Observing in local classrooms

On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, I had the opportunity to visit two more schools to observe a few English classes. The first school was in a rural community on the outskirts of El Sauce known as Rio Grande. The teacher greeted me in English and was eager to have me as a guest in his classroom. The first class I observed was taking a quiz on a verb tense they had learned previously. Many of them struggled with the directions and understanding what to do. The kids were free to leave when the quiz was finished, and the teacher marked them. Unfortunately, his English was not the greatest, and he was marking some of them incorrectly. 

Afterwards, the students had physical education, and Javier and I played volleyball with them. Their net was a single rope tied between two trees, and the teacher asked me to help him explain the rules of volleyball as he did not know them. It was a close match, but my team pulled through in the end for a win. The kids were very well-coordinated and athletic - not to mention very competitive. They also allowed kicking the ball up as an option (being big soccer players). 

During the second class I visited, the class was learning about using the word "too" vs "very." The teacher asked me to help explain it, so I facilitated the lesson as he watched. He had a guide to teach the material, but as I mentioned before, his English was not very strong, so he struggled teaching it to the kids. Later, I would find out that this is very common amongst English teachers in the schools (especially the rural ones). This teacher actually had better English language skills than many others that attended my workshop. 

On Tuesday night, I taught my first English class to a group of adults in the community. The regular teacher, Sean, was back home in the United States for a few weeks, so I took over the class for the week. It was a level 2/3 class with a wide range of abilities. The focus of the class is on speaking, and there are many presentations. The Enlace group designed a workbook for each of the 3 levels including grammar, vocabulary, and readings for the students to memorize. I found that many of them could memorize the information well but then had trouble applying it in conversation or their presentations. I incorporated a game into the lesson where the students practiced identifying various comparative adjectives as well as a conversation about the role of women in their country. 

During the spare time I had left, I was working on developing my presentation for the workshops I would be teaching later that week. The more experience I got observing in classrooms and seeing how English is taught, the better I could design the activities for the teachers to use in their classrooms. Every evening, I also had the opportunity to practice my Spanish with my host family as I listened to Sara and Juan Carlos tell me all about Nicaraguan culture, history, and traditions after dinner. Sara is a doctor who has a private practice and pharmacy, and she is a great cook!  Juan Carlos has a degree in sustainable agriculture and is taking over as coordinator of the Enlace Project. I also developed a bond with their son, Jose Carlos, who is currently in 6th grade. He enjoyed telling me all about what he was learning in school, asking me questions about what life was like in America, and showing me fun video games he plays. He is a very bright young boy who attended a Math Olympiads competition in the capital, Managua, on Monday and will be competing in some sort of speaking competition next week. Maria Gabriela, their teenage daughter, loves American music, especially One Direction, and hanging out with her friends. Juan Carlos, Maria Gabriela, and Jose Carlos all take English classes in the city of Leon on Saturdays. They enjoyed practicing their English with me and learning new words as well. It was a great opportunity for us to learn from one another!

On Wednesday of last week, I headed to Jonathan Gonzalez Institute, a high school in El Sauce, to observe two different teachers. The first one spoke English well and had a great rapport with the students. I could tell he had clear expectations and used humor with them to get them interested in learning the language. I got to see 3 different classes and talk to some of the kids as they were working. After heading home for lunch, I went back to observe another two classes by a different teacher. She enjoyed having me talk to the kids in English and tell them all about why I was there. She spoke English fairly well, but we still needed Javier to do some translating! Most of what I observed in the classrooms I was in was direct instruction of grammar skills on the whiteboard, students copying sentences into their journals, and some independent practice if time. In general, about 50-60% of the kids completed their homework, and fewer than that were willing to participate in class. To me, the biggest area for improvement is to have the kids speaking more English (even if it's just repeating vocabulary words or sentences) as they didn't seem to be doing much of that. It was more listening and writing. This was a focus of my workshop with the teachers - along with using dynamic activities to get the kids interested in learning the language more. Some were internally motivated and engaged, but most were not.

I headed back to the office for a few hours to work on finalizing everything for the workshop. Then, I had English class again, where I spent some time teaching the difference between auxiliary verbs such as "must," "can," "might," etc. I enjoyed listening to the students' presentations they had prepared. 

Weekend in Ocotal

Last weekend, I headed up to the mountain community of Ocotal to spend a few nights with a family who runs a coffee farm. Javier, my translator who teaches an English class in Ocotal on the weekends,  and I jumped into the back of a pickup truck to take the long, bumpy trek up the mountain. On our way up, it began to rain heavily, and we picked up 6 or so kids walking home. We drove by the school I helped build in February and got dropped off almost at the top of the mountain near our host family's house. Emiliano and his wife, Marta recognized me immediately, as did the two kids (Mercedes and Marcos). I showed them pictures I had taken of them in February. Javier and Emiliano talked for a few hours while I sat and let my ears become accustomed to the beautiful sound of the Spanish language (I couldn't make out much of what they were saying)! Alonso, their oldest son came home late in the evening after attending an English class at a university a few hours away. He enjoyed practicing his English with me. 

