School

So much natural light, I have yet to use the lights!

Last week was my first week of school and I couldn't have asked for it to have gone more smoothly.  I am one of two second grade teachers at the European School, and Mrs. Norma has been great getting me into the groove of how second grade flows. 

We are in the primary wing of the school, with gardens and grass outside every door.  Each classroom has a bulletin board outside the door which is redone every month.  The amount of creativity from the teachers is amazing- I can't wait to see them throughout the whole year.  I have an amazing full time aid in the classroom with me named Gita, from Latvia, and I can already tell we are going to be great friends- We have a very similar way of working with the kids and couldn't be a better match!  As of now, we only have 19 kids and I am proud to say I already know all of their names and am already getting to know them well academically, as well as personally.  I have a lot of freedom in the way we do things in our room and it allows much more time to really get to know the kids and what motivates and interests them.

Their props for the first poem

     Each morning the kids begin the day with Morning Music in the music room and I can't help but get the chills when they sing!  They love it and sing songs in English and Spanish.  Every Monday they get a new poem to study for the week, and on Fridays they recite the poem for the class and share a homemade prop that represents the poem (always made from recycled items at home).  The school uses notebooks for every subject and photocopies are pretty much against the rules- I love it.  The kids take a lot of pride in keeping their notebooks nice and orderly, because they keep them for the entire year.  The students only know the Costa Rican cursive alphabet at this point and their penmanship is beyond impressive! It has been YEARS since I have written in cursive so I have really been trying to practice mine! 

    Lunch time is a sight to see.... Kids are not allowed to bring any food on campus.  The teachers eat in the lunchroom with their students everyday.  Two students leave a couple minutes before the rest of the group with Gita to set the table properly and serve the salad.  Once the salad is eaten, they are served the main course, then fruit for desert. There is no toleration of students not eating their food and they must eat everything before being excused.  All of the food is fresh and organic (some of which is grow on the property we live on) and so far I think it is delicious!!!  I have mixed feelings about making the kids eat whatever is on their plate, but it really hasn't been an issue so far- they know the drill at this point.  Once a week I have recess duty and the only rule strictly enforced is "No climbing to the very top of the trees".  I love it; they can use their imagination, run around all they want and BE KIDS!
   We had a back to school night already and it went very smoothly.  The parents were requested to bring either wine or cheese, to mingle after the classroom meeting.  The amount of trust and faith in the teachers and the school's philosophy by the parents is incredible!  It was great to take the edge off of meeting the parents by sipping some wine with them and chatting about school and life  :)

Laguna Barva

The school offers so much for the students and teachers.  Every Wednesday is a half day, so that the kids can take extra curricular classes on or off campus (baseball, soccer, ballet, art, music, dance, etc.).  They also expect that the students and teachers will use this time for any dentist or doctor appointments, so they will not have to miss any school.  For teachers, they offer yoga, massages, chiropractor, Spanish classes, etc. weekly.  They also just began a program this year where 11th grade students organize and take a younger class (the same class) hiking one Saturday each month, as part of their community service for the IB program.  Jacob and I joined my friends Nicole's 5th grade class today just  for fun.  We went to the Barva Volcano (not quite to the top) and it was beautiful!!!  It started to POUR while walking back, but the students were troopers!  I think it was a bonding experience....

All in all, I can already tell that it is going to be a fantastic year down here and an incredible teaching experience!!!!   I don't think I will ever want to come back and teach in the States!