Today was a big day for me as it was my first day staying in the 6th grade classroom all day. As always, school started at 7:30. Today was a little bit different because it was a half day for them. Every Wednesday the kids get half days where they end at 12 instead of 2:45. There first class of the day was writing. Yesterday I was given a topic on run-on sentences to create a lesson plan to teach the students. It was a pretty simple lesson plan with me starting out giving them the definition. For run-on sentences, I feel like it's something that you just have to practice in order to learn it. Therefore, I wrote 5 run on sentences on the board and went through one example with them. After that, I called people up to the board to have them fix the run on sentences. The lesson plan went really well and the students seemed to really understand what I was teaching them! I was a little nervous going into to it because for me, run-on sentences are something that I have just always known how to fix, but teaching it is something different. However, as I got more into the lesson, I realized the kids were just learning with me and all they wanted was for me to teach them.
The next class of the day was reading. I want to mention that both reading and writing are part of an English class. Although the students speak Spanish as there first language, they are not allowed to speak it during english class. Before this class began, the teacher who taught reading and writing came up to me and explained how she didn't like her lesson plan she was going to do for class today and wanted me to make up a new lesson plan within 5 minutes. This through me completely off hand and I really experienced the thinking on your feet part of teaching. Nonetheless, I came up with a lesson plan that had to do with structure of text. I decided to go through the different structures of text with them at the beginning of class, explaining each style of text and an example that pertained to them. For example, one structure of text is problem and solution. I explained that and then gave an example that they would understand in their own lives. I went through problem and solution, deductive, inductive, cause and effect, chronological, sequence, and compare and contrast with them. After discussing this I wrote a structure of text on 11 notecards (one for each student in the class) and gave them each a notecard. I then took them down to their library and explained that they needed to pick a book that has an example of their structure of text on their notecard. I was really pleased with this activity because not only did it get the students up and moving but also sharing ideas with one another. If one person didn't understand something, a peer would help them out. It also gave them a chance to learn to use the library as a resource. The kids also seemed to enjoy it as well and were able to discuss with me the examples that they found.
The next class was Spanish. I knew that I wouldn't be able to understand at all what any of them were even talking about since the whole class was spoken in Spanish. Instead of sitting around, I decided to head to the library and try to learn some more Spanish for my own personal benefit. I figured while being in Honduras it's the perfect place to catch up on it and learn as much as you can. I worked on reading Peter Pan all period. The next two classes were science and math. Not too much happened with these classes. For science they learned about the menstrual cycle (yes, even the guys) and fertilization. It was interesting even for me to learn about these kinds of things and just see how it's talked about in a different country. I thought it would be different since people tend to have kids a little earlier here (and MANY of them). However, it wasn't really different at all. They were able to watch a video on a little laptop the teacher brought in and the discussion seemed to go smoothly. For math, another girl on the study abroad trip came in and taught a lesson about area and perimeter of a triangle for the class. She did really well and some students either got it or didn't. For the one's that didn't we walked around and gave them a little extra help. I was happy with this math because it was finally a topic in math that I knew and could help someone with haha! The last class of the day was Spanish History where I again, left for the library since I didn't know enough Spanish. I think I am learning a lot more Spanish down here though and am really happy with the bilingualism of the school.
Something I have been asking adults around the school is if they have ever been to the states. This was something that really surprised me because almost all of them said no. Since being at the library a lot today, I have become pretty close to the librarian because she helps me a lot with my Spanish and helping me find easy reads. Today I decided to ask her the same question, and no big surprise, she also said no. Curious, I finally asked how come so many people haven't come to the states? is it normal? What's the reasoning for that? She told me that many of them can't afford the Visas for the United States; that it's just too hard to receive them. She explained that just to make an appointment to try and get a Visa is $150 and that's not even guaranteeing that you will be accepted to get one. If you are accepted, it costs tons of money to get one. I guess this kind of struck me because I came to Honduras with really no problems. It didn't cost more than maybe $100 if that for a passport and it wasn't too hard to receive one either. It seemed so easy for us to go to Honduras, yet it is so hard and financially difficult for them to come to us. It makes me sad and I wonder why we can't make it easier for them to come to the States.
After all the classes today, it was lunch time where again, we had an AMAZING meal. The guy that caters for us to the school made grilled chicken, marinated vegetables, rice, corn on the cobb, homemade tortillas, and a potato with a sour cream based sauce. I could live off Honduran food. It is delicious and almost everyone seems to be really good cooks. After lunch we had to grade tests because teachers don't get half days. The kids recently took a state of Honduras test called the IOWA test (kid of like what we call ISTEP). For 3 hours, we all graded these exams and it really gave me insight to how much english the students still have to learn. They are still pretty fluent in their english, however, like an culture, it's just difficult to learn another language. The rest of the day we had free time and I came back to take an hour nap and just rest a little. It was extremely hot and humid today so that just wears you out. We went to dinner a little later and after went to Expresso Americano and drank coffee while completely some readings and journal entries. Today was a pretty chill day all in all but super fun and exciting. Tomorrow we are going on a field trip with the kids to El Picacho, so I'm very excited for this adventure (:
"Girls your age, never mean what they say, I've got a renegade heart,
And it's screaming your name, but then it beats like you've got time to kill,
Baby, don't go jump the gun, live fast while you're young honey,
Don't go chasing love."
"Girls Your Age" by Transviolet
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