Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has come and gone in the United States, and although Spain doesn't officially celebrate it, the roomies and I kept the celebration and festivities alive and well here in Motril. Check out the below video which documents our Spanish Thanksgiving! Enjoy!

Technology Part 2 of X

Sorry this took a while to post. I was preoccupied with Thanksgiving festivities the last couple of days. Look for another post soon about our awesome Thanksgiving here in Spain!
___________________________________________

Tuesday night, when I should have been sleeping, I was “clicking” through the New York Times and came across the article I linked to in the previous post below. After reading it, and posting it on my Facebook status, I went to bed, where I tried to think myself to sleep pondering ways I could integrate technology into my future history classroom. When I had an idea I got up, grabbed my iTouch, typed in the idea in a note I have saved as “Teaching Ideas,” and tried to fall asleep one more time.

With that said, this particular article in the Times really caught my attention because it addresses so many interesting issues regarding technology and how it affects education. If you don’t feel like reading the article, and would rather read what I have to say about the article, keep scrolling.

Students are changing, and as the students change teachers must change. A major problem in the American education system is that so many teachers realize that students are changing, but don’t change with them, or don't make big enough changes to deal with them. Many times they only complain about how lazy the students are and how they can’t stay focused, and how they don’t have the same attention span that the last generation of students had… 10, 20, 30 years ago. Although this may be uber-critical, that is a state-of-mind out there in the education world and I am pretty sure I could get some agreement from other teachers.

What I find interesting is that this article hints at the fact that all of these complaints about students are valid, and says that it is because their interests are changing and have become more specific with all of the opportunities and distractions available, mostly via technology. They have become preoccupied with anything and everything on the Internet, their attention span is shorter because of the constant juggling of Internet windows on their computer (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to name a few), their cell phone and iPods (texting to their friends. One girl in the article says she sends over 28,000 texts a month!), and that overall they just don’t like to find time for school work when there is so many other ways to occupy their time.

Take this knowledge and translate it to what these students are like in the classroom. It describes the distracted and “lazy” student teachers get so frustrated with on a daily basis. But does this mean that these students do not have the same capacity to learn as the students that came before them? Of course not, they just need to learn differently, and that’s where the teachers and administrators come in.

The article talks about how a principal at a high-end school in California has taken a pro-technology approach to structuring his school. From introducing new technology classes to raising money to purchases a classroom set of iPads for the new Mandarin classes, he is taking steps to take the school into the 21st Century.

Picture: Students of mine (while I was student teaching) doing research on a classroom set of laptops

As a teacher this is extremely exciting. When I arrived in Spain I was impressed to see how each classroom had a projector, while the 6th graders were all given net books last year and their classroom received a Smartboard this year. Other schools here in Motril have Smartboards in every classroom. From my experience in the United States, personal laptops for each student and Smartboards are still catching on (mostly because they are expensive and funding for schools has taken a hit in most states with the poor economic conditions). Yet, as more schools begin to adopt them the possibilities (and difficulties) of having large amounts of technology in the classroom are endless.

But once you have all of this technology available to teachers and students, how do you integrate it into the curriculum? This is a common issue and all so often you see technology resources being misused, or students are put on a leash with what they can do with the technology. This is something I have thought a lot about as a teacher. With the power of the Internet at your finger tips in a smart phone. For example, students can easily Google anything, such as “causes of the civil war” and read a Wikipedia article that goes in more detail then I could go into in a single 45-minute class. I can see it now, “Mr. V? I can just Google this information, why do we have to learn it?” How do I react to that?

Sure, students can Google that information, but that’s only part of it. For me, teaching a history class, or any type of social science, isn’t just about the raw content—it’s about examining that content and making it applicable (because that's where the real learning happens). From comparing past history to current events and finding correlations, as well as finding ways to find cross-curriculum connections, teaching history is more then just facts and people, is finding a new way to understand the world around you.

Technology can be pivotal in this area because students have the resources to get the information quicker, which then allows the students to devote more time to the most important part of education—developing analytical and critical think skills. I hope to turn my future history students into mini-historians. I want them to be able to use all of the resources available to them to gather information and then teach them how to apply critical thinking skills and analytical skills to make that information relevant.

