Volunteering in Cusco, Peru

Monday, July 11th was orientation/ first day of volunteering in a classroom with about 25 four year olds! I arrived around 11:30AM and I jumped right in helping the teacher (Profesora Ivet). A few things that surprised me were... 4 year olds in school, the teacher pulling the students hair to get them to listen, and how much food they were fed. I signed up for the "After-School Program" and in Cusco some students start school in the afternoon around 2PM and finish at 6PM. Other students start around 9AM and finish at 1PM. It varies. I also heard that some students finish school at 3PM. SO, I guess it just depends which school one attends. 

The "usual" schedule for these students is... line up in front of the dining hall around 8:30AM. Then greeting/ song/ prayer around 8:45. Students eat breakfast; some of them you have to help feed. We usually finish, clean-up, and go to the classroom by 9:15AM. In the morning there could be a lesson/ activity/ or just sitting around. One day I helped the teacher organize and file the students' work into their folders. Another morning the teacher read a story to the students and they drew a picture of the main character. Another morning they had to match four images (child to ball and chair to table). Around 10:45AM it is snack time and recess time!! The students go outside to play and are given a piece of fruit (grapes, oranges, melon, etc.). Then we come back to class. Lunch is at 12:30PM. Students line up and get ready to walk to the dining hall. They try to hold on to each others coats, but most of the time they are hitting each other or playing around with each other. This is my general impression of the schedule and students. I have only been there for 4 full days, and I think there would be more to learn and help with if I was there longer. 

On the first day the teacher had me do one activity with the children where we opened and closed our hands and said the words in Spanish (cerramos, abrimos). Then I sang the ABC song and the Itsy-Bitsy Spider song to them. They liked it. On Friday, July 15th I did some origami with them. I also went over 7 colors with them in English and Spanish. I chose the 7 colors from the Cusco Flag (Red-rojo, Orange-anaranjado, Yellow-amarillo, Green-verder, Blue-azul, Indigo-celeste, Violet-morado). I have been learning some Spanish from my experience here, and I am looking forward to this upcoming weeks volunteering. I will be changing classes and going to the class with the older students. I will report back!!! It is very interesting to be in an educational setting in a different culture, age of students, language, and teaching style! 

Summer Vacation 2o16

It has been a long time since I have blogged!!! 

I am currently on summer vacation... and I decided to continue another year working at Showalter Middle School in Tukwila, WA.  Now that I am on break and I have had time to reflect on my first year teaching... here are some learnings/musings:

+ My students and I are resilient. 

+ They are kids! They will react according to their emotions.

+ I do NOT have to grade everything.

+ Be myself.

+ Be firm, and loving.

+ Be consistent.

+ Be honest in a creative way.

+ Be ahead of the "game."

+ Hold them to high expectations.

+ State the behavior I want and give them choices when the behavior they choose isn't working.

I definitely was going to call it quits in January. I was ready to pack up and move back abroad. I was exhausted and at my wits end of being a teacher in the public school system. BUT something clicked. Something changed. I was putting too much pressure on myself to be the "perfect" teacher as a FIRST YEAR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER. I finally gave myself permission to make mistakes, and to be a learner as well. I've always been the type of person with a growth mindset, but at times... I do find myself caught up in a fixed mindset. How could I expect my students to make mistakes and learn if I myself was not willing to do the same? 

I am looking forward to year 2. As Miss Frizzle from the Magic School Bus would say, "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!" AND I intend to do so with year 2.

There is Good...

Some days I feel like I did everything wrong...
I need to remember to find the good, and try again tomorrow.

Teaching is hard.

Lately, I have been having a rough time with work and life. I am not sure what's bothering me... is it the struggle that most students aren't understanding the material? Is it the image I placed on having a perfect class that is making me feel bad? Is it that I am being too hard on myself about my lessons? Am I focusing on the little things rather than the big picture? Today, I gave myself permission to make mistakes. I know no one is perfect, and yet I was giving myself a hard time. I am my worst critic. I always struggled with finding positive things to say about myself, and maybe that was part of my upbringing... but it's not healthy... It's my first year teaching in PUBLIC SCHOOL. There's a whole lot of stuff I do not know... I have faith that things will get better, and I will learn how to adjust my lessons to meet the needs of my students. I also need to give myself room to breathe and not be so hard on myself. I need to remember to ...

