First week of teaching

This week has been chocked full of activities with teaching and everyday has a slightly different schedule, which keeps you on your toes. Some days start at 7 am with class, others at 9 am. On Wednesday, we went to a new univeristy which has just been built. UTEQ, a school I have been to twice before, seems familiar as I recognize many of the teachers and know the layout of the buildings. The students are new but seem the same as previous times. Some of the teachers remember me too which is nice as they have had a many volunteer teams here. One teacher at the school has lived in Portland and Alaska, but I have yet to meet her.
Generally, because we are such a large group of volunteers, about 4 of us go with the teacher to the English class. Then the teacher divides the class into four small groups, and assigns each volunteer one group. So generally, I am working with about 4 to 5 students during that hour. The students level of English can range from basic beginning to intermediate. Most are shy to begin with but it doesn't take long for them to relax and then they begin to try to converse. These students are getting an accosiate degree after two years and will work in manufacturing. Most all students are eager to practice their English and appreciate of having volunteers in the room. Some groups I have had twice now so I am getting to know them better. There are about 5000 students at the school and each student will take 5 terms of English out of 6 terms for two years.





In the evening, the group of us go out to dinner. It is always a challenge to find a restaurant that can accommodate us all. This city has many restaurants and the historic colonial area is easy to walk around but we are constantly lost or walking in circles. hehe! So far, we have always tried to eat ethnic and local. The other day, we ate polzole which is very popular with the locals. We have eaten enchiladas and tamales too. I think I might be eating too much and not getting enough exercise. hehe!






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad