Teacher Rosemary was about to start her English reading lesson when she invited us in to observe her class. We took our seats in the back of the classroom as the students, dressed in white shirts and navy blue shorts or skirts, finished the teacher's open ended sentences and answered her introductory questions. The lesson was about paragraphs, and how to identify topic sentences and supporting details. Together, they enthusiastically read the paragraph on the board and Teacher Rosemary asked them to identify the sentences. There were also new vocabulary words or them to learn. I was impressed to see the words "garner" and "valedictory address" on the board.
Though they were a bit giggly whenever they turned around to look at us, all of the kids were extremely well-behaved and respectful toward the teacher. One would assume that a classroom of over fifty students with only one teacher would be out of control. That is the way larger classes in the United States are. But it was not chaotic at all during the lessons. Another great thing about the school is the campus. Though it is small with maybe 12 classrooms in lines around a courtyard, not one bit of space was wasted. Even the gardens have learning in them. Color was everywhere.
Rosemary spoke to us while they kids were doing their group work. She said that she loves
being a teacher. She has been there for eight years and is a foster mom for some of the children who had gone through the Sta
irway program. But it is a hard job, and is especially hard financially because she spends more than half of her salary on teaching supplies. The government only gives each class 300 pesos- enough to cover the cost of chalk. She talked about the students and said that this was the poorest batch she has had. That three or four of them actually learn the material quickly but the rest are slow to learn.I was quite uncomfortable when she said this because the kids were sitting right there and could have overheard us talking. That happens a lot here, I have found. People speak very matter of factly about others, even if it is unkind and they are standing right there. It happens especially with the adults speaking about the children. There is such a divide between adults and children here. This is much different than at home. It can be good in many ways, especially in order for kids to learn how to respect their elders, but it is also a detriment in many ways. For example, parents do not talk to their kids about things like sex or drugs. This is actually a huge factor in the problem of sexual abuse- especially because if a child is abused, he or she would not be comfortable talking to their parents about it.
Anyway- the trip to the school was a great experience and lots of fun for all of us. Lance and Louie were especially excited to see us- it is a good thing we weren't visiting their individual classrooms, because otherwise we might have been more of a bother!