Teachers must begin finding quality ways for students to effectively explore and learn using the technology they have at their disposal (this obviously varies and is a whole different discussion in itself—not all schools are able to afford this flashy technology, so is technology just furthering the achievement gap within education?) and I am keeping my ears open for articles such as this, and others in the future, that can aid me in finding those instructional strategies.

In short, I want to emphasize the fact that students are changing, and teachers and administrators must change with them. This requires teachers and administrators to do what students do--immerse ourselves in the technology and become like them, so that we can teach them in a more meaningful way and aren't left behind, and that the students aren't left behind either.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Technology Part 1 of X

Many of you may know that I am big into technology, and as a teacher I see technology as a learning tool in the classroom. However, I will be the first to admit that technology also hinders learning in the classroom and has single handedly created a need to change how teachers instruct in the classroom. Evidently, the New York Times agrees (atleast with the topic) and has an incredible article about this very topic. Any of you who may be interested, I encourage you to read it. I am hoping to write something myself about this vary topic later today or tomorrow.

Technology
Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction
By MATT RICHTEL
Published: November 21, 2010
The constant stream of stimuli offered by new technology poses a profound new challenge to focusing and learning.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Really?



I love kids. I love history. I love working with people. Why not put the three together?

That was my thought process as I approached high school graduation and looked towards my future at the University of Michigan. Once I arrived on campus I quickly made the decision to pursue a career in education with concentrations in history and social studies. Since history and social studies are both middle school plus classes, I entered the track to complete my secondary certification.

I have some experience working with little kids, but really not a lot. Most of my time was spent working with kids 12 years or older, and once in college I spent most of my time working with kids that age and older because I was on track to do the secondary certification, and I wanted as much experience as possible with that age range.

Teaching isn’t easy. Each kid, each age range, each class comes with difficulties. However, I can counter many of these issues with what I learned in college classes, and what I learned in my education classes in college was how to teach and deal with students between the ages of 12 and 18 years old (secondary).

I have experience teaching kids whose second language is English. I taught both an English class and 3 social studies classes in Honduras for 6 months. I’ve also completed a TEFL course, which teaches you how to teach English as a second language.

Now combine all of these paragraphs above into one idea—my experience and my training and my passion to work with kids.

Now, picture this: me, in a classroom, with 8 six-year olds and one four-year old feeling completely helpless as students are talking extremely loud in Spanish, not listening/understanding anything I say in English, crawling on the floor, standing on their chairs, etc. etc.

Talk about a learning experience and a rough day at the office.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Hace frio? Nah, I am from Michigan…

Greetings from “cold” Motril, Spain, and by cold I mean I wake up in the morning and can see my breath while walking to school. That is in the range of the mid-40s. However, that changes to sunny and low to mid 60s during the afternoon…



Yet, that is cold to Spaniards, and while walking around you can tell that the “cold” season has hit. People have broken out their winter jackets, scarves, and hats. In fact, after academy class yesterday I was talking with Adriana (the other teacher) and while we were talking a mother of one of my 6-year-old students came into the building rather upset. She spoke some very fast Spanish with Adriana and I couldn’t keep up with the conversation. After she left Adriana said that the mother was upset because our students were waiting outside after class for their parents to come pick them up and it was too cold for the students to be outside—my guess it was about 55 degrees…

However, I plan on doing more traveling, and that traveling includes me going north, where it will actually be cold. As mentioned I already have plans to do so—London the first week of December! With that said, and my gradual displeasure of being identified as an American (I have nothing against being an American, but I’d rather not stick out like a sore thumb), I have decided that I will slowly make changes to my wardrobe. Last week I made my first change—the purchase of a man purse. Today I made the next step, and it is a much bigger step (and a more expensive one). I bought a new jacket.




What do you think? You can click on the pictures to make them larger and to get a better look at the jacket...

Emily and I went and ran some errands this morning and after we walked around and checked out jackets in several different stores. I wanted something more European (my other warm jacket I have here is a Northface that screams American) and I feel like I was very successful with my purchase. I had it down to two jackets of the same price—this one and another that looked more like a traditional pea coat. I chose this one because one, it looked more European, and two, it got two thumbs up from both Emily and Bern. Consider it a success.

The crazy neck warmer thing can be zipped out of the lining to give it more of the pea coat look:



I like it.

