It's been a year! We are in a season of a lot of goodbyes and one very exciting hello.
Yesterday was our last Adult English class. We had a party with our students, and Krysta and I stayed at the library with them until almost 9pm. We had a TON of food, music, a little English, and a lot of laughter. We have been with most of our students since January and a couple since last year. They have such excitement for learning English, and they have spoiled us with gifts for "Teacher Day", "Women's Day", "Easter", and any other holiday for that matter. They also taught me so much about Ecuador, Ecuadorian culture, and Spanish throughout the past year. We said our goodbyes and had quite the photo shoot. I hope these adults stop by the library to say hi throughout the next month. They are wonderful students and friends. Through this experience, I've learned how to be a teacher and how education is the key to development. Through education, these community members have so many more opportunities available to them and they are empowered to seek out the best for themselves and their familes.
Tomorrow will be the end of summer volunteers. We will say farewell to our 11 new friends, and step back to see how much they've helped us during the last 2 months. They worked to bring in new faces to the library... helping us reach record-breaking attendance! They encouraged kids to read through the Summer Reading Club and Literacy Class. They helped run classes and got to experience life in the realm of "Community Development". We've enjoyed their company, loud sing-a-longs, lesson-planning help, and shared love of ice cream.
With bittersweet farewells comes an exciting start of a journey. A year ago, we were all in Miami for new PD orientation. Now, the Ecuador 2010-2011 PDs are currently in Miami and will arrive in Quito on Saturday. Unfortunately, we will be in Colombia for the weekend (we have to leave the country to renew our visas), but we look forward to meeting the newbies when we return on Tuesday!
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
El Rey de Adult English
Krysta and I have been teaching a Beginners English Class for adults every Monday and Wednesday, and on Wednesday we had our last class of the course (courses last six weeks). We will pick up right where we left off in our next course starting on Monday, but the end of this course meant two things: an exam and a fiesta!
Our students for the past 6 weeks were incredible. We had a full class of 10 students, who were all devoted to learning English. Their hard work was reflected in their exam scores. Krysta and I are proud to say the least. Our students learned how to introduce themselves, give personal information, say the date, use simple present of "to be", describe their surroundings and each other, etc. One of our objectives for the course was to engage students and teach them about United States culture. 
Silly students...
Some of our students-- THEY'RE AWESOME!!!!!
Our students for the past 6 weeks were incredible. We had a full class of 10 students, who were all devoted to learning English. Their hard work was reflected in their exam scores. Krysta and I are proud to say the least. Our students learned how to introduce themselves, give personal information, say the date, use simple present of "to be", describe their surroundings and each other, etc. One of our objectives for the course was to engage students and teach them about United States culture.
With that in mind, our end-of-course fiesta was New Orleans themed. I gave a lesson on jazz music, cajun food, and Mardi Gras. Thanks to a recipe and plastic babies from Mama Booe, I was able to make King Cake for our class. Though it was a painstaking process (and took probably 5 hours in total), it was well worth it, and our class LOVED searching for the baby. After they found the baby, they named it "Gastoncito" (little Gaston) after one of the students in the class. They crack me up, and there is never a dull moment in the class. Our adults are so eager to continue learning how to speak English; their enthusiasm makes it an easy and rewarding job.
My first King Cake!
Finished Product
Silly students...
Some of our students-- THEY'RE AWESOME!!!!!Monday, October 26, 2009
oops...
Dear Blogging world,
Please forgive me for the lack of posting in the last month. Life has been crazy as usual. I've been teaching an average of 9 women per exercise class. I have been shaddowing a doctor at a rural clinic every Wednesday. Children's English has kept me on my toes, while test making for Adult English has given me a new respect for teachers. Life in the house is chaotic, as usual. I spent a week with Dave, who came to visit and experience life "Manna Style". And I've been a slacker at updating my blog. Please accept my apology with a few annecdotal stories and pictures from Dave's visit.
Much love,
Haley
Fútbol!! I played in my first soccer game (EVER) last weekend, and I still have bruises on my legs to prove it. The best part of the game was not being as tall as the goal, or getting schooled by intense Ecuadorian ballers (whoever told us this was a non-competitve league, was SORELY mistaken), but when I got a yellow card. Why, you ask? I wasn't too aggressive, I didn't talk back to the ref, and I didn't kick anyone. I picked up the ball. I bent over and picked up a soccer ball as it rolled towards me. Despite my lack of soccer skills (what can I say; I'm a basketball player), we tied 3-3 against the toughest team in the league.
