Back on the Job

After a week of relief and reconstruction work in San Pedro that culminated in the handing off of bags of donations, AND a weekend filled with enjoyment and adventure at Lago Atitlan and the Yalù farm, we've finally gotten back to business teaching the enthusiastic and relentlessly smiling children at the school in San Pedro. With this morning's (Tuesday's) activities also finished, only two days of actual teaching remain.


Considering that my partner, Sergio, and I had a Personal Growth Project (PGP) focused on teaching, the last week was a loss for us in terms of progress on our project and teaching of science. However, instead we participated in some pertinent relief work, which taught us an equal amount of things (even in the realm of science).

Anyway, these past two days of teaching have been difficult because we now have to face the frustration of having to cut more and more material from our original schedule, while still keeping the necessity of integrating English in mind. Still, we're both going at the challenges with much passion and optimism, and FINALLY today we saw the success we wanted during two extended and meaningful science lessons with our two sixth grade classes.



First, with Sexto B we followed up our English lesson on the parts of a house with an activity in which all the kids built their own model houses in groups. Their engagement and creativity was impressive as they took the initiative to decorate and realistically represent the interior and exterior of a home. Next up is the lesson about electricity and circiuts, culminating in the installation of light bulbs in the kids' houses as well as the connection of the topic of energy to their base of understanding of global warming (calentamiento global).

Meanwhile, later in the morning, with Sexto A we utilized their previous knowledge of the planets to teach them the names in English and review the idea of orbit. After testing them on the basic order, we moved the class outside and lead the students in creating a model solar system with 9 students representing the 8 planets and the Sun (as seen in the pictures and video). With great interest and understanding they managed to organize themselves into the correct order, and using our explanation of the term 'orbit' they replicated the paths of revolution of the different planets.


Altogether, Sergio and I felt victorious after such success, and students already voiced desire to try further activities and simulations with science. Still, with such little time we feel the need to make every hour count, so tomorrow's classes are significant in the progress of our project. Nonetheless, we are learning to enjoy the company of the students too, as I've gotten to know many of them by name (not just by face). The fact that they are enthralled about the chances we give them to express themselves only encourages us further, whether it's at recess or in the classroom.
Furthermore, the kids have bounced back from a week out of school exceptionally. Even though we don't see them all day, their patience and focus is exceptional considering they're coming back from 5+ dats without the structure of school. This speaks even more volumes for their passion, energy, and potential that can be tapped.
Altogether, I'll be extremely sad to leave such caring individuals, but with now that I've experienced their presence I trust that with the right oversight, resources, and inspiration (such as we're trying to instill) they'll move on capably and survive the best they can in the circumstances that are Guatemala's (and poorer San Pedro's) reality. The plan is to close with a bang, but I'm not thinking about this as an ending, rather as a beginning, a jumping off point, as I take the last days here one step at a time.