The next morning, we got a tour of the coffee farm. I was amazed at how everything they eat (with the exception of rice) comes right from their land (or animals). Turkeys, chickens, pigs, and cows roamed the property, as well as 2 dogs, several horses, and a boisterous rooster. There were plantains, bananas, oranges, and countless other fruits growing from trees around the house. All of the meals that were prepared for me were delicious! And I got to drink fresh, organic coffee 3 times a day! Emiliano asked me if I wanted to learn how to milk a cow, so this happened...

In the afternoon, I headed up to the school with Javier (a 30 minute walk uphill through trails and over a rocky road) to observe his English lesson. He had a range of students from the ages of around 8-40. Some of the students were really excited about learning English, particularly the youngest student who asked me tons of questions to practice. Others, however, simply sat through the class without participating and often times not even paying attention. Javier said that there are some students whose parents don't provide much support or encouragement other than paying for them to attend the school, so it is difficult to keep them interested. 

Later that evening, I taught the kids in my host family how to play UNO and wrote down rules in Spanish for them so they could keep the cards. I bought a few pounds of the delicious Ocotal coffee to bring home and gave Emiliano his gift of a travel coffee mug and T-shirt from Honeoye Falls.

On Monday morning, Javier was supposed to have another English class, but there was some  miscommunciation and we arrived late, so all the students had gone home. However, the regular teacher was there to teach the younger kids. They started with a prayer and some warm-up exercises and continued on to have a relay race and then play some soccer for phys ed. Two boys don't own shoes, so they couldn't play with the rest of the kids. Luckily, I had brought a mini nerf ball with me, so I tossed it around with them for a bit. Our truck arrived around 9:00 to bring us back to El Sauce. On the way down, we stopped by the school in Buena Vista that was built in February so I could take some pictures and talk to the class and teacher. We are actually heading back there on Tuesday to drop off some supplies that were bought with the money I raised. 

It was so fulfilling to see the final product of the school and all the kids receiving an education in a safe building. Congratulations to all who had a part in making this happen! 

An attempt to catch up on my blog!

Well, it has been a fulfilling, yet exhausting week for me! It is going to be difficult for me to put into words all that I experienced over the course of the last week but I will do my best. 

Friday (yes, this was last Friday!): I had the opportunity to observe some English classes in a rural community outside of El Sauce. The teacher had a great rapport with his students, was fortunate enough to have a teacher's guide to teach English from, and is currently taking English classes in a nearby city to improve his skills. He was very nervous about having me watch his classes, but I told him not to worry and that I was only there to see how he teaches and to help him come up with ideas that could help him improve. I observed 3 levels of English classes. The first class did a great group activity in which they needed to write down sentences about a vacation they could take. A few students had phones with a translator app to help them with the vocabulary. This class was located on the side of one of the buildings. The second class, however, was much more difficult as it was held right outside another classroom that was very noisy, and there were students running around outside for recess. The only materials the teacher had were a whiteboard and marker. He did a lot of writing while the students copied, and they really didn't practice much English. Classroom management was very difficult in this class due to the distractions and poor location. The third class was very large, and they were a first-level English class reviewing some vocabulary about the months of the year and birthdays. When the students found out that my birthday was coming up on the next day, they sang me a beautiful song called Las Mañanitas to wish me happiness - it is a Nicaraguan traditional song that is very long! The students sang abut half of it to me. 

 

Quick update

This is a quick update to let everyone know I am alive and well!  :)  I spent the weekend (including my birthday) in the mountain community of Ocotal with a host family who has an organic coffee farm (among other crops).  In Ocotal, observed a multi-age English class, taught the host family kids how to play UNO, and threw around a football with some kids who didn't have sneakers and couldn't participate in the soccer game for physical education.  On the way back to El Sauce (on Monday), I had the opportunity to see the school I helped build in February in Buena Vista, introduce myself to the class, and talk to the teacher about how things were going with the new school.

Yesterday, I observed two English classes in the rural community of Rio Grande and played some volleyball with the kids.  Then, I spent some time preparing for my workshop on Thursday and Friday.  I also sat in on an adult first-level English class at the Enlace Project office and taught a second-level English class in the evening.  After a late dinner, I spent some more time preparing for the workshop.

Today, I had the opportunity to observe four English classes in a high school in El Sauce (7th through 9th grades).  I will be heading back later this afternoon to observe one or two more.  This evening, I will teach another English class and put the finishing touches on my presentation.  I will go into more detail later and post some pictures, but as you can tell, it has been a busy week for me!

Hasta luego!

The program begins! (La programa empieza!)

