Coming
in to today, I couldn’t wait to go back to the school. I love theses kids so
much that it’s a blessing to be able to see them and be inspired of them
everyday. When I say inspired, I don’t think you understand until you come
here. Just being around them is a whole different ball game. They are just so
friendly to everyone they meet and their passion for learning is like nothing
I’ve ever seen in the states. It makes sense that they have so much passion
though. In America, it’s like our education is just given to us. We take it for
granted because it’s just something that we have always been able to have. But
imagine a place where you grow up wondering if your kid will ever be able to go
to school. A place where you know your kid is smart and can achieve great
things, but you just don’t have the money to afford it. Almost half these kids
are barely able to go to school. There parents have given many sacrifices to
their children because they believe in what their children can do. It’s
beautiful. That image right there is why I’m an educator. To be able to see
that at least once in my life.
Today we were back at school working with
the kids. As a mentioned in a previous blog post, I will be teaching 7th
and 7th grade English all week so I had a lot to do today. I was a
little tired getting gout of bed tonight since I was up so late last night
working on lesson plans, but the moment I got to school, it disappeared. For
both 6th and 7th grade writing class, we went to the
computer lab to type a final draft of their paper that they have been working
on; so I didn’t do too much. For 6th grade reading class, there
standard is on Genre (fiction). Each week there is a new standard for the class
to learn. For that class I ended up giving a mini lesson on the different types
of fiction stories there are (historical fiction, science fiction, fables,
fairy tales, myths, etc.). After I gave them traits/characteristic of each
genre, I got a video clip from Youtube that portrays each genre. I knew they
would enjoy that because they don’t use too much technology and movies are
always better than someone talking. They seemed to love it. They were able to
watch different Disney movies based on myths, fables, historical fiction,
science fiction, and mystery. I think by including examples that is relevant
and current is an important part in their learning. They are more interested in
learning when it is relevant to them and in an interesting way. For 7th
grade reading, I talked about how authors alter or twist words to make a story.
For example, reporters tend to add or take out words that they interview. For
this example, we played the game “telephone” (where you make a line and say a
sentence to the first person of the line and you go down the line and repeat
the sentence to each person and see if it is correct at the end). I thought it
was the perfect example that is enjoyable. I also talked about how news casters
only tell one side of a story. Lastly, I taught them about satire and explained
what that was because many didn’t know. I showed them a video online of “Couples
fighting about weird things.” It gave satire to make a point that they things
couples fight about are weird and pointless. These lessons I taught today were
the first ones I’ve ever done for the whole class period and in a formal
setting. I had a really good experience and learned a lot just from getting up
and teaching.
After class, I went back to Zomorano and
took a nap. Today, I didn’t feel as well as the other days. It’s been almost 95
with 100% humidity here and I think the heat really got to me today. I had a
headache today, but I took Advil and it soon went away. The worst part right now
is I have a heat rash from the sun, so I have little bumps all over my legs and
arms. It’s not severe, but enough to where I am constantly itchy. It’s kind of
annoying, but also I figured my skin would do something stupid while I’m here
because of just recently getting off Accutane and since my skin is already
messed up from my disease. However, this heat rash won’t ruin my trip (:
Tonight we had class and talked about the rest of the chapters we read in our
book. We read this book called “Don’t Be Afraid Gringo” by Elvia Alvarado. It’s
an awesome book and really taught me a lot of facts and hardships of Honduras.
If you are interested in Honduras or what 3rd world countries go through,
I really suggest the book. Tomorrow we are going to a different school in the
rural area where poverty is super high. They also only speak Spanish so it
should be real interesting for me. I’m really excited to see the difference
between the two schools. All 7 of us from the study abroad program is doing 2
crafts with them. We are making sock puppets and tie dye shirts, both of which
they can take home. I’m super excited to meet some new kids and gain some new
experience (:
(The first photo is a little area right on
the University of Zomorano where I study a lot and the second photo is of my
walk home from school. GORGEOUS!)
"And I think you should be somethin' I don't wanna hold back,
Maybe you should know that,
My momma don't like you and she likes everyone,
And I never like to admit that I was wrong,
And I've been so caught up in my job, didn't see what's goin' on,
But now I know, I'm better sleeping on my own."
"Love Yourself" By Justin Bieber
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