After being here for over three weeks, I finally had my first day of school at Colegio Menor de Universidad San Francisco de Quito. We had an assembly at the bleachers outside on the football field before the shortened-scheduled day started. The freshmen, sophomores, and juniors arrived slowly to the assembly, and right before it started, the seniors made an entrance with drums, whistles, and singing. It reminded me of a pep-rally at my old high school; a few of the seniors had even made matching shirts for their class! Andrew, the director/principal, and Juan Carlos, the dean of students welcomed the high school students and made a few announcements. I had to go down to the field with the other student teachers as they introduced the new faculty for the year. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but still nice to be acknowledged. Then we went back to the classrooms and attempted to get something done during the 25 minute class periods. It was mainly syllabus and classroom expectations, but I was able to introduce myself to all of the students as well. I have one section of 10th grade honors, and three sections of 12th grade AP. I've already started a project with all sections called a "Celebrity Board". It's kind of a throw-back to the elementary school days with those "student of the week" or "apple of my eye" business boards. Each student will be featured on it once while I'm teaching here at CM, and they'll get a grade for it. It encompasses: a picture, a bio-poem, and a fact sheet. It’s super simple, but a small way to establish a classroom community and for us to learn more about each other. And yes, I'm currently up on the board as the first celebrity, along with my cooperating teacher, Angela.
This is Cotopaxi, the second highest active volcano in the world, having last erupted in 1877. It has one of the few equatorial glaciers in existence, and is on my morning commute to school. Que chevere, no?
I've also started grading papers already! "How is that possible??" you might ask? They all had summer reading projects due on the first day of class that are worth a substantial amount of points. It's been going well so far!
If I haven’t mentioned before, I know what units I'm teaching with all sections. The 10th grade group will be doing a unit on The Crucible, along with writing a persuasive essay and highlighting various literary and rhetorical devices. They have lists of SAT vocabulary that will be incorporated along the way and looked for in their writing and speaking skills too. My APers will be focusing on synthesis essays in lieu of the exam in May, along with reading Frankenstein and studying their own SAT vocabulary. The AP units are new to my cooperating teacher, so the unit I create will be thoroughly checked and critiqued by her quite often. The 10th grade unit is established, but I am allowed to make my own activities and assessments. The entire school (PreK-12) focuses on making these statements called "Enduring Understandings"; basically the overall idea of what the students should take away from the unit. What's the most important idea they need to comprehend? Here is an example: (The student will...) understand the importance of literary skills and devices in order to enhance their understanding of written work and to enhance their own writing. I get to draft my own in the unit for the 12th graders. My first two for the Frankenstein unit go something like this: Model the importance of uniting sources to create a strong position in a synthesis essay. -and- Recognize and assess the dilemma of moral responsibility in light of scientific invention. Ah, I think they are pretty good, no? I still have to conference with Angela about them, but I feel pretty confident. They are supposed to be very general guides that lead the instruction and activities of the unit. The teachers here use backwards design - something I'm not entirely familiar with, but have ended up enjoying. It makes a lot of sense to me to start with these Enduring Understandings and the assessments, and then figure out how to get the students there with daily objectives and activities. I'm constantly thinking of ideas for journal entries and small writing assignments, so I have to bring myself back down to these general ideas before I can get to those daily exercises. Overall, I'm excited for what I can do with these students and what they can produce during this semester.
After the first two days of school, I went on a small trip with the other student teachers, and other international students from USFQ to a coastal town called Atacames. It’s about a 6 hour bus ride north of Quito along the Pacific coast. There were about 15 or so students who went, some who took the bus, and some who took a 20 minute flight. I went to Atacames without hostel reservations, so as soon as we got there at 7:00am, Stephanie, Casey, Mark, and I went in search of lodging.
We found a beautiful hostel across the street from other students in our group, but we kept searching for a better value. We looked through two more hostels, but decided the first had qualities that were worth the higher price ($10 a night per person). 
After a small siesta, the four of us met the other girls on the beach and relaxed with some sun.
Later we got lunch at a small beach restaurant, then went back to shower.
That night we had dinner at a great pizza place and went out for a few drinks. My hostel-mates and I planned on staying out with all of the students, but we were still so tired that we decided to crash early, leaving the beach about 9:30pm. Waking up rested and recharged, Saturday was filled with beach time. We played in the waves and some other students went tubing on bananas and tubes pulled behind larger, fishing-type boats that were available for tourists. It was a great day – I didn’t even get burnt thanks to my SPF50! The sun here is so intense – you can feel it trying to work its way into your skin even through high-powered sunscreen. That night we bar-hopped up and down the beach and ended the night with delicious hamburguesas from street vendors.
They're only $1 and totally worth the possibility of an upset stomach. In this picture you can see the small fabricated motorcycle vehicles that are a substitute for taxis in these small coastal towns. I got to ride on one once, and it was slightly scary because you are sitting in front of the driver, seemingly blocking his view! The bus left for Quito on Sunday at 10:30 sharp, and we made our way back south/up to the higher elevation of the city.
The scenery was absolutely beautiful on the way back, though my camera couldn't quite capture the view from the bus window. It was quite a ride - seeming a lot longer since this time it wasn't overnight. Overall it was a great weekend that was perfect for my first real adventure outside of Quito. This coming weekend I hope to go somewhere with my teacher-friends... I missed them all while I was away!
And so starts the first full week of school. I'm looking forward to doing a few full lessons myself! We're ending summer reading review and starting Unit One in both classes, so it will be a good chance for me to look at how to start my own units. I hope all of the mid-westerners are enjoying the start of fall. I'm definitely missing that here! Besos a todos.
No comments:
Post a Comment