Teacher Meetings Here and There

Yesterday was a holiday/rest day, but I was exhausted today. I am starting to believe that the heat takes a toll on my body. It takes a lot out of me, eh. I went to La Fundacion this morning with Rob and Will and taught a short reading class. As usual we headed over to El Rodadero for some delicious hot plates on a steaming hot day. Like I said, the usual. You begin to adapt to the heat and constant sweating.

In the afternoon with the preschoolers, we handmade crossword puzzles and bingo cards for the kids to play while simultaneously learning the meanings of words and pronunciation. They had a great time playing although some of them struggled to find the words but we were all there to help and make the experience as fun as possible. They often get so excited and start screaming out the words. It makes me happy.

We had a teacher meeting today at Ocean Mall in the food court area. We discussed new ideas for a new beginning for the foundation. Most importantly, we wanted to incorporate some rules that the children can abide to.

1. Cuidar el espacio (take care of your surroundings) This may include: 

• furniture
• school supplies 
• sports equipment

    2.  Hablar en voz baja y escuchar 

• Talking low rather than shouting (which they love to do to grab your attention) and listening. 

    3.  Respetar a sus compañeros y profesores (respect your classmates and teachers).
 
    4. Responsabilidad (Responsibility).

• help cleaning the classroom at the end of class
• organizing the notebooks once they're done being used
• be responsible of their belongings

    5. Actitud positiva (positive attitude)

• always believe in yourself
• believe you can accomplish everything you want to

We all input ideas on how we can incorporate the rules in all of our classes. Some said we can use theatre to demonstrate some of the rules. For example rule number one: 'Cuidar el Espacio'. I can ask the kids if when I stand on the chair and jump around like a monkey, is that taking care of the furniture?  It may be a little funny but they need to know that it's not right to do that. The chairs are made to sit on properly. Someone also said it would be nice to draw and color the rules. They can use their imagination and draw what comes to mind when they read each rule. This applies very well to my pre-schoolers since they love to color and draw. I also suggested to sing songs. In Barranquilla, I learned the song "La Lechuza" from the professor I was shadowing. The song says to keep quiet or whisper. My posts from Barranquilla have some videos on us singing those songs ha ha. So I thought, why not teach these kids the song! It definitely applies to rule 2 and 3, speaking low and respecting others. 

Another awesome idea to demonstrate respect is using gestures. We can all shake hands and give hugs to our classmates and neighbors. I was thinking it would be a good idea to give examples of clean vs dirty so that we can keep the school in order. Raising our hands when we want attention rather than screaming out our names. Teach the children to stay seated and only stand when called upon. These are only ideas that we all brainstormed, it's always different once you're there and actually try teaching. You have to be prepared for everything, some things may or may not work. Maybe they won't even show up but it is always better to be ready.