Listening to small Ecuadorian children (ages 4-9) trying to pronounce English words continues to be something I look forward to week after week. I always get a kick out of the enthusiastic "APPLAY!!" One of my favorite stories from Children's English arose out of our alphabet lesson. We asked the niños to give us an example of an english word that starts with the letter. With every letter, we would get responses in spanish or with the wrong letter (for c, one kid yelled "HORSE".... maybe because "caballo" is horse in spanish? who knows). When we got to "W", every kid raised their hands. Sarah and I looked at each other and were excited that the kiddies knew a word. When we called on them, in a loud unison, they all screamed, "WHISKEY"!
Please forgive me for the lack of posting in the last month. Life has been crazy as usual. I've been teaching an average of 9 women per exercise class. I have been shaddowing a doctor at a rural clinic every Wednesday. Children's English has kept me on my toes, while test making for Adult English has given me a new respect for teachers. Life in the house is chaotic, as usual. I spent a week with Dave, who came to visit and experience life "Manna Style". And I've been a slacker at updating my blog. Please accept my apology with a few annecdotal stories and pictures from Dave's visit.
Much love,
Haley
Fútbol!! I played in my first soccer game (EVER) last weekend, and I still have bruises on my legs to prove it. The best part of the game was not being as tall as the goal, or getting schooled by intense Ecuadorian ballers (whoever told us this was a non-competitve league, was SORELY mistaken), but when I got a yellow card. Why, you ask? I wasn't too aggressive, I didn't talk back to the ref, and I didn't kick anyone. I picked up the ball. I bent over and picked up a soccer ball as it rolled towards me. Despite my lack of soccer skills (what can I say; I'm a basketball player), we tied 3-3 against the toughest team in the league.
Listening to small Ecuadorian children (ages 4-9) trying to pronounce English words continues to be something I look forward to week after week. I always get a kick out of the enthusiastic "APPLAY!!" One of my favorite stories from Children's English arose out of our alphabet lesson. We asked the niños to give us an example of an english word that starts with the letter. With every letter, we would get responses in spanish or with the wrong letter (for c, one kid yelled "HORSE".... maybe because "caballo" is horse in spanish? who knows). When we got to "W", every kid raised their hands. Sarah and I looked at each other and were excited that the kiddies knew a word. When we called on them, in a loud unison, they all screamed, "WHISKEY"!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Work, work, work, play, work
Sorry for the absence, but as the title implies, I've been a busy girl recently. I've had several 12-hour days in the past 2 weeks.
Women's Exercise classes are up in running in the new space, although attendance leaves something to be desired. I think that the craziness of school starting is partly to blame, not to mention the fact that it takes awhile for Ecuadorians to get used to foreigners (and realize that we all don't have swine flu). In the meantime, I'll be patient and perfect my routines with our one regular, Susana.
This week several of us have been spending the mornings at Aliñambi, a school/orphanage, taking growth measurements of kids. We are measuring arm and trunk circumference, weight, and height, and we ask questions about their eating habits. From the information we gather, we hope to implement some sort of nutrition program for the community and school. This is very preliminary, but incredibly exciting nonetheless.
Lastly, Adult English classes have started this week. We are holding classes every Monday and Wednesday from 5:00-7:00pm (I'm only teaching on Wednesday, because I have an exercise class on Monday). Chet and I are teaching on Wednesday; Chet and Krysta are the teachers for the Monday class. We have enjoyed lesson planning thus far and look forward to how our class pans out.
This past weekend, us girls went into Quito for the day and had a blast at the Basilica. Check out pictures below!
Scared sitting at the top of the Basilica with NO railing
Is it just me, or are the colors brighter here?
Living on the edge
Hasta la proxima vez!
Women's Exercise classes are up in running in the new space, although attendance leaves something to be desired. I think that the craziness of school starting is partly to blame, not to mention the fact that it takes awhile for Ecuadorians to get used to foreigners (and realize that we all don't have swine flu). In the meantime, I'll be patient and perfect my routines with our one regular, Susana.
This week several of us have been spending the mornings at Aliñambi, a school/orphanage, taking growth measurements of kids. We are measuring arm and trunk circumference, weight, and height, and we ask questions about their eating habits. From the information we gather, we hope to implement some sort of nutrition program for the community and school. This is very preliminary, but incredibly exciting nonetheless.
Lastly, Adult English classes have started this week. We are holding classes every Monday and Wednesday from 5:00-7:00pm (I'm only teaching on Wednesday, because I have an exercise class on Monday). Chet and I are teaching on Wednesday; Chet and Krysta are the teachers for the Monday class. We have enjoyed lesson planning thus far and look forward to how our class pans out.
This past weekend, us girls went into Quito for the day and had a blast at the Basilica. Check out pictures below!
Scared sitting at the top of the Basilica with NO railing
Is it just me, or are the colors brighter here?
Living on the edge
Hasta la proxima vez!
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