Substitute Teaching

This Wednesday, because Taylor, my fellow intern was out, I was asked to be a substitute teacher in Aguadulce. I don’t actually remember what having substitute teachers were like in elementary school, but I definitely remember those in middle school and high school, and how little respect they got. Sometimes you would get lucky and have a substitute that knew something about their subject or wanted to do more than sit at their desk and read the newspaper for an hour.

Fortunately, the kids were extremely welcoming. I admit I had gotten lost that morning, and once I was in the classroom, I still wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but the kids helped me pick up right where they left off. In each of my classes, half a dozen students enthusiastically informed me what they had been learning, like verbs, saltar (jump), leer (read), jugar (play), and much more. After some review, and some delicate reminders, amidst choking back laughter, that the “j” makes an entirely different sound in English, and that ”hump” was absolutely not the same verb as “jump,” we played a variety of games.

I love teaching verbs to younger kids, there’s so many things you can do, play Pictionary, Simon Says, Charades and more. Of course school is great too, but kids spend so much time learning by just playing and exploring. After explaining these once in Quinini, I have gotten much better at explaining game rules too. Soon enough, the kids’ competitive spirits started to show and the game got heated. By the end, one group one, but they were congratulated wholeheartedly by the other team. Some of the kids may have gone home with some bragging rights, but I’m just glad everyone was able to learn a little extra English today