Either way, I am slowly but surely making progress towards my European transformation. Next on the docket for purchase—I don’t know, I better get some more money first…
_______________________________________________

Other then the shopping adventure today, this week has been rather dull. Classes have been going well, even though I do have my moments with the kids at my academy. In fact, my 6 year-old class became a little more difficult this week when a new student was put in the class. I don’t mind at all, but this new student is rather difficult to work with, mostly because he is 4 years old and can’t write. However, when I put the other students on a task and I have the opportunity to work one-on-one with the four year old, he repeats words perfectly after I say them. Thus I know he can do it, but he just needs more attention, which is difficult to do when I am trying to deal with 10 other hyperactive 6 year olds. Yet, it’s been a great experience working with those young guys (and one girl) as it is giving me a broader age range of experience.

Anyway, here are some more pictures of my students across the board.

My 12 year olds at the academy:





My 12 year olds at La Zafra.





I haven't snapped any pictures of my older group at La Zafra, so look for more student pictures down the road.

Catch you later!

Monday, November 15, 2010

La Zafra Blog.



I have started a second blog while here in Spain. You can click here to check it out. I will be writing daily entries (I hope) talking about what I did each day at La Zafra (the Spanish school I am a language and cultural assistant at). This was both a suggestion by my bilingual coordinator and what I thought to be a very good idea. It documents what I do on the job (which is beneficial to both the school and myself) and may give all of you a better understanding of what I actually do here. Check it out!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Humbled.

I remember standing there in absolute awe. Out in front of me was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. Then I looked down and about lost my stomach.
That is how I felt the first time I stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon. It may be beautiful, but as soon as I looked down that beauty turned into fear.

I remember the first (and only time) I went to Cedar Point. It was with my church’s youth group in middle school. In reality, I like the idea of roller coasters, but then I remember I am blessed with my father’s motion sickness. Add that to my fear of heights (as described by my Grand Canyon experience) and that combination isn’t exactly a match made in heaven for being a roller coast enthusiast.

Fast forward to Honduras earlier this year. Rachel and I have been on an incredible adventure swimming under and around a 140 foot waterfall. Our private tour is about to end when we approach an almost 30 foot cliff. Our tour guides turns around and looks at us, smiles, and jumps. I walk to the edge and there he is swimming in the river beckoning us to jump as well. After a minute I go, and a few minutes later I go again, and then again. It might have only been 30 feet, but it was a big step for me.

Friday night Michael Lynn and I met our friends Pablo and Ruben for tapas. They were the two guys that we were going to go rock climbing with the next day. After tapas we were walking to another bar when Ruben asked me if I was afraid of heights. I told him “un poco” (a little), and he quickly retorted that you either are or you aren’t. I said that I wasn’t. False.

However, Saturday afternoon came and this was me:



I am not the best when it comes to estimating heights, but if I had to guess I was at least 40-45 feet up at that point. Afraid of heights yes, but at that point I had so much adrenaline running through me I had no idea how high I was.

My first time rock climbing has come and gone and as my mom asked yesterday on Google chat “You are still alive?” It was an incredible adventure that allowed me to challenge myself in a totally different way, and in the process that challenge greatly humbled me.

______________________________________

Ruben and Pablo met us at the flat around 10:45 and we followed them for about 10 minutes to the rock-climbing destination. After wading a knee-high creek we trucked through a large field that led us to the base of a large open faced rock. Ruben and Pablo took out their gear and quickly suited up for the days first climb. Ruben went first connecting karabiners to the clips drilled into the face of the mountain and setting the climbing course that Michael Lynn and I would soon follow. After he came back to Earth’s horizontal surface Michael Lynn went first and did extremely well. She had done some rock climbing at her local gyms in Texas but this was no comparison.



After watching Michael Lynn go up and down I was ready, and I had the adrenaline boiling to prove it. I suited up in the harness and quickly began my ascent. With my adrenaline running I made it a good distant up but suddenly, at about the time the first picture above was taken, I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach and all the air had been pushed out of me. I looked down (probably not the best thing to do at that point) and got a little dizzy. I quickly regained my composure and tried to make it a little further up but it was to no avail, my body was no longer going to listen to my mind. I hollered down to Ruben, who was my anchor on the other end of the rope, and told him that I was coming down. He loosened the rope and I scampered down.

