martes, 23 de marzo de 2010
domingo, 21 de marzo de 2010
Little by little...
Thank goodness for Friday! Classes went so much better on Friday, thanks to Magda's wonderful advice. I started the class out making nametags - a good task since it kept most of them in their seats and busy for a time. Then, when they were done with that, I took Magda's idea and had each of them draw me a picture- of themselves inside their house, and whoever else lived in their house with them, including their pets. I was curious to see what kind of backgrounds and who my students live with. This turned out to be a perfect assignment and both of the classes got really into it with a little encouragement!
There are some lovely artists and really creative young people!Magda was telling me how you could learn so much from drawings, and people of all ages express themselves and it comes out in their art- how they are feeling, what experiences they've had, etc. She heard from Marilou- a psychologist that comes to this house once a week to give free sessions to the community here- that sharp lines show an aggression inside the person, as well as really dark coloring. She was also telling me how hands that are drawn really boldly also show an aggression. Psychology is such an interesting thing.
I was surprised to get back some of the drawings and definitely could see there was a lot to learn about my students. There was one student who drew people with body parts separated; there was a space in between the head and the torso, the torso and the legs. Magda told me how the disconnection of body parts represented a disconnection in their lives. Some of my students only wanted to draw in grays and blacks, instead of using their colors.
miércoles, 17 de marzo de 2010
First Week of English Classes!
One of the streets I pass on my walk to and from Fe y Alegria School. It was so funny to see a sheep meandering along on a residential street! Peru is always full of surprises! (Apparently, this one lives on the house that's to the left of it).
My English classes started this Monday! Truthfully, Monday went terribly, Tuesday a bit better and today was the teensiest bit better, perhaps. Poco a poco, little by little. I just have to say kids will be kids, no matter what city, country, or continent. Although I have to say, Peruvian kids seem rather rambunctious. So, in other words, my classes without their regular teacher's presence was a bit like a madhouse, zoo and worst babysitting job combined. I kid you not, my first few days have included students blatantly ignoring my requests that they sit down and please not yell, kids jumping on tables and playing tag, students dashing out of the classroom into the courtroom and running back into the classroom, and a ball being thrown at my head. The first couple days I went home with a headache and nearly lost my voice.
Today, I concluded that I would try my best for order, but if they didn't want to listen, that I would teach the ones that wanted to learn. Apparently, that strategy didn't work well either because Stella, someone who works at the school, saw my fiasco and came into the class to incorporate some order. That was such a blessing! She is wonderful with the students and the second half of 1'A went better. At least they stayed put in their seats! I also had an idea to use a ball and only the one who had the ball was allowed to speak (this worked fairly well!). Also, it ended up being that the first grade students had an question and answer session with me the whole time.
I had not known until a couple weeks ago that I was, in fact, to be the English teacher, not a teacher's assistant. So I am officially "Senorita Kimiko, or Miss; La Profesora de Ingles." This means that I teach two classes a day which is divided into four groups. My days right now start out at 8:50 a.m. and end at 12:35 p.m. I go to one class and teach half of the class first while the teacher takes the other half for their time in the library, then we switch and I take the half of the class that was in the library. This means that I teach about 12-16 students for 50 minutes, four times a day. And let me tell you, that nearly four-hour school day exhausts me. I have such a deep respect and appreciation for teachers!
But I am determined to teach my students English, even if I have to switch my strategy each week. Once they get used to me, we establish rules, and realize that they can learn and have fun, hopefully the classes with take on a smoother rhythm. Since this is my first time actually teaching a class I am not discouraged, just know this will be a year of learning, for both the students and I.
But I do enjoy going to school during the week, greeted by more students as I work in more classrooms and meet more of them. Everyday, I am bombarded with smiles, hugs, sloppy cracker crumbs and juice kisses and "Hola Senorita Kimiko." They are bien carinosos. And most of them are super excited to learn English which is great! We'll see what tomorrow brings...
My English classes started this Monday! Truthfully, Monday went terribly, Tuesday a bit better and today was the teensiest bit better, perhaps. Poco a poco, little by little. I just have to say kids will be kids, no matter what city, country, or continent. Although I have to say, Peruvian kids seem rather rambunctious. So, in other words, my classes without their regular teacher's presence was a bit like a madhouse, zoo and worst babysitting job combined. I kid you not, my first few days have included students blatantly ignoring my requests that they sit down and please not yell, kids jumping on tables and playing tag, students dashing out of the classroom into the courtroom and running back into the classroom, and a ball being thrown at my head. The first couple days I went home with a headache and nearly lost my voice.
