Thursday 11/6/08

Today I didn’t have to be at the school until 8:40 because on Thursdays we don’t teach English during the 7 am block of time. I woke up around 6:30 (it’s ridiculous, I don’t even have to set an alarm because I can no longer sleep in at all) and headed out for a run. Since I headed out a little later than usual (5am) the one and only main road was busy with big trucks beginning their day. To play it safe I went to the local soccer field and ran sprints. It was an extremely hot and humid morning so I returned from my workout covered in sweat and redder than a tomato (something ticos get a kick out of). I made my way to school after some banana pancakes (seriously, Maria thinks I’m obsessed with these and won’t stop making them for me). I started with the 6th graders (a group I usually don’t work with) and we worked on the verb “to do”. It is very difficult for me to explain English since I didn’t learn it by applying rules and strict patterns and that is the way it has to be explained to a non-native speaker. After the sixth graders, I headed back to my usual classes (grades 1-3) and we spent the day working on nature vocabulary (sun, moon, star, river, lake, etc.). It’s really hard since we only have 40 minutes with each class. At times I get a little discouraged by telling myself that the kids are going to forget. I’m always encouraged though when the kids seem to be truly trying to remember. Kids are so much better at this than adults. After finishing school around 4:30 I was greeting with some pineapple bread. I spent some time before dinner working on homework. It’s tiring going to school to be a teacher all day and then becoming a student by night. After homework, other than a nice visit from some extended family we did the usual dinner while watching the news and headed to bed around 9.