Tuesday May 28th, 2013

I was excited about Tuesday knowing how Monday went.  I was excited to see my students and they were also excited to see me!  Tuesday I was responsible for introducing the phoneme /d3/ which is the "j" sound.  However, like most of you know, this can be a tricky sound because "j" is not the only letter that makes this sound.  

To introduce the sound to my students, I put the tongue twister "John’s jeans are orange.  His giraffe’s jacket is green." on the board.  The students and I repeated the tongue twister as fast as we could, over and over again.  After identifying and underlining the words that have the /d3/ sound in it we played a game!  I divided the students into three groups and gave them index cards with words on them.  Some of the words had the /d3/ sound and some of them did not.  As a group they had to decide whether the word belonged in the /d3/ pile or the not /d3/ pile.  Once they finished sorting their cards, the students and I talked about why each word belonged in each pile.  The students really enjoyed it and sorted the words correctly for the most part.  

After the game, I gave students small, blank books.  Students were instructed to pick words with the /d3/ sound from a list on the board and put them into their book.  They were also asked to draw a picture to match the word.  This is a very effective strategy for ESL students because it provides the student with a visual that matches the word.  

Here are examples of student work.

My students LOVE to use bubble letters and it takes them forever to complete the assignment because of this.  

Students were very excited to be authors!  

Today was better than Monday.  They are getting the hang of raising their hand when they want to talk and not shouting out, but we still need to work on that a bit more.  Good thing we still have a whole week ahead!

 

Monday May 27th, 2013

Monday was my first day teaching and boy was it an experience.  The school is operated very differently here in Ecuador.  Students are able to talk out of turn, when they need the teacher's attention they scream "teacher, teacher, teacher!" instead of raising their hand quietly, and they do not listen to directions very well.  So, knowing that information I bet you're thinking my first day of teaching went realllllllly well ;)

It actually was not too bad.  The students are working on asking questions like "Do you have...?" and responding with "Yes I do have..." or "No I do no have..." To reinforce this concept I had the students fold a piece of construction paper in half.  They were instructed to write two questions, one on each half, that they wanted to ask their classmates.  After they wrote the questions they went around the room asking one another their questions.  They were to write the answer on their classmates paper and were asked to use "Yes I do have..." or "No I do not have..."  This activity was very unusual for the students, they normally sit at their desk and complete worksheets, so some of them had a difficult time understanding what to do.

Here are some pictures of the students work.

I was very impressed with their work.  

If you're wondering...Minecraft-Juanca is a game they play :)  

Things I need to work on the rest of the time I am here:

• Giving clear, simple directions.  Sometimes I think I get excited and I talk really fast using words that students in the US would understand but these ESL students do not.
• Setting my expectations for behavior.  Since students are so accustomed to talking out during class, I need to le them know that that is not appropriate when I am teaching.  I need to let them know that I expect them to raise their hand and that if they do not follow my rules there will be consequences.  
• Presenting the students with a different type of learning strategy each day.  The students like to do different things and I think that if I continue to use something they are not used to doing they will be more engaged.  

Sunday spent with our host family...

Sunday we had absolutely no plans.  It was quite nice!  We were able to spend the whole day with our host family and seeing different sights of Quito.

Luz and Teo took us to meet up with their daughter and her family, they are hosting Lauren and Amanda from our group.  We all went walking on a trail in the city.  It was beautiful and there were a lot of people out exercising.  We were able to see many different views of the city on this path and it was nice to get a bit of exercise.  Following our walk, we had ice cream :)  Seems a little ridiculous but hey...when it Quito!

After our snack we drove downtown to the city's water museum.  This was a place where they first began to purify water in Quito.  It is now no longer used to purify water but instead it is a museum that teaches visitors about the water cycle.  It was a lot of fun!  We went with Luz, Teo and their grandson Matteus.  Matteus, Carla and I spent a lot of time in a room where you can make bubbles using bubble wands - it brought out our inner child!

Following the water museum we went downtown to the market.  It was nice to see but they had the same stuff as every other market we have been to so far.  Later we drove around town for about 30 minutes looking for a place that sold grilled chicken, not fried.  We first went to a place called Pollo Companero, similar to a KFC, and they were out of grilled chicken for the day.  Then we went to KFC, they were also out of chicken.  THEN we went to the mall food court and believe it or not the KFC was out of grilled chicken there too!  Finally we found another restaurant in the food court that sold grilled chicken, Texas Chicken.  It was hilarious, Luz and Teo were determined to feed us grilled chicken.  As we were waiting for our food, Carla and I noticed that everyone was wearing plastic gloves to eat the chicken.  Everyone here eats chicken with their hands and therefore they use plastic gloves so their hands do not get dirty, it actually makes sense!