A little disappointed I knew I had to try that again, and with a different mindset. I was very quiet for the next hour as we switched to a different area of the rock face to do a different climb. I was trying to control my adrenaline and focus on the task at hand. Finally, it was my turn again. The first part of this second climb was going to be a little easier, but it got pretty difficult after that. I was able to get through the first part without a problem, but soon the face did become more difficult and I was beginning to feel that lack of physical strength that I had quickly felt after my imaginary swift kick in the stomach on the previous climb. I sat there for a minute on the face of that rock. The Mediterranean could be seen off to my left, I had Spanish friends hollering at me below to be “fuerte” (strong) and to keep going. I tried once and quickly lost my handle on the rock. Thank goodness for rock climbing equipment. After a small fall and a jolt, Ruben (my anchor again), kept me in the same general area I had been in and I scampered back over to the place I had been. I tried again, moving one foot over, but I could not find a place for my hand. I moved back to the previous spot. I felt around the rocks, dipping my hand into the chalk bag attached to my waist for more grip. I felt around again. Nothing. “How in the world did Ruben ascend this face 15 minutes ago? Oh, that’s right, he’s been climbing almost every weekend for several years.”

I tried again, but still nothing. At this point my legs were shaking and my upper body and arms were struggling. Talk about a humbling experience. After making it about a third of the way up the most difficult part of the climb (I estimate I made it about 55-60 feet on this climb) my body could no longer do what my mind wanted me to do.

Failure.

Humbleness.

When can I go again?

Enjoy these pictures.





Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

So, I am going to continue my Charlie Brown holiday videos with my students at school this week. With Thanksgiving coming up my bilingual coordinator asked if I could do a lesson about Thanksgiving. The kids really liked the Charlie Brown Halloween video (along with my coordinator) so I am going to also show them the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

Here is the video if you would like to watch it!


A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Friday, November 12, 2010

Hodgepodge 2.

I received a package from my mother a few days ago and inside I had the following:

4 boxes of Kraft Mac n’ Cheese
2 boxes of Wheat Thins (best for cheese and crackers)
1 giant bag of Sour Patch Kids
1 giant bag of an assortment of Jelly Bellys
2 tubs of peanut butter
1 movie that I had left at home

Therefore, for lunch, I had the following:


Que bueno. Thanks Mom!!!

*Notice the cut up hot dogs in the Mac n’ Cheese. College all over again…
____________________________________________________

So, the first week of December we have two days off from school, Monday the 6th and Wednesday the 8th (unfortunately we have school on Tuesday the 7th…). With me not working Fridays I thought this would be a great opportunity to do some traveling so I splurged and bought round trip tickets to:


LONDON!

The tickets were 94 Euros, which at the time with the exchange rate cost me about $135. Lauren Maat (Johnson), a long time friend of mine, and her husband are currently living in London and upon my request are going to graciously allow me to crash while I am there, so I am saving some mega bucks doing that as well. I will be in London for three full days and am currently planning my itinerary. The following are some of the sights I will see.


Westminster Abbey


Changing of the Guard and Buckingham Palace


St. Paul’s Cathedral


Stonehenge

Yes, Stonehenge. It is only about an hour and a half outside of London and I feel like it is a must see.

I can’t wait to tell all of you about that trip. Those dates are December 2 – 6.

____________________________________________________

Last week I promised all of you some pictures of my students. I reneged on that this week but I did snap a few pictures of the 6 year olds I teach at the academy on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Check them out:






This class has proved to be the most challenging experience I have ever had teaching. Their English is not at a level that allows them to understand what I am saying, and they only speak Spanish back to me (and it’s little kid Spanish which makes it difficult to understand). With that said, it’s been a challenge getting through the curriculum and I spend a lot of my time talking over their Spanish trying to get them to listen and understand my English. I have a new amount of respect for elementary teachers as well as my fellow Americans who taught younger kids in Honduras with me earlier this year. Talk about a whole new level of patience. It is good for me though, a valuable experience.

I will hopefully snap some pictures of my other kids at La Zafra, as well as the academy, this coming week.

____________________________________________________

I have officially made my first wardrobe purchase here in Spain. However, it really isn’t clothing.



The infamous “man purse.” I have a new appreciation for them after living in Europe for a couple of months and I think it will be extremely valuable with the traveling I’ll be doing. I wanted to get one for London because they are just big enough to fit my wallet (in a safer place then my back pocket), my camera, passport, and for a long day of sight seeing a couple of sandwiches.

