Las Escuelas in Heredia

This week we visited an elementary school in Heredia on Tuesday and Thursday. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. On Tuesday, we were told we would be teaching, or reviewing, parts of the body in English with the children. I worked with the sweetest little girl, Maripas. At first, she was very shy and I could tell she felt uncomfortable talking to me as she did not know English. I could relate this so much since I have been in the same situation with my host families. I tried to talk slow and clear and use hand gestures or draw pictures when she could not understand me. This is what my mama tica does for me and it always helps. Once we got started on the parts of the body, she was very excited to show us what she knew. She was beginning to warm up to us and was so eager to learn! By the end of the lesson I could tell that I had gained her trust a little bit; she was smiling, talking to me more, and even asking me questions. When it was time to leave, she gave us (Ashley and I) so many hugs and even gave us a frozen treat that they were selling at the school! It felt so great to know that she was so happy to have worked with us. On Thursday, we were given two topics to teach – descriptive words and hygiene. Since we had to come up with lessons in a very short period of time, we split into two groups and each group developed a lesson. When it was time to leave CPI and go to the school, I felt very uncomfortable and unconfident with the other lesson because I did not know it. I was very nervous about teaching it because I did not have much time to look over it. Ashley and I worked together again, this time with a second grade girl, Maria, who came to school early just so she could work with the English speaking students from our group! As we were doing the lessons, Maria was also very shy. She would barely speak and since she was a younger student, she was not as far along with her English as the students the lesson was intended for. We had to alter our lesson a little bit but it went fairly well. Like Maripas, Maria also grew comfortable and we had gained her trust by the end of the lesson. Maripas even came to see us again before we left to give us a picture she had tried for us and arroz con leche – it was one so heartwarming! From these experiences in the school, I learned many things. Firstly, gaining a students’ trust is so important when teaching them.  It was so much easier to teach both of the girls once they grew comfortable with me and could trust me. In addition to gaining the trust of a student, being flexible is also imperative. On the second day at the school, I not only had to teach a lesson that I was not completely confident with, but I also had to alter it in order to fit the needs of my student. I will have to be flexible and alter lesson plans almost every day as a teacher because not every student is the same and they do not learn the same. Having empathy is also something that I took away from this experience. One of the main reasons I came on this trip is to walk in the shoes of an English language learner. After just one week I can already empathize with students who find it difficult or uncomfortable to talk to someone who speaks a different language. Having been in this position myself, I think it will be easier for me to help these students succeed, to challenge them rather than just assuming they are not intelligent because they can’t speak English, and to gain their trust.