After our adventure around town, we came home to relax.  The weather has been cool and rainy here so it was nice to hang out inside.  Monday is my first day teaching and I will be sure to post about that soon!  Ciao for now!

Our first Saturday in Quito

Saturday was another very busy day.  We met our tour guide again, Juan Carlos, and he took us on a tour around the city.  It was fun because we were able to walk around and see more whereas Friday we spent a lot of time traveling in the car.  Quito is an interesting city.  Of course it is beautiful and unique just like every other old city, but it is populated with very poor and homeless people.  Sometimes it made parts of the city very dirty and uncomfortable for tourists.  However, our tour guide did a great job taking making sure we were all safe and together.  

Our first stop in Quito was a history museum.  The museum is housed in an old hospital and taught us quite a bit about Ecuador and how the city has evolved.  Afterwards we went down a street called La Ronda, it is the oldest street in the city.  The street really comes alive at night with bars and restaurants so during the day there is not much to see there.  We also toured a cathedral in Quito.  Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures in the cathedral, but believe me when I say it was beautiful.  All of the walls were covered in gold, it was quite the sight.  Before we left the city's center, we had a traditional Ecuadorian sandwich.  It was pork, tomatoes, and onions on a bun.  It was not my favorite dish but it was not bad.

After Quito we took a gondola to one of the highest points in the city.  It was a little scary because we were so high.  The point was beautiful but we did not spend much time there because all there was to do was take pictures and look around.  But it was fun and beautiful non the less.

Following our trip on the gondola we went to have lunch in downtown Quito.  The lunch was absolutely delicious.  I had breaded shrimp with rice.  Shrimp is one of Ecuador's largest exports and it is very tasty.  You might be thinking to yourself "Wow they eat a lot!" and yes you are right.  All we do here is eat.  It is exhausting.

Our last stop of the day was the Center of the World!  We actually got to stand on the equator.  It was a little anti-climatic, but hey at least I can say I've been in two hemispheres at once!  We took pictures on the line, toured the museum and shopped in the market.  We decided it might be time to leave when it was dark and there was nobody else in the park :)

When our host family picked us up from our day in the city, they took us (and two other girls from our group who are staying with my host family's daughter) to their son Henry's house.  He was having a small party and we joined them.  We played Trivial Pursuit and it lasted for hours.  Carla, Amanda, Lauren and I were EXHAUSTED and the game was never ending.  However, we had fun!  Sunday we get to spend the whole day with our host family.  It should be fun!

(pictures will follow soon!)

The Quito White House

Plaza de Independencia 

The Virgin looking over the city

Another view of the Virgin

This restaurant was legitimately a hole in the wall.  

Over looking Quito!

Over looking Quito!

Over looking Quito!

Over looking Quito!

Middle of the World!

Walking the line.

No school on Friday!

Friday was a national holiday in Ecuador.  It is similar to the 4th of July in the United States, except it is not as celebrated.  We went on an all day excursion to different places around Quito.  Our first stop was a town called Otovalo.  This little town has a very famous market that has traditional Ecuadorian goods.  We shopped around there for about an hour or so bargaining to get the best deals possible.  If we thought a price was too high, all we would have to say is "No, vamos a ver (No, I am going to look)."   And they would instantly lower the price.  It was hilarious.

This is Lauren and I outside the Otovalo market.

Looking up the street from the market.  There are mountains back there but the clouds are covering them up.  

Otovalo from the outside.  We did not want to take pictures inside because we were afraid of being robbed.  The less attention you can draw to yourself, the better off you are.  

After Otovalo we took a tour bus to a volcano that has a crater lake.  The volcano is active but hasn't irrupted in thousands of years.  It was a beautiful sight.  We were lucky enough to be able to take a boat ride around the lake.  Unfortunately the pictures do not do it justice, they looked kind of lame in pictures.  But, here are the ones that turned out!

When the volcano erupted last, the top fell in and created these two mountains.  The lake came from all of the snow that was on the volcano at the time.  

Another view of the lake.

Our view on the boat ride.

Lauren and I enjoying the chilly breeze.  

After our boat ride, we went to a bird sanctuary/garden.  It was on the top of a mountain and it was truly beautiful!  Below are pictures of some of the flowers we saw there.

Friday evening our host family went to a wedding.  Carla and I were home alone for a few hours and it was nice to decompress and relax.  We have a busy Saturday and we are looking forward to it!

We are finally here!

Wow.  These past few days have been such a whirlwind!  On Wednesday we finally made it to the school, four hours later than we intended.  The entire staff was extremely welcoming and immediately made us feel at home.