I went with Emily and our friend Bernardo looking for one and once I found one Bernado got me a 50 percent discount by using a special card (like a Kroger card you keep on your key chain) for that particular store I bought it in. This brought it down from 18 Euros to 9 Euros. Clutch.

____________________________________________________

It is another weekend here in Spain and I have decided to do something out of the ordinary. Check out the following pictures of what that will be.





Rock climbing. Those pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago by Andrew Crosson, another American who is in his second year teaching in Spain and who also lived in the exact same flat as me last year here in Motril. He went with our Spanish friends and I will be joining them tomorrow to do the same. Wish me luck (one, because I have a small to major fear of heights and two, I have never actually climbed rocks, only the plastic wall things you see in large sports stores or your local gym).

Well that is all for now.

Hasta luego.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Love. Live. Learn.

Why go? Why leave the comforts of your own culture, the people you love, the things you love, to go to a place that may be uncomfortable, difficult—some place different?

It has been a roller coaster of a week for me here in Spain. I have experienced pure joy when Rachel bought a second ticket to come visit me in April as well as when I was continuing to plan our vacation for when she comes in December.

I have also experienced extreme frustration with the Internet issues, the kids I am teaching English to here in Spain, and several other unmentionable circumstances.

I have experienced both pure joy and frustration in a single three-and-a-half period as well, while watching my Wolverines play a basketball style football game that they finally came out victorious in.

It is weeks like this when I need to bring myself back to the important things in life, the reasons why I am doing what I am doing, and the attitude I need to have while moving forward from these roller coaster weeks. I think anyone who has spent a decent amount of time living outside the country knows that it’s not always easy. Times get difficult. Sometimes you just want to be home in your own bed, be driving in your own car, pet your own dog, hang out with family and friends you love and care about, hold the girl you love. It is times like these that test your character, your attitude, and how you react and get through it.

The title of this entry is love, live and learn. This has been a week that epitomizes those three words for me, which has been my adopted phrase this year—from my time in Honduras to now.

Love:
Love people, love life, love everything. With this attitude alone perspectives can change and an overhaul of a poor attitude can be done. Often easier said then done, but acknowledging it is a start.

Live:
Live life to the fullest (TRD). Take every opportunity given to you and seize each day.

Learn:
Learn little things about yourself. Learn big things about yourself. Learn about other people. Learn from people. Learn about other cultures…and learn that culture’s language (I am slowly but surely improving…)

Take this entry with a grain salt.

Go Blue.

Adios.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Absurdity.

Michael Lynn received a text message this week from the Internet company. It said that there was a problem delivering our router and to call a given number. We called, and evidently the address had been recorded incorrectly in their files. So, we corrected our address and shortly after doing this she received another text message saying the router would be delivered between 9 am and 4 pm today. I am currently writing this entry at 4 pm, and we have yet to receive the router. Can you say absurd?

I have picked up a second class at the academy teaching English to a group of 6 year olds. The academy is located in a building that has glass windows and a door facing a plaza. During class on Tuesday with this 6 year old class some kids outside in the plaza kept running up to the glass door, pounding on it, and then running away. I stuck my head out once, and wasn’t quick enough to catch the kids as they darted around the corner. This continued a few more times and I tried to ignore it (because that’s what those kids want, the attention). However, my 6 year olds could not. One student in particular had had enough, and I kid you not, when the knocking occurred again this particular student raised his middle finger and directed it towards the door. Can you say absurd?

During academy class Wednesday with my 12 year olds we were in the middle of a lesson talking about the phonetic pronunciation of the “ea” and “ee” letter combinations (sea vs. see (long “e” sound) and bread (short “e” sound) when one of my student’s cell phone began to ring. She bluntly pulled out her pink, gem stoned decorated cell phone and answered it (at least she apologized and told the individual on the other end of the call that she was in class…) Can you say absurd?

