Rice is served with almost every meal.
• Fresh fruits and vegetables are easy to find.
•  Everybody has a hustle: from selling fruit to bootleg DVDs.
• Yes they have a Walmart. Along with Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and McDonald's.
• A good hot shower is hard to come by. You have to trade temperature for water pressure, can't have both.
• Costa Ricans will feed you 10 times the amount of food they feed themselves and still ask if you want more.
• They are so polite that they will give you the wrong directions because it's rude to say no.
• Machetes and weed eaters are used for yard work. I have yet to see a lawn mower.
• Stores/shops open whenever it's convenient for the owner.
• My host family are the nicest people here.
• EVERYONE has A LOT to say.

It is exciting to see how things are done on the other side of the tracks. It's different but it works for the people that live here. Here are some pictures I took today in Moravia and San Jose.

 

Hope you enjoyed this "Behind the Scenes" look at the Costa Rican culture!
Joe

Journal Week 1

The first day of school at Lincoln, for the secondary students, started with an assembly. This assembly was a time to welcome everyone back, inform them of the expectation for this school year, and to celebrate the seniors. Upon arriving to campus, we were greeted by loud horns and students running around in costumes and face paint. I later realized that these were seniors, which were identified by the color shirts. The seniors are set apart from the other student body. Though they have to wear uniforms, they can easily be spotted in any crowd. The underclassmen wear white, blue, and red Lincoln polo’s. The seniors on the other hand have purple and green Lincoln polo with the word “senior” on the sleeve.

Unlike many of the high schools in the US, the seniors celebrate being seniors on the first day of school. They have music, they dress up, signs are made, their mascot is in attendance, they paint their faces, there are balloons everywhere, and parents are taking pictures and recording. It felt like I was in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. It was a very interesting and unexpected moment for me.

After the assembly classes began. My CT had 4 classes for the day. The plan for today was for us to introduce the course (go over the syllabus), ourselves and to review their knowledge on the purpose of the physical fitness test and the different test involved. He reviewed the physical fitness test because he planned to start the school year by giving the students the physical fitness pre-test. The reason for this was because he wanted to give the students a baseline for improvement. They have struggled with the test in the past.

For the review of the physical fitness test he split the students into five groups, asked them a series of questions in which they discussed to figure out an answer as a group and then each group would present their answer to each question. Once everyone gave an answer Frans would make comments and elaborate if needed.

Other than introducing me and helping hand out the syllabi and materials, Frans did all the instruction for the first to classes. For the last 2 classes he gave me the opportunity to ask the students the questions and conduct the class discussion. The students were very responsive and stayed on task throughout the class. The only problem I foresee as of now is that the students are sometimes very talkative and also the language barrier. I do not speak enough Spanish to understand the students at all times.

Zip-lining: Monteverde

This weekend, all of us took a 2-day trip to Monteverde. We left around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday and arrive around 11 a.m. (the longest 4 hrs of my life). That bus ride was definitely an experience to remember, as well as a learning experience. Not only do they sell seat tickets, they also sell standing ones. This means by the time we reached Monteverde we had picked up at least 20 more people.Being that I can sleep in the worst conditions known to man, I only noticed all these people when the bus made it's final stop. LOL, lucky me!! After having to stand (I sat and slept) for half the bus ride, my friends and I realized that we should ALWAYS get our tickets in advance. Once we arrived, that was the first thing we did. Once we got our tickets, we ate a restaurant called Tree house Cafe. After lunch we walked around aimlessly for about 30 minutes looking for the hostel we booked. Once we finally found the hostel we settled in, took a nap, and later that evening we went on a night hike. The night hike was not what I expected. It was fun to be out with friends and experience new things, but I wanted to see more! To be honest, I just want to see a monkey. Since I didn't I wasn't impressed.

Once were returned from the night hike, we ate at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Soda La Amistad. It was conveniently located right down the street from our hostel. The food was delicious! After that delicious meal, it was off to bed for all of us.

The next morning, we got picked up around 8am by the zip-lining company (Monteverde Extremo) and headed towards the mountains. By 9 o’ clock, we were crossing the first of 15 zip-lines, and that’s when I realized there was no turning back. Although I was a little nervous at first, zip-lining across the beautiful mountains of Monteverde was an unreal experience. Out of the 15 zip-lines, the Tarzan swing was the most intense. I loved every minute of it!

IDK....lol

Tarzan Swing!! I'm actually freaking out inside.

That's me in the back!

More adventures to come,

Joe

First Days in Costa Rica

I have been counting the number of black people I see on a regular basis. Lol…so far that number is slim to none. I am definitely a foreigner here. Everyone else in the group looks alike. I now know what it feels like to be a minority.

Anyways, things have been good here. My host family, Ana & Luis are 2 of the nicest people you will ever meet. They treat me and my roommate Leigh as if we are theirs. After that horrific experience at the airport, I was glad to come to the place I will be calling home for the next for months. They gave me a very warm welcome and a hot meal to go along with it (can’t beat that). They speak as much English as we do Spanish. So communicating with them at the moment is like playing charades with a blind person. Ok, maybe it’s not that bad. Eventually we work things out. I’m sure after I few weeks here, I will know enough Spanish to get by.

There wasn’t a lot of time to get settled in at home, orientation started at school (Lincoln School) the morning following my arrival. The meetings were long and boring. Lunch was the highlight of the day

for everyone. Sad but true.

 Lincoln is a great school. Everybody, who’s anybody in Costa Rica, sends their child to this school. English is the primary language of instruction; hence I have the opportunity to student teach here without even a hint of the Spanish language in my vocabulary. Students starting from Pre-kinder to twelfth grade attend this school. The campus is borderline the size of a major university (might be exaggerating a bit, but the school is HUGE!!). In addition to large classrooms, they have large recreation areas, an administration building, two libraries, three technology laboratories, science lab for physics, biology, & chemistry, two gymnasiums, a professional-size soccer field, a running track, classrooms for music, art, and drama. Oh yeah, let’s not forget the cafeteria. The cafeteria food is good and affordable. Meals are about $3.Overall Lincoln has a great atmosphere. Everyone is positive, hard-working, and friendly. In my opinion, I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from the teachers, principals, and students at The Lincoln School for an entire semester. I have heard great things about the teachers I will be working with but have not had the chance to meet them face-to-face. The experienced teachers return to school next week.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days, a close up of everyday  life in Moravia. Love and miss you all.

JoeDonna