The school we will be teaching at these next few weeks is called William Shakespeare.  It is very different from schools in the United States.  First of all, every classroom is it's own building.  In order to get from one part of the school to another you have to walk outside.  The grounds of the school are so beautiful, the pictures do not do it justice!  Secondly, the students are constantly changing classrooms.  It is similar to a high school schedule.  They will spend 40 minutes in each class, there will be a bell (which is the same sound as our tornado sirens in Kansas) and a five minute passing period for them to get to their next class.  Students of all ages do this.  It is quite interesting.  The school is Preschool-12th grade.  The grades are somewhat divided into their own specific area in the school but they all are on the same campus.

These next two weeks I will be teaching 3rd and 4th graders.  I met my students on Thursday and they are great!  They are so interested in me and want to speak English with me because they think it is cool.  I enjoy talking with them and getting to know more about them.  The classes are much smaller here, about 12-15 students per class.  This is nice because the students get more individual attention.  Here is a picture of my classroom!  It is so fun and bright.  I love it :)

As you will notice, the ceiling does not attach to the walls.  They do not have fans in this classroom but instead they have this small gap and windows.  The classroom stays a very comfortable temperature at all times. 

The teacher I am working with is great, her name is Renata.  She is young, maybe in her mid 20s, and this is her first year teaching at William Shakespeare.  Her English is incredible.  Most of the teachers at this school are bilingual.  The school encourages students to speak English all the time, although some classes are taught in Spanish.  I do not know a whole lot about the school since I have only been there one day, but I am sure I will learn a lot more this week.  Below are some pictures of the campus.  

My first school lunch in Ecuador!

It was extremely delicious.  On the left is arroz y polo sopa con potato sticks, tomate (the fruit) jugo in the middle, and pescado frito con arroz y frijoles on the right.  For all you non-Spanish speakers that is rice and chicken soup, tomato juice, fried fish with rice and beans.    

This is the soccer field/basketball court right in the middle of the school grounds.  To the right is the lunch room and to the left is classrooms.  

This is where the younger kids go to school.  

A playground.

This is a view of a classroom.  See how it is standing alone?  That is how they all are.  It is very neat.  I like the idea of being outside all of the time, especially since the weather does not change too drastically.  

I'll be sure to post more about the school next week!

We made it!

We made it to Ecuador late Tuesday night!  Woohoo!  Our flight got in around 10 and we finally arrived to our hotel around midnight.  The hotel is beautiful, I have no idea where it is, but it is called El Jardín.  We left this morning for the school at 7am and we were all so excited!  On our way there we ran into heavy traffic.  After sitting in traffic for about twenty minutes our taxi driver turned the car around.  The other girls and I thought we were taking another way to the school.  Well, turns out there was a very bad car accident and if we were to take the long way around the accident it was going to cost us $120.  So, we are currently sitting back at the hotel waiting for our taxi's to pick us up.  I will post later this evening about our experience at school and with our host families!

Off to a bumpy start...

Hi everyone!  It has been quite the trip so far.  On Sunday we were supposed to leave the country at 5:30pm on a flight to Quito, Ecuador.  Unfortunately our flight out of Kansas City was so delayed we missed our connection in Atlanta.  We ran to our connecting gate when we landed but we ended up missing our flight by 10 minutes...10 MINUTES!  They told us that holding planes is not their company policy.  It was quite a disappointment because we were told by a Delta attendant that they would hold the plane.  Talk about a frustrating travel experience, I've never had this happen to me before!  After we realized we would not be catching our flight to Quito on Sunday, we stood in line at the Delta counter for three hours trying to get on another flight.  Needless to say, we were not impressed with Delta's customer service.  They told us the soonest we could get on a flight was Tuesday evening at 5:30pm.

So, we spent a couple of days in Atlanta!  I have to admit, Atlanta was more of a culture shock than I expected.  Monday we went to an area called The Underground which was interesting.  It is an old underground structure that was turned into a shopping area.  We did not stay there for too long.  We eventually made our way to the Buckhead Mall.  Talk about faaaaancy!  We had lunch and walked around for a bit there.

After our excursions in the city, we decided to spend the evening at the Atlanta Braves game!  The stadium was beautiful and the weather was perfect for a baseball game.  We all had hotdogs, cokes and funnel cakes to enjoy during the game.  We did not stay for the whole game, but the Braves were winning when we left!

Tuesday morning we spent time at our hotel before our flight.  We worked on preparing materials for the schools.  It was very uneventful.

We are excited to head to Quito!  We cannot wait to me our teachers, students and host families.  We are sad our trip is cut a couple days short, but we are looking forward to making the best of the situation.