Thursday at school both of my EFL classes, as well as some of the older kids at the school, went to a concert at a local theater. The band that was performing sings covers of famous songs in several languages (Spanish, French, English, Italian, German and Portuguese). The English songs were “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson and “Shout” by Little Richard. I also heard “In the Jungle” in French. Anyway, there were about 100 students (maybe more) and since Motril is tiny and you can walk everywhere in town within 20 minutes me and about a half dozen other teachers played the role of cowboys herding cattle as we walked from the school down to the theater with the 100+ students. If this was not absurd enough the students’ behavior during the concert was. The theater has a classic set-up where it is a half-oval shape with a floor and three levels of balcony seats around the floor. Think classic opera house seating arrangement (but on a small theater scale). The students were seated throughout the theater and I have never seen so much disrespectful behavior (talking loudly, rough-housing in seats, jumping across aisles and barriers between balcony seats) in my life at a school event. Can you say absurd?

** NOTE

Since writing the above entry our router has arrived (at 5 pm). However, I do not know if this entry will be posted with said Internet because we are currently not getting an Internet signal from the router. Can you say absurd?

Monday, November 1, 2010

Where’s your blood?

NOTE: Upon Emily's request I need to credit her with the wonderful pictures you will see in this post. Please visit her website for more of them.

Hey, guess what? Still no Internet. The router never arrived before our long weekend so I am still going to McDonalds for Internet usage. It’s been over a month now without having it, and 3 weeks since we originally signed the contract with the company. Pretty poor if you ask me. But on to more important things…

Halloween has come and gone here in Spain (and everywhere else where they celebrate the holiday) and it was a rather good time. Check out the three of us at our new Spanish friends Halloween party last night:



Emily was rocking the gypsy, Michael Lynn was the hippy, and I was the classic pirate (bringing the APA back for those of you who know my high school parade crashing pirate story…).

As I mentioned in a previous post, Halloween has caught on here in Spain with costumes, trick-or-treating and costume parties. One thing though, Spaniards like the whole goriness aspect of the holiday. In the United States it’s not necessarily important to have the scariest or bloodiest costume, but here in Spain it’s the most important. As you can see from the picture above I was a simple pirate. However, last night one of my Spanish friends asked me why I wasn’t covered in blood. For example, look at this picture:



As you can see, Spaniards like fake blood with their costumes.
(Note: That is a Coke in my hand--I was the DD last night. I was actually the only driver since neither Emily nor Michael Lynn one, have their international drivers license and two, don’t know how to drive a stick shift).

Speaking of holidays, I had an early Christmas present this week. After posting my address a few weeks back my lovely girlfriend, Rachel, took the hint and took the liberty to send me a package last week and I received it this past Friday! Check it out:




A few books I had requested, some good ol’ American candy and snacks and a lovely card. I quickly turned around and made the Kraft Mac n’ Cheese for lunch that same day—what a treat, it brought me back to my college days. I only wish I had had some hot dogs that I could have microwaved and throw in. I also found out last week that my mom has sent me a package and it should probably arrive this week as well (which evidently has three more boxes of Mac n’ Cheese in it, add hot dogs to my grocery list…).
___________________________

School Update.

Today marks one month since my first day of work here in Motril. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a month (for the sake of time flying by and going without internet for that long in my piso) but I knew time would go by fast while here in Spain.

Life at school has been going really well. I spend a lot of time working one-on-one with the teachers, practicing their English and finding ways to integrate me into their weekly lessons. I then spend a class or two in each of the teacher’s classes speaking English with the students and every once in a while leading part of the lesson.

I have two groups of students that I work with every week. For one group this is their first year in the bilingual program and their English is very limited to a few words and phrases. Its been difficult working with these students because they understand very little of what I am saying and they have a hard time expressing themselves in English (often reversing to Spanish). It reminds me of my first several weeks in Honduras when I was working with my English language learners there. But they do work hard at listening to their teachers and me and are improving.

The other group is in their second year of the bilingual program and most of them have a good intermediate level of English. It’s been fun working with this group and I am looking forward to helping them even more with their English the next couple of months.

To sum up my feelings about my job a few weeks ago I ran into my landlord and she asked me how work was going. I quickly responded that what I do is hardly “work,” it’s just a really good time speaking my native language with teachers who want to perfect their English and with students, whom I love being around anyway! I can’t think of a better “job” to be doing overseas. I really enjoyed my time in Honduras earlier this year, but I was working really hard planning for three different social study classes and one English class. Here, it’s a lot more easy going and less stressful. Not a bad way to spend a year.

I hope to bring my camera to school sometime this week and snap some pictures of La Zafra and my students, so look for that this week.

Ciao.