Today, I concluded that I would try my best for order, but if they didn't want to listen, that I would teach the ones that wanted to learn. Apparently, that strategy didn't work well either because Stella, someone who works at the school, saw my fiasco and came into the class to incorporate some order. That was such a blessing! She is wonderful with the students and the second half of 1'A went better. At least they stayed put in their seats! I also had an idea to use a ball and only the one who had the ball was allowed to speak (this worked fairly well!). Also, it ended up being that the first grade students had an question and answer session with me the whole time.
I had not known until a couple weeks ago that I was, in fact, to be the English teacher, not a teacher's assistant. So I am officially "Senorita Kimiko, or Miss; La Profesora de Ingles." This means that I teach two classes a day which is divided into four groups. My days right now start out at 8:50 a.m. and end at 12:35 p.m. I go to one class and teach half of the class first while the teacher takes the other half for their time in the library, then we switch and I take the half of the class that was in the library. This means that I teach about 12-16 students for 50 minutes, four times a day. And let me tell you, that nearly four-hour school day exhausts me. I have such a deep respect and appreciation for teachers!
But I am determined to teach my students English, even if I have to switch my strategy each week. Once they get used to me, we establish rules, and realize that they can learn and have fun, hopefully the classes with take on a smoother rhythm. Since this is my first time actually teaching a class I am not discouraged, just know this will be a year of learning, for both the students and I.
But I do enjoy going to school during the week, greeted by more students as I work in more classrooms and meet more of them. Everyday, I am bombarded with smiles, hugs, sloppy cracker crumbs and juice kisses and "Hola Senorita Kimiko." They are bien carinosos. And most of them are super excited to learn English which is great! We'll see what tomorrow brings...
martes, 9 de marzo de 2010
Second week at school
Two classes down, many more to go. Today was my last day with class 1 "B" with profesora Alejandra. Manana I will start a whole new adventure in a different class. But, I do have to admit, it is fun meeting different students and encountering different learning styles. Education is so different in Peru. Like many things in this country, I sometimes find the classes to be chaotic and overwhelming; three students tapping your arm and calling out "Senorita, senorita" "Miss, miss" to show you their work, ask you a zillion questions, while a quarter of the class is running around, falling over the floor and escaping out the open door. Bienvenidos a Peru, as people always tell me, with a grin.
The professors, students, parents and staff at Fe y Alegria seem like such a warm community; not a day goes by without students glancing at me, whispering, give me a bright smile, and ask about me- where I'm from, my name, when I'm going to come teach their class. A lot of them know about me already, me being the only "China" there. Haha. Some even know my name. Each day, a new parent greets me and asks me when I will start teaching English. EVERYONE here seems to want to learn English! I feel really welcomed, and lucky.
My first day in class 1"B," one of the boys asked me, "But what planet do you come from?" "How did you get to Peru? [ie: What kind of ship or something]" Jaja. Many of the students only know about Asians from what they see on television; which in Peru seems to generally be Korean soap operas and movies with kung foo and fighting. Yet, "Chinita" is never said in a malicious way; rather out of pure curiousity and affection.
In fact, many of the faces here seem to have characteristics of East Asian in them, many of them may very well have some Asian ethnicity in their blood. The people who speak Quechua and Aymara have very distinctive looks, very different. I've heard the Quechua language has a beautiful flow to it, but have yet to hear it.
Below is a picture outside of the bathroom. It's so funny; the kids are so fascinated with
the liquid soap. They are always like, "It's agua, because it's liquid! Green liquid." When they find out it's soap, they yelp in surprise and say how good it smells, doling out more squirts on their hands. What a funny novelty!
Hygiene is one of the biggest lessons throughout the day, always reminding them to use toilet paper and wash their hands very well. And it's also funny how they are always told that school should only be used to "mixionar" not to go #2 because, though the bathrooms are clean because el senor is always cleaning them, because many students use them, it is more sanitary to use them for that other cosa at home. There is definitely no PC terms with this subject either. But I agree; hygiene is such an important thing to teach because it stops the spread of so many germs. And there are so many diseases and sicknesses here.
