Back to School

Well, in Honduras the school year begins in mid-February, so we officially began last Monday (the 16th). The first week went pretty well for both Terrez and I & all the teachers. Terrez has his 4 math classes and 4 English classes, so he teaches all day. As for me, I only have 4 English classes, but supervising the preschool, kindergarten, and special needs classes has kept me more than busy. Right now we have one of the biggest, most involved groups visiting the orphanage, so all those who help out in the Pre-K/K/Special Ed classes have to use me to translate. My translating skills have definitely picked up recently. One thing I have experienced this past few weeks is how much teachers prepare for the school year. I have a new appreciation for the efforts of all my (good) teachers I've had throughout my schooling. It takes so much more than I previously knew. I'm glad to be experiencing this now so I can have a deeper insight into the work Terrez will be doing for a while back in the States.

Things here are constantly changing, and responsibilities get added all the time. One new idea the staff are implementing this quarter is elective courses taught by the orphanage staff. All of a sudden, I am now the teacher for the Drama Elective class. For the next few weeks I will be instructing 6 middle/high school girls on various aspects of drama. Now, I'm not particularly fond of drama, so this will be very interesting. I have to plan the entire curriculum however I want to, so I might incorporate singing and dancing (since I like them more). A few of the girls sing in the choir, so they can help me if I ever decide to teach a song to the church choir.