“SHUSH UP POR FAVOR”

Aside from exploring the surrounding areas, I completed my first week at school. All the teachers are incredibly generous and friendly, although I still can’t remember a single name. My students make up the ‘bilingual’ program which pretty much means that once a week I come into their classes and we try to speak all in English. The kids are from ages about 11-14 and fortunately seem pretty enthusiastic about me being there. As predicted, I have to develop my disciplinary skills. I know that if I’m pretty strict in the beginning, I will save myself a lot of work later on down the road. From what I observed, a significant amount of time was wasted in each class just trying to get the kids settled down, quiet, and focused. I was surprised to see what a Spanish classroom was actually like. I’d expected them to be more old fashion in their approach in that the class would be well controlled, involving a lot of memorization and text based techniques, but that wasn’t really the case. It’s as if the school system has been caught half way as the educational methodology pendulum swings from teacher to student centered approaches and. It seems like they want to incorporate more interactive methods but don’t have the disciplinary structure in place to pull it off. Things seem chaotic and unplanned, but perhaps that’s just because the teachers aren’t sure what to do with me yet. I find myself walking a tightrope of seeing what needs to be done and doing it, and not overstepping the teacher’s authority (not that they have much). It’s my observation, in general, that children here don’t grow up with the same sense of consequence. They tend to be very spoiled, and I don’t necessarily mean that in a derogatory way, but that they are used to demanding adults’ attention and not the other way around. I’m actually excited to experiment with some classroom management ideas and look forward to reshaping the learning environment. A part of me says, “Oh, you’re coming in with your American view points and prescribing a remedy for what you perceive as a problem.” But that’s what part of what the cultural exchange is about right? Plus, when I see teachers using methods to quiet down the students and they aren’t affective, why should I waste my time dealing with the consequences? If I’m only in a each class one day a week, you bet your bottom dollar that I’m going to do everything possible to ensure the optimal learning experience. Does that sound idealistic or what? Any ways it’ll be interesting to see how this pans out; shall we just say, “to be continued…”?