I never knew things like tuberculosis (TBC) and AIDS were so rampant here. At the moment, we have a young woman, Shayla, living here, who had severely contagious TBC a month back. Thank goodness it is getting better, with the loving care of Sister Magda and the many pills she takes every day. Because TBC is such a big problem, they have a program that gives out free pills for TBC. I am so glad that Shayla is getting better. She seems like a sweet girl, and when she sings to the music on the radio, her childlike voice carries. Shayla's singing voice gets louder after she finishes her food, an indication that she's still hungry and would like more food. Haha. As small as she is, she has an incredible appetite! Day by day, you can tell she is improving. Like Magda and many say, "Dios es grande."
Many of the people who get TBC are the ones whose immune systems are so weak, the ones who are living on the streets and people who are already sick. I heard that the cobradors (workers on the buses and micros who collect the fares) make the majority of TBC cases; they work long days, are always on their feet, don't eat properly and encounter thousands of people every week.
It's so sad how so many things here are so preventable. Many of the things the kids at Dr. Tony's hogar had could have been easily preventable if their mothers had a proper diet and weren't lacking certain nutrients when they were pregnant. One woman, Isabel, who has three little kids and a husband that is very sick, comes to the house once in awhile for help. Sister Magda recently gave her some donated food because her kids are malnourished. There are so many babies, and people at that, who are malnourished. It's incredible how many injustices I have seen in the past month and a half that I have been here. Everyday, my heart goes out to all the dogs that look starved, with wounds and scraggly fur. Yet, when I think about it even more, there are so many people here that go without food!
The professors, students, parents and staff at Fe y Alegria seem like such a warm community; not a day goes by without students glancing at me, whispering, give me a bright smile, and ask about me- where I'm from, my name, when I'm going to come teach their class. A lot of them know about me already, me being the only "China" there. Haha. Some even know my name. Each day, a new parent greets me and asks me when I will start teaching English. EVERYONE here seems to want to learn English! I feel really welcomed, and lucky.
My first day in class 1"B," one of the boys asked me, "But what planet do you come from?" "How did you get to Peru? [ie: What kind of ship or something]" Jaja. Many of the students only know about Asians from what they see on television; which in Peru seems to generally be Korean soap operas and movies with kung foo and fighting. Yet, "Chinita" is never said in a malicious way; rather out of pure curiousity and affection.
In fact, many of the faces here seem to have characteristics of East Asian in them, many of them may very well have some Asian ethnicity in their blood. The people who speak Quechua and Aymara have very distinctive looks, very different. I've heard the Quechua language has a beautiful flow to it, but have yet to hear it.
Below is a picture outside of the bathroom. It's so funny; the kids are so fascinated with
the liquid soap. They are always like, "It's agua, because it's liquid! Green liquid." When they find out it's soap, they yelp in surprise and say how good it smells, doling out more squirts on their hands. What a funny novelty!
Hygiene is one of the biggest lessons throughout the day, always reminding them to use toilet paper and wash their hands very well. And it's also funny how they are always told that school should only be used to "mixionar" not to go #2 because, though the bathrooms are clean because el senor is always cleaning them, because many students use them, it is more sanitary to use them for that other cosa at home. There is definitely no PC terms with this subject either. But I agree; hygiene is such an important thing to teach because it stops the spread of so many germs. And there are so many diseases and sicknesses here.I never knew things like tuberculosis (TBC) and AIDS were so rampant here. At the moment, we have a young woman, Shayla, living here, who had severely contagious TBC a month back. Thank goodness it is getting better, with the loving care of Sister Magda and the many pills she takes every day. Because TBC is such a big problem, they have a program that gives out free pills for TBC. I am so glad that Shayla is getting better. She seems like a sweet girl, and when she sings to the music on the radio, her childlike voice carries. Shayla's singing voice gets louder after she finishes her food, an indication that she's still hungry and would like more food. Haha. As small as she is, she has an incredible appetite! Day by day, you can tell she is improving. Like Magda and many say, "Dios es grande."
Many of the people who get TBC are the ones whose immune systems are so weak, the ones who are living on the streets and people who are already sick. I heard that the cobradors (workers on the buses and micros who collect the fares) make the majority of TBC cases; they work long days, are always on their feet, don't eat properly and encounter thousands of people every week.
