It’s been quite the whirlwind since I got home from Cusco! I have been busy writing my last few lessons and preparing for graduation back home. This blog will take you up to the Friday before I return to the US. While my weekends were fairly uneventful since I have been working on the edTPA and job applications, I am continuing to learn so much about the schools and people here in Peru. The Monday after Easter was Earth Day. The students were all asked to bring a “pancarta”, or a poster, about caring for our Earth. We brought them to the morning assembly and later marched around school to promote Earth Day. I love celebrating these kind of events with students because it really allows learning to be bigger than the classroom. I also continue to be impressed with the time and care students put into projects and posters. I also implemented one of my favorite lessons from my time here. It addressed nouns and their classifications. We took notes, but I tried mixing it up with a foldable form of notes. We took a piece of paper and made little “doors” for each of the 8 classes and took the notes underneath the labeled doors. While it took a little longer than regular notes since students had to make the foldable and were not familiar with it, I think students were more engaged in note taking. Hopefully they will find it useful to study in the future as well. I invited the director of the school to watch me that week as well. I gave her the days and times I would be teaching. She came in during a lesson on theories of animal evolution. We talked about two different theories, went through examples of each, and then talked about which theory they think is more reasonable/accepted and why. I was happy the students engaged in discussion with me and each other during the lesson. Overall, it was an exciting week that went by fast!
Here are pictures of their posters on display and an activity we did that entailed sorting their examples of nouns into categories.
My last full week was one to remember. Monday was a fairly normal schedule. Tuesday, however, was the ceremony for the “policía escolar” and “brigadier”. Each classroom has two school police and one kind of classroom manager. These roles are chosen by the class and teacher. The school police make sure everyone is putting safety first. The brigadier is a peer classroom manager that encourages appropriate choices and behavior at school. The ceremony included the national anthem, announcing the roles of each classroom, and swearing the students into their roles. Parents came to pin the badges on students and watch the ceremony. I like the responsibility the roles show students, starting at just 4 and 5 years old.
Here are some pictures from the ceremony. You can see their pins and ropes that their parents pinned on. They continue to wear at least the pins to school to identify themselves as the policía or brigadier.
Wednesday, May 1st was International Workers Day so all schools were closed. I took the day to prepare some materials for our Mother’s Day presentation and for my return home. Mother’s Day is a big deal here. Yes, it is also a holiday in the US on the same day. At my school, all classrooms put on a big presentation for their families on the Saturday prior. This celebration also includes a big brunch. My host family is planning a big party at their house for extended family. In the US, celebrations are usually smaller. This year, it’s even overshadowed a little more since it’s also my graduation day (Sorry mom). So while I am familiar with the holiday, it’s interesting to see the differences in how it is celebrated. Thursday was pretty normal day. I continued to help with making decorations for the Mother’s Day wall we are creating in between teaching classes. After school, I got to watch my students practice their presentation. They are doing a little skit and singing. I’m a little disappointed I’m going to miss the actual performance, but I’m happy I’ll be able to spend Mother’s Day at home.
Friday was a long, but very memorable day. First, the gym teacher was sick so we started working on the students’ Mother’s Day crafts early. After lunch, I was in the middle of dictating notes for my students when one of them told me the director wanted to talk to me. My co op took over and I walked to the office. I had a nice conversation with her about my time at the school and in Peru in general. She told me my Spanish had really improved, and I agree. Carrying on conversations in Spanish is so much easier than when I got here. I kind of suspected something was up since we were just chatted with the ladies in the office in the middle of class. My co-op called the office a while later and said I should return to class with the director. My co-op, the students, and a few moms had planned a little going away party for me. I was not prepared since I still have two days left at school, but I am so grateful for everything they have taught me and done for me. When I walked in, all of my students were sitting in a circle and one of them threw confetti at me. They had set up balloons, a sign, and LOTS of food. My co-op started by saying a few words. Then the director and one of the moms talked too. After, each student got up and said thank you and have a safe trip. Most of them also gave me a hug. Later, they gave me a Peru jersey that they had all signed. We took some pictures before eating all of the delicious food they brought in. It was all pretty traditional to Peru, including a cake that had a picture of us on it. They are all asking me to come back for their promotion (like graduation since they are in the last year of primary) in December (which is when their school year ends). I told them I don’t have plans to return yet, but I hope I can at some point. I felt so loved and it’s definitely going to be hard to say goodbye on Tuesday.
Here are some pictures from our party. You can see the food and sign they made. The second picture is me with the director and my co-op. The third has the jersey they all signed, and the last is the cake with our picture on it.
This weekend is going to entail a lot of packing and preparing for my departure, but I do have plans for a tour of Lima on Sunday (yeah I’m kind of doing that last minute considering I’ve lived in the city for two months, but better late than never!). Ciao for now, but stay tuned for my final blog from my tour of Lima, to my last days at school, and flight home.
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