Lesson Planning is FUN!

Dining/ Work Table

This was my table this afternoon as I was working on my lesson plans for tomorrow. It looks a bit overwhelming, but don't fret... it was the perfect set up for me. I have a nice open window that looks out to several trees, a river, the big blue sky, soft fluffy clouds, and two main roads. It turned out to be a nice day after all.  I should have worked more, but I took a break and went Labor Day shopping. Oh my... the stores looked like a tornado went through it!!! Thankfully, I was able to make it out with the items I purchased for my home and for my work without being tossed around too much. This is going to be my third week staying in this condo. It's quite nice, and I have a lovely neighbor who I hope to go on evening walks with. She owns several vending machines in Bellevue and stocks them on Sundays. I was able to go swimming yesterday at the local community pool, and it was amazing! Swimming is such a great exercise. I hope I can go at least once a week... The pool is actually located right next to where I work. The only thing is that the times for lap swimming are a bit later in the evening on the weekdays than I would like... I don't think I would like to stick around after work for 3 hours... We'll see what happens. Maybe I can make it a Friday and Sunday thing to do. 

Did I mention how my first two days of teaching went? Well, the first day was chaotic! Students coming in and out. Students lost. I was lost, and I didn't even need to change rooms. :) Overall, it was not the worse... Day 2 went more smoothly and it was really nice to get to see students again and get to talk to them a bit more. I think it'll get better as time goes on... granted there will always be an off day here and there. Cheers to finishing two days out of 180 school days! 

Bring on Week #2 of teaching!!! :)

Life in South Seattle

Sunrise from my home.

I moved into my new home in south Seattle on Sunday, August 23rd, and the next morning there was a lovely sunrise. I can also see Mt. Ranier... It's not pictured in the photo, but it's to the right of the tree. :) I went shopping everyday after work this week... Monday - Ikea & Costco. Tuesday - Target & Ross. Wednesday - Trader Joe's. Today... I'm planning to go to the Chinese supermarket called 99 Ranch Market. Tomorrow I'll probably end up going to Ikea to get some things I forgot or didn't realize I needed from my first trip. 

My Classroom!!

Yesterday I finished THREE full days of planning curriculum and assessment for my 6th grade math classes. I am so grateful for the math department. Everyone is so welcoming and easy to talk to and soooooooooo funny!!! I feel very comfortable with my team, and it feels like I've known them for years. Above is a photo of my classroom when I walked in. I did some rearranging yesterday... The desks take up a lot of space because the chairs are attached! I like to have a horse-shoe layout... and I tried that yesterday, and it was a bit difficult. I also moved my desk to the back of the room. Look out for before and after photos. They will come later... Maybe next week. Oh, I start teaching next week! Next week Thursday is the first day of school. Yes, it's before Labor Day, which is quite strange for the U.S. Public Schools here usually start after Labor Day... Not this year. It's a unique year... Speaking about 2015... On Monday, my department did a get to know you activity where you draw a penny from a bag and whatever year that is on the penny you need to share something significant from that year... Guess which year I got? Yep... 2015. So many changes this year, and it's not even over yet... hahaha. The best part of 2015 is just about to begin... teaching middle school math! I can't wait!!!!!

Back to Public School Teaching

Did I mention I will be working at Showalter Middle School? I will be teaching 6th grade math in Tukwila School District. It will be my first full-time teaching position in the States AND I am beyond excited and looking forward to it. I am grateful for the many experiences and learning opportunities while I was teaching in Kawagoe, Japan. I am ready for this next chapter.

These last two days I have had new hire training at the district office, which is to the right of this photo. :) The school district consists of 3 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school. How amazing is that??? It's one of the most diverse school districts in the nation. There are over 80 world languages spoken within this district. The training had lots of information divvied up to all the new hire. There was so much information that was covered it's hard to say what exactly was covered. ha! I found it beneficial to see that the district is proactive in making changes to improve and better itself for its student population.  Change is scary and people will be resistant to it, but when we get out of the comfort zone that is where we are allowed to grow and expand.

Cheers to the 2015~2016 school year to all the educators/ mentors/ advocates/ parents/ students/ administrators/ everyone involved in creating a more equitable education for all students around the world. Keep up the great work.