June 10 & 11, 2014

Tuesday was a day of rest.  :-)  We didn't have class or any tours.  I took the day to catch up on work and sleep.

Wednesday we went back to the public school and spent the morning observing in different classes.  The first class we observed in was a 5th grade English class.  The teacher spoke Spanish to the students while teaching English vocabulary.  It was not an immersion class but more like a traditional language class.  What was interesting was the amount of wasted time in the classroom.  The students had lots of wait time while the teacher checked each child's notebook.  I looked around for books, thinking maybe the students could read while waiting on the teacher, but there were none.

5th grade class

Two students worked with another teacher with an iPad or tablet.  They seemed to be hearing impaired and were working on their sign language.  The girl seemed very interested however the boy seemed bored and wasn't practicing.

A student's desk

The English Teacher

The second class we visited was a first grade class.  It was a regular class taught in Spanish.  Students were working on something while the teacher walked around and helped where needed.  Many of the students were not engaged (well at least not with their work).  They played with their hair, their pencils, etc.  About half the class was working on their assignment.

A school day consists of 4 hours.  Because of the lack of schools & teachers, they have 2 shifts--morning and afternoon.  When you consider that within the 4 hours, at least 1/3 of the time is wasted on waiting,  it makes you wonder what is getting accomplished?