La escuela

I am active in St. Paul's in differnt ways each day. Most days I work with students in small groups to practice reading and writing in English. I have supervised two playground workshops. These workshops were conducted outside. I taught the students fun games that helped them practice their English. These games were new to the students and they were very excited to play. Most of the girls participated in the games while most if the boys played futbol. I have also taught large group reading and social studies lessons. The class I am placed with is very easy to engage in lessons and they are excited to learn. Since my time at St. Paul's I have also assisted teachers with various organizational tasks  for lessons and classroom organization.

The main differences I have noticed in St. Paul's school compared to the schools I have worked in back home are the language skills, the socioeconomic background of students, and the structure of the classes. The students are fluent in 3 languages. They have classes in all three languages and are tested in differnt languages. There English instruction is similar to ours. It focuses on phonics and conprehension. They are still taught cursive and expected to write neatly on all assignments they complete. In English classes they are punished for speaking other languages to make sure they are practicing English. St. Paul's is funded partially through the public system and partially through tuition. The students mostly come from affluent families. Most the schools I work at back home have been public schools with students from mixed socioeconomic backgrounds. Lastly, the structure of each day is not consistent like it is in most classes back home. The schedule of my second graders here switches from day to day. Some days they have spanish and a teacher comes in their room to teach. Otherdays they may have conputer time or art instead. The students also have much more break time for recess. There seems to be less structure for the students during transitions and breaks.