After a long day of traveling (not only did I have a four hour layover in Atlanta, but I was surprised with a four hour delay on top of that - half of which took place on the first plane we were supposed to take), I arrived in Managua (the capital of Nicaragua) late Wednesday night. Kellan and Yacareli (the coordinators of the Enlace Project) picked me up from the airport and took me back to Yacareli's mom's house in Managua. I stayed the night there and got up the next morning for a delicious breakfast, my first Spanish lesson, and shopping for materials for the workshop. Later that afternoon, I hopped on a bus to El Sauce which took about 3 and a half hours. Need for Speed was playing in Spanish so I got to practice my listening a bit. Then, a myriad of Spanish "music videos" were played at full blast. Much to my surprise, the videos switched over to 90's pop music featuring Savage Garden, the Verve, and "Mariah Carey." When I arrived in El Sauce, I met my host family and had dinner. They are a very nice family! The mother, Sara, is a nurse and a great cook. The father, Juan Carlos, has a Master's in sustainable agriculture and is taking over as coordinator of the Enlace Project. He has been learning English, so we both stumble over our words as we practice each other's language. Their son, Jose Carlos, is in 6th grade and will be representing his community at the national Math Olympiads competition next week - smart kid and he speaks a bit of English, too!  I haven't gotten a chance to talk to the daughter much, but she is 15 and enjoys listening to American music. They have a parakeet, a Doberman-black lab mix named Negro, and a cat. 

This morning, I woke up bright and early (5am) to catch a bus out to the first school I visited in Valle San Antonio (a small community outside El Sauce). Luzvelia, my translator, accompanied me, and I observed 3 English and 2 Spanish classes taught by one teacher. He is one of the teachers that will be attending my training next week. There were many students at the school, but apparently there were a lot less than usual, as several students do not attend on Fridays. The students ranged from 1st grade on up through 11th (5th year of secondary school for them). The resources at the school are limited to desks, a few posters, and a whiteboard. There are so many classes that some were held outside - which proved to be very distracting for those students as others were having recess at the same time. It wasn't clear to me whether it was a scheduled recess or that their teacher did not show up. Regardless, I had a difficult time hearing the teacher at times, and he was having difficulty keeping the students' attention. The students did a lot of copying down notes from the whiteboard and from the teacher's oration, and most of them wrote very well. One class was given an opportunity to work in groups to come up with sentences in English. Others focused mainly on writing the sentences or vocabulary. The challenges these teachers face have much more of an impact than what I encounter on a daily basis, and they work hard to keep their students engaged and learning despite those challenges. The lack of resources, space, and materials are enough to challenge any seasoned teacher, yet these teachers are doing their best with what they have. I admire their ability to manage such a large class with such little experience and few resources. In general, the kids were doing their work, writing neatly, and behaving well. The biggest area I see for improvement is student participation. 

On a side note, on the bus to Valle, the bus driver was telling Luz how he really wanted to take English classes. His daughter moved to the United States and married an American who doesn't speak Spanish. The driver wants to be able to communicate with his new son-in-law, and he understands the value of knowing English in the workplace. There is such a high demand for acquiring English language skills here, but the teachers don't have a whole of training, support, or materials in order to teach it. I look forward to doing the little bit I will be able to accomplish while I am down here to help these teachers develop some strategies and prepare some materials and activities to teach their students. 

Thank You

Thanks to the following people for their generous donations, I have raised over $1300 to fund my volunteer program and provide materials and books for the schools in Nicaragua I will be visiting:

Annie Triolo
The Grosjean family
Sue and Ted Sanford
Ava Tillman
Maggie Broomfield
Hannah Selke
The Calcagni family
Lisa and Pete Leonard
Tracey McGrath
Gae Orsini
Elizabeth O'Kelly
Kevin Lindsay
Kathy Wahl
Aimee Calhoun
Betty Reinhart
Suzanne Triolo
Kay Panek
Bill Walter
George and Jill Walter
The Lima Public Library

Only 3 days to go until I head back down to Nicaragua!  I have been collecting picture books to bring down and was able to fill my carry-on suitcase with a variety of bilingual, Spanish, and English picture books.  Thanks to the Lima Library for their donation and to friends and family for their support as well.  I am also collecting CDs of children's songs to bring. 

After speaking with the volunteer coordinator in El Sauce, here's the plan for my stay:

- Observe in various classrooms in El Sauce and the surrounding communities to see how English is taught
- Help teach an advanced English class for a few days while the regular instructor is away
- Sit in on adult English classes in the community
- Visit Ocotal and the Buena Vista school that I helped build in February
- Teach 3 workshops on a variety of topics, including classroom management, grammar instruction, strategies for implementing reading and writing of English in the classroom, and anything else the teachers need support with
- Take Spanish lessons

I am really looking forward to learning more about their education system and providing any feedback I can with the experience that I have.  I will keep my blog updated as much as possible to share the results of my work.  If you are interested in donating to my project and helping the schools I will be working with, please visit my fundraising page.  Also, feel free to share my blog with anyone you think might be interested in reading about my volunteer work in Nicaragua.  Thanks for your support!