Well, today was the first day back to school... Of course the kids don't arrive until Wednesday, so the teachers have a few days to get our rooms in order and go over useless workshops. Today, we did have a memorial service for Ms. Lili who had passed away over the holidays. It was wonderful to see the love and support from other colleagues to her family, who was invited to the service.
After the service, we spent the rest of the day doing activities and discussions on how to help our classrooms as far as discipline issues. Most things that were discussed we already knew or have implemented in our classrooms, but there were also some useful information. It was a pleasure seeing all the teachers again as well as some new faces. If anything, CCS does have some wonderful staff.
I rearranged my classroom and started working on preparing unit plans for this semester. The fun part of creating my own curriculum is getting to pick and choose what I want to do in my classroom. However, the difficult thing is also picking and choosing what to do in my classroom. I am able to focus on things that I enjoy and want my students to learn, yet I also have to come up with activities and lessons that will challenge the students in their own way and will meet the standards of learning. I also need to be able to find activities and lessons that will work with the limited amount of resources I have, yet will also fill the required amount of time. It might be easier if I was given some sort of direction, especially for a person like me who hates making decisions and has no creative bone in her body. However, I am grateful for other teachers who have helped to guide me and given me numerous ideas to do in my classroom.
There have been so many times that I look at the experiences of other teachers I know from around the world, and have been jealous of the resources available to them, or the ideas they come up with. However, I need to realize that teaching is about adapting. Every classroom and every student is different, no matter where the classroom is placed in the world. Every situation that a teacher faces will be different. I need to learn how to adapt to my own situation before looking at other's experiences. Each situation will help me grow into a better teacher for the next experience I have. It will be interesting to look back on this experience in Bolivia and see how it helped me to grow into a better teacher...or whatever profession I end up in.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Alive Again
Well, I finally got a new computer that will hopefully be compatible with Bolivian wifi. I have a lot of catching up to do!
The past three weeks have been spent at home in PA. It has been a glorious, but short lived visit. It was actually one of the best Christmas's I've had. Even though Johnstown experienced one of the record lows for temperatures (-14 degrees!!), I really was able to enjoy my friends, family, and boyfriend. I spent time catching up with friends and just relaxing.
Relaxing...exactly what I needed after the end of last semester. It was a rough end. Had some students yelling at me for me enforcing consequences for missing the last two weeks of school, including finals; a parent bringing in forged doctor excuses for her son who was absent from school for two weeks (he was in La Paz for vacation), yet insisted her son be able to make up the test he missed because he was "sick;" and a parent saying I am stubborn, close-minded and a terrible teacher because I gave his son a zero for cheating on a test. Apparently I "pressured" my student, his son, into writing the answers for his vocabulary test on his arm. Ummm, why would a teacher ever promote cheating in the first place?? Hello...I'm here to teach responsibility and honesty. I am so grateful that the director backed me up and stood up to the father.
Needless to say, the end of last semester was pretty stressful and I needed those three weeks to recuperate. Also, over break, one of my fellow teachers, Ms. Lili, was killed in a bus accident in Peru. Although I didn't know her very well, she was still a good friend who always had a smile on her face and was so enthusiastic about her students. It didn't become real until I came back and realized I wouldn't see her anymore. It made me think about how precious life is and how I need to cherish each and everyday.
The way back to Bolivia was also pretty stressful. What was supposed to be a 17ish hour trip, took three days. In Dullas airport, we were supposed to leave at 330pm, but didn't take off until around 1130pm due to "mechanical problems" on the plane. We landed in Bogota, Columbia around 2am and spent the next 7 hours at a nearby hotel, which was paid for by the airlines. We boarded the plane around 10pm, but was forced to switch planes an hour later due to other problems. We arrived in La Paz at 430am the next day. At 9am we left for Cochabamba. We were exhausted by the end of our trip, and I crashed the rest of Saturday and all Sunday.
Anyways, that is the shortened version of everything that has happened since I last wrote. It was a challenging end of the semester, but I survived and had a wonderful break. Now, begins the challenge of starting a new semester that will hopefully be a bit more enjoyable.
The past three weeks have been spent at home in PA. It has been a glorious, but short lived visit. It was actually one of the best Christmas's I've had. Even though Johnstown experienced one of the record lows for temperatures (-14 degrees!!), I really was able to enjoy my friends, family, and boyfriend. I spent time catching up with friends and just relaxing.
Relaxing...exactly what I needed after the end of last semester. It was a rough end. Had some students yelling at me for me enforcing consequences for missing the last two weeks of school, including finals; a parent bringing in forged doctor excuses for her son who was absent from school for two weeks (he was in La Paz for vacation), yet insisted her son be able to make up the test he missed because he was "sick;" and a parent saying I am stubborn, close-minded and a terrible teacher because I gave his son a zero for cheating on a test. Apparently I "pressured" my student, his son, into writing the answers for his vocabulary test on his arm. Ummm, why would a teacher ever promote cheating in the first place?? Hello...I'm here to teach responsibility and honesty. I am so grateful that the director backed me up and stood up to the father.
Needless to say, the end of last semester was pretty stressful and I needed those three weeks to recuperate. Also, over break, one of my fellow teachers, Ms. Lili, was killed in a bus accident in Peru. Although I didn't know her very well, she was still a good friend who always had a smile on her face and was so enthusiastic about her students. It didn't become real until I came back and realized I wouldn't see her anymore. It made me think about how precious life is and how I need to cherish each and everyday.
The way back to Bolivia was also pretty stressful. What was supposed to be a 17ish hour trip, took three days. In Dullas airport, we were supposed to leave at 330pm, but didn't take off until around 1130pm due to "mechanical problems" on the plane. We landed in Bogota, Columbia around 2am and spent the next 7 hours at a nearby hotel, which was paid for by the airlines. We boarded the plane around 10pm, but was forced to switch planes an hour later due to other problems. We arrived in La Paz at 430am the next day. At 9am we left for Cochabamba. We were exhausted by the end of our trip, and I crashed the rest of Saturday and all Sunday.
Anyways, that is the shortened version of everything that has happened since I last wrote. It was a challenging end of the semester, but I survived and had a wonderful break. Now, begins the challenge of starting a new semester that will hopefully be a bit more enjoyable.
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