Concientizacion y Otros Pensamientos: Maestra!

Ay Dios Mio! Well, I’ve. . . .survived my first week of school. I’m here teaching 1^st grade, have I said that yet? In my classroom I co-teach with Brenda, a Guatemalan teacher. She’s a super sassy, denim-wearing fashionista, and even with her pumps on, I tower over her. There are so many new and crazy things that have happened this last week, it’s hard to know where to start.

The Guatemalan school system is obviously very different from the systems I am used to. The standards are very different, and have given us a few laughs. The math standards don’t include children needing to know how to count, but in math we do need to teach them how to raise their hand, stand up and sit down. We spent a week and a half going over these standards and other laws here, and my mind nearly exploded from all the Spanish being crammed into the dustiest corners of my brain.

Another challenge this week was setting up our classroom. I feel like it was an episode of craft wars. “You get this piece of cardboard, some chalk, and toilet paper. Create a classroom. . . . GO!” Luckily my family plays craft wars every year for Christmas, so I have lots of tricks up my sleeve. But it’s definitely a new, and slightly overwhelming, task to have to create everything you need to teach students. On our first day, we didn’t have any paper or pencils for the kiddos to use.

Oh yes, the first day of class. My boss walked by at the end of the day and said I looked like I had been hit by a train. I told her it was the CRAZIEST day of school I have ever had in my entire life, and she said “Yes, but that was such a good first day for here!” I have to keep re-calibrating my brain to function within the cultural differences. It is very normal in Guatemala for students to be wandering around, yelling, interrupting each other, and using violence to solve problems. These kiddos aren’t intentionally being disrespectful, it’s just the norm here.

The violence was definitely the hardest for me to see. Every time a kid was annoyed about something (a wrong look, a mean joke) they would punch each other – the girls and boys. It was really sad and frustrating to see that, and not have all the language I need to establish a different culture in the class. I could say a lot, and I certainly told them to stop, but I couldn’t find the words I needed to create the safe space and community I would establish on the first day in the states. I have also learned that I can’t understand Spanish from angry kids, crying kids, and excited kids. Emotions mixed with Spanish make it impossible for me to keep up. So I generally would nod my head, pat their backs and say “Let’s ask Senora Brenda.”

The kiddos in my class are adorable, but are definitely gonna give me a run for my money. All the teachers voted that my class is the hardest. We have 13 boys and 10 girls. We have 2 special ed kiddos, and there are no special ed services to speak of, so I have to create a system within my class. We have 2 boys who were held back, 1 boy who is 8 and has never been in school before, 1 boy who doesn’t speak, 1 kiddo who is obstinate-defiant and will not to a single thing ALL day long, and my personal favorite. . . .a narcoleptic. Poor little Ricardo really is diagnosed Narcoleptic, and falls asleep everywhere! He just clonks out wherever we are – in the middle of circle time, in the middle of eating his food, he even fell asleep walking down the stairs one day! While it is sad in the dangerous moments, it makes me laugh when he’s just clonked out in the middle of his lunch. The poor guy. And I have no idea how you teach someone who sleeps all the time! His mom did say to splash him with water to wake him up. So basically, I’m going to treat him like a plant - water him, and assume he’ll learn through osmosis.

My kiddos are super sweet, and I’m never short on hugs and love. But they definitely are gonna make me work for my time here. Which is good. I said I wanted a challenge. Ask, and ye shall receive.

Here's my bare bones classroom