It's so sad how so many things here are so preventable. Many of the things the kids at Dr. Tony's hogar had could have been easily preventable if their mothers had a proper diet and weren't lacking certain nutrients when they were pregnant. One woman, Isabel, who has three little kids and a husband that is very sick, comes to the house once in awhile for help. Sister Magda recently gave her some donated food because her kids are malnourished. There are so many babies, and people at that, who are malnourished. It's incredible how many injustices I have seen in the past month and a half that I have been here. Everyday, my heart goes out to all the dogs that look starved, with wounds and scraggly fur. Yet, when I think about it even more, there are so many people here that go without food!
lunes, 1 de marzo de 2010
I started my first day working at Colegio de Fe y Alegria today. It started Peruvian time; I got there ready to go by 8 a.m. but couldn’t find Gabi, the director of the school so I waited in the office for about half an hour. I eventually found her, busy with talking to all the parents on the very first day and answering the question, “Yes, all the younger kids start at 8. Yes, at 8. And they end at noon” to about seven different mothers.
Fe y Alegria is a K through 12th grades and is a really beautiful school, with a playground and garden right in the center and the school building making a circle around it.
My first two weeks will be spent with the ‘Clase inicial,’ sort of like a kindergarten. The profesora’s name is Maria (Mary) Isabela and she is really friendly and sweet. She emphasized to her class that they should talk to me “Con despacio y claro” (Slowly and clearly) because I didn’t speak much Castellano. Haha. I appreciate it though, being inundated everyday with Castellano really does wear me out! I never realized that my brain would have to work so hard speaking another language. Pero poco a poco (But little by little).
The twenty or so kids in the class are cute; some are mischievous and super hyper, dashing outside of the classroom door when they see their sibling or friend and dashing right back in, or using any excuse to get out of their seat, while some are very quiet and hardly answer when you ask them a question. There is one girl who kept getting out of her seat, coming over to me, and giving me hugs. Kids really know how to make you feel welcome! It was their first day too, away from their parents, so I imagine it was hard on some of them. One of the boys burst into tears when his mom was about to leave in the morning; so she sat in the class with him for awhile. The whole time, he kept looking over his shoulder to make sure she was there and when she got up to help the professor, he asked where she was going; tears beginning to form in his eyes. But by the end of the day, he was perfectly fine and probably forgot about his earlier dilemma.
During their lunchito (mid-morning snack), one of the girls came up to me and gave me one of her crackers. Right after, a few other girls came up, giving me grand smiles and offering parts of their breakfast to me. It was so sweet, little acts like that. The professor also bought me a sandwich of chicken and french fries (which was actually quite good… I am officially not a vegetarian anymore, though) and chicha morada (a typical drink of Peru made with purple corn, a sweetish, cold, drink.)
I am looking forward to my second day with them. I feel like a lot more boundary setting will be in the works. Thank goodness the professor is so great with that! I think I will spend two weeks with this class and then start teaching English to various primaria classes. This inicial classes seems like it will be a lot of fun but am looking forward to whatever is in store for me in the coming months too!
The twenty or so kids in the class are cute; some are mischievous and super hyper, dashing outside of the classroom door when they see their sibling or friend and dashing right back in, or using any excuse to get out of their seat, while some are very quiet and hardly answer when you ask them a question. There is one girl who kept getting out of her seat, coming over to me, and giving me hugs. Kids really know how to make you feel welcome! It was their first day too, away from their parents, so I imagine it was hard on some of them. One of the boys burst into tears when his mom was about to leave in the morning; so she sat in the class with him for awhile. The whole time, he kept looking over his shoulder to make sure she was there and when she got up to help the professor, he asked where she was going; tears beginning to form in his eyes. But by the end of the day, he was perfectly fine and probably forgot about his earlier dilemma.During their lunchito (mid-morning snack), one of the girls came up to me and gave me one of her crackers. Right after, a few other girls came up, giving me grand smiles and offering parts of their breakfast to me. It was so sweet, little acts like that. The professor also bought me a sandwich of chicken and french fries (which was actually quite good… I am officially not a vegetarian anymore, though) and chicha morada (a typical drink of Peru made with purple corn, a sweetish, cold, drink.)
I am looking forward to my second day with them. I feel like a lot more boundary setting will be in the works. Thank goodness the professor is so great with that! I think I will spend two weeks with this class and then start teaching English to various primaria classes. Looking forward to whatever is in store for me these next few weeks!
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