Wow…first of all: Thank you so much to all teachers. I never knew how much work was included in being a teacher!!! I am now the supplemental English teacher for all grades from 5th-12th at Colegio Proyección Siglo XXI in Osorno, Chile. It is a small school that includes all grades from Pre-Kindergarten to Seniors in High School. I’ve been here since March 14th, and after a week of observing and only talking a little bit with the students, I’ve taken on the responsibility of taking half of the class for an hour and then switching for 25 hours throughout the week. I also have 10 other hours each week of lesson planning and working on extracurricular activities (speech and debate).
So far, teaching is proving to be a more challenging job than I ever expected it to be. First, this is the first time I’ve ever worked a full time job (I say full time because I am at the school from 8-5:30 every day from Monday-Thursday). Also, this is the first time I’ve had a job that I take home with me. I spend much of my time outside of class preparing activities and ideas for my several levels of students. I can use some of the ideas for most or all of my classes and just revise the language I use and the way I motivate them to learn the material. This is anything but me complaining. For the first time in a long time, I’m feeling challenged to expand my mind and my heart in new ways. I’m connecting with students that I would have never known how to connect with before this. To both their benefit and my own, I’m also able to be empathetic with the struggles of learning a new language and how frustrating it is to want to be able to express your thoughts and feelings but not knowing the words.
Honestly, I can’t think of a more rewarding thing to be doing with my time. Aside from being cold (which I’m adjusting to), I absolutely love everything about the south of Chile. I love that everywhere you look is green. I love that the people are friendly and kind to everyone. I love that the food is delicious and always fresh at my house. I love that my host family goes to a Christian church. I love that the teachers at my school are all so nice and patient with me when I don’t understand Spanish. I love that there are cows outside my window and rolling green pastures in which to walk as my backyard. I love that teaching is stretching me beyond my limits to grow and learn so many new things about myself and others. I love that my host teacher and his family have become my great and very special friends. I love that people invite me to their homes in order to share their incredible culture and food with me and to learn about me. I love that I feel so accepted here even though I so obviously don’t fit in. I love that God uses the rain to force me to stop and rest and think on Him and what He is doing in my life. I love that God uses the sun to help remind me that no matter how much time passes where everything seems dark, He will always light my way and shine on my face. I love that the simplicity of life down here doesn’t make me miss the convenient things of the US but does make me appreciate them for what they are worth.
Every day, at lunch, I walk into the lunch room and sit down at the usually vacant table. I try to monopolize on that time to just breath and relax my mind before I begin eating and head back to class. The inspector at the school (one of the sweetest old men I’ve ever met) usually will sit down and eat with me as well. I’ve had to begin eating during the second lunch hour when the jr. high and high school students eat because if I’m there when the little ones eat, I barely have a moment to stuff food in my mouth before answering their spitfire questions (always in Spanish). The first time this happened, I just about cried because they were all so precious!!
As my first official presentation, I taught my students about In-N-Out back in California. You can bet that by the end of the day, I would have paid anything to have a fresh In-N-Out burger, fries, and shake! The goal of the class was to prepare my students to be able to order food in an English speaking country. I began with fast food because it’s very simple to teach and easy to explain. Later in the semester, I plan on doing a simulated sit down restaurant experience to show them the differences.
Friday March 25, 2011
I spent the majority of this day in my bed looking up ideas for activities in my class and ways to motivate my students to want to learn English while I listened to the rain outside. =D
Saturday March 26, 2011
First plan on my agenda for the day was to figure out the bus system in order to arrive at the institute class of my head teacher. He teaches extra classes on the weekend and had extended me an invitation to meet his students and speak with them so they could practice with a native English speaker. Of course I said yes, but I was a little bit nervous about finding my way there as I’m still quite lost in this city. To my great and happy surprise, my host mom was on her way into town to go to the grocery store and offered to drive me to the institute. Needless to say, I got there early but didn’t have to deal with being lost =D. I really enjoyed having conversations with the 5 students that were there. It is so impressive that they would give up most of their Saturday in order to learn a new language. We talked about several topics, including the changes in education in Chile, the benefits of volunteers coming, the change in teaching, why students don’t take English class seriously, etc. I feel I learned a lot in a short amount of time about the way many Chileans think and feel about English class which gave me several ideas in order to help motivate my students.
I also had the opportunity to meet Alexis’s boss: Patricio H. Atton Bohn… YES, I SAID BOHN!!!! My jaw dropped when I read the last name on his card. We spoke a little bit about family heritage, and I look forward to hearing what my Grandpa Bohn says about this. Before I left the school, he gave me a great big bear hug and invited me to his home some day for dinner. How’s that for southern hospitality???
After class, I went with Alexis (my head teacher/friend) to his home to enjoy “Pichanga” with his family. This delicious dish is comprised of French fries, hotdog, sausage, hard boiled egg, carrots, pickles, cheese, and the option of a homemade spicy sauce with which I just about drowned my plate. Oh it was so fantastic!!! Upon finishing a large portion of the delicious meal, we made our way to the couches where we sat for hours drinking Mate and talking about life. It felt so nice to talk about topics other than the basics that I discus with everyone I meet. It also feels very nice to have such great friends. They have a 4 year old son also that I’ve adopted as my little nephew/brother. He is absolutely adorable and knows a few cute songs in English that he loves to sing for me. By the time I went to bed that night, I was more than content and so thankful for the people and opportunities that God has placed in my life.
Sunday March 27, 2011
What a fantastic day!! I woke up and had a delicious piece of fruit pie for breakfast that was homemade by my host momma. Then, the whole family was off for church and a celebration of the church’s 148th birthday. During church, I felt very excited that I was able to understand much of what was said. The pastor spoke out of Acts and told about the command for Christ’s disciples to Go out into the world and spread His name. It has been very interesting for me to sing Spanish worship songs. I feel it has put me in a position to really think about the words (since I’m translating them) and what I’m singing about. After church, we had a snack celebration with lots of goodies and treats that were made by people in the congregation: empanadas, pies, cakes, chips, crackers, dips, etc. It was a nice time of fellowship and meeting people.
Now I'm enjoying some relaxation time of writing my blog, catching up with emails, and hopefully posting some new photos. I'm definitely looking forward to dinner tonight because I happened to catch a sneak peak at Pastel del Choclo in the fridge! I have not yet tried this meal, but since every single Chilean I've met has asked me if I've had this typical traditional Chilean dish, you can imagine I'm very curious to see what the hype is all about! I promise to let everyone know how it is!!! =D
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