Fernanda had lived in Santiago for a very long time and told me that she was paid much more out there than here in Villa Alemana. However, her husband's work was out here and so they moved. She continues to teach at Colegio Santa Ana because she loves the students and want to see them succeed. However, in the last couple years, the school is operated more like a business since it's semi-private so the teachers have less say as to what they want to do.
Fernanda often lesson plans after school and during the weekends and tries to make English more interesting by doing extra things such as making an English Corner in each of the classrooms for the students to refer to as well as coordinate English Week which will be mid-October this year. Usually, there are national debates between schools, but due to the change in government this year, there was not enough organization and funding to do so. But Fernanda along with other teachers in Villa Alemana want still want to organize a competition amongst students. Last year, they had a short film competition so they might try to do that again. I would love to help out with that.
Interestingly, teachers DO NOT have their own classroom which is different from the US. Teachers have to rotate from 1 class to the next which makes teaching difficult as they don't have a classroom of their own to decorate and the students tend to trash the classrooms with their personal belongings. In addition, teachers will spend class time setting up, organizing their papers, and writing on the board while the class goes berserk. Teachers switch grade/attendance books in between classrooms which seems a bit inefficient. Hence, they get a 20 minute break in between 45 minute or 1.5 hour classes to take their breaks. Therefore, the school day seems long as it lasts from 8am to about 4 pm. Each English teacher typically teaches all grades at the school (7th-12th grade). So they have to plan differently for each grade.
Most classes consist of 25-37 students. I made my introduction in each class that I had observed. Some students were definitely motivated to try to speak English as they would come up to me to ask questions, but there were few that did so.
On my 2nd day, I taught 3 classes (12th graders, 2-11th grade classes). Throughout the rest of the week, I also taught 7th and 9th graders. Fernanda was great with advocating for my necessities. Director Benjamin would constantly ask if I was okay at the school. I was able to setup my classroom in one of the teacher's lounge. Although somewhat small, I do have a whiteboard, natural light, and happens to be right next to the directors of the school so I can easily get my students to stay relatively calm. Most of my classes consist of 15-18 students.
I taught the following for my 1st week of classes (see below):
1. Word of the Day: "AWESOME!" w/ 2 thumbs up
2. Expectations: Referred to my poster with classroom rules as well as the similarities and differences with grading and graduation ceremonies between the US and Chile. For example, Chilean grades go from 1 to 7 (7 being equivalent to an A+). Also, like us, they receive their diploma one by one, but without caps and gowns on graduation day.
3. Introductions: Practiced a dialogue with numerous choices to pick from to answer the question "How are you?". "I am______." Talked about a proper handshake and eye contact. Practiced with a ball toss and switching partners. Also, I had them present a skit where they had to act out the dialogue by pretending that they were in a particular place depending on which picture card with nature scenes did they pick.
4. Ticket to Leave: For the most part, the students did very well with Introductions based on the short quiz that I gave them at the door in order for them to leave one by one.
I was glad that I could save time by using the same lesson plan and just adapt it accordingly depending on the grade level. However, after teaching the same lesson 10 times, I was getting a little annoyed with hearing myself teach the same information and tell the same jokes.
As I walked around the school, students would yell out to me "Miss Grace!" and then "AWESOME!". Then I would hear giggles and laughs. Fernanda told me that she was very happy that the kids and teachers all seemed more motivated to speak English even though the only word my students would repeat spontaneously was "Awesome".
Here are 2 videos of me teaching "Introductions":
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