Rewards

3/14/2008

I taught a class at Loma Grande the other day, and when I finished the lesson, the kids wanted to continue instead of going out to recess. How often does that happen in life? Granted, part of the class involved making paper airplanes, but we were long past that exciting point. I couldn’t believe it!

Despite myself, I am kind of enjoying teaching classes. I swore it was the one thing I would never do, (I negated going abroad to teach English because I didn’t want to teach) as the thought scared the Bejesus out of me (ME! TEACHING? No way!). Surprisingly I find it really rewarding, mostly due to the kids. There is one little girl at Loma Grande who I love. She is constantly disheveled, her clothes are on at least their third hand-me-down, and she won’t say more than two words to me, but she has the most adorable smile in the world.

The other day we made the 30 minute hike into the center of Cabricán to the library to begin our world map project. The kids were divided into groups and began to research the different regions of the world. Unfortunately due to the form of education in Guatemala (listen and repeat after me) the kids are having a bit of a hard time with the freedom of this project (I didn’t tell them specifically what to research on their region). I hope that it will help them think more creatively and outside the box. Each group will present their findings to the rest of the school, thereby allowing everyone to learn a little about each region of the world.

Painting begins at the end of March.