Teacher

So I figured I might as well write about teaching in Ecuador since that is why all of us are in the country. Plus my mom asked me to write about teaching.

Here is a compelling fact my organization. Unlike other abroad programs, we do not sign up volunteers and then approach countries with a big grin saying, ¨Well here they are where do you want ém?¨ Countries approach my organization and specifically ask for volunteers. We are a desired actually a desired commodity. Put more simply, volunteers are hired to help, much like construction workers, or electricians. Other abroad programs, on the other hand, provide the person who walks up to a construction site and offers to help. Bottom line: people in Ecuador who take English classes are SO excited to learn. We did an exercise in my class the other day where we wrote ´english´on the board and then asked people why the language was important. I spent the next twenty minutes writing tons of responses on the board all ranging from profession, jobs, family, self, country, city, tourism-one girl even wanted to learn English so she could write a letter to her daughter´s husband explaining how happy her daughter was.

So first thing about Ecuadorian classrooms are that showing up on time is completely optional. Class never starts until fifteen minutes after the designated start time, which is completely fine. It give me ample time to get my head together after 10 hours of classes of my own.

I am teaching basic English classes, which is absolutely perfect for me because it gives me time to practice the job I never had: drill sergeant. One of the major hallmarks of a native English speaker is his or her ability to speak words with the correct accent and intonation. Thus some of my time in class is spent with me yelling, ¨My name is¨followed by twenty Ecuadorians timidly chanting ¨Muy naeme ees¨followed by me urging them to chant more loudly while dancing around like a madman. Awesome times had by all. Muy chevere.

The other interesting aspect of teaching in Quito is the complete lack of resources. For example there are no textbooks that detail pictures of people wearing different types of clothing. Thus I needed to create my own. As my middle school art teacher could attest, I do not possess shall we say superior drawing skills, but I put my head down to create a picture worksheet for words such as suit, hat, high hells, shirt, scarf, etc. As life often does my creations worked out even better: Ok the keyboard just went postal on me and i no longer can create capital letters or periods: bare with me: point is the ecuadiorians loved my little drawings and everyone was all the better for my efforts:

off to class: take care:

que les vayan bien