The Teaching Begins

Today we got to teach! The teachers here at Fundaninos are all very polite and seemed eager to learn. Today we focused primarily on objectives and differentiation (throwing out some teacher lingo here). It was really neat to see some of the same strategies that we use in the states translate into lessons for the development planned here. We used mental mapping, the concept of the "parking lot," and several informal assessment activities such as write, pair, share, and the value line up. There was time for sharing and reflection as well. While we do not understand the situation that some of these teachers are in, we did find that apathetic students, being positive, and good teaching are all universal.

Every teacher here has different knowledge to bring to the table. I for one am thankful for such a great team! Luis and Jennifer did a fantastic job translating. Tom was able to communicate and talk numbers with the math teacher here (Math=Universal language). Kasie and Brittany H started leading today, and by the end of the week everyone will teach. Observations were made throughout the entire lesson by teachers who had answers to questions asked.

We will teach both here at Fundaninos and at the public school tomorrow. Today we got to visit with the inner city principal and plan out the week's lessons based on individual needs.

Several families back home had asked about an earthquake in Guatemala. To ease the thoughts of you at home, we did not even know that there was an earthquake...all is good here :).