English Camp

Buenos Noches!

Yesterday we finished up a great week of teaching English to classes at Escuela el Estadio.  Each day we worked with different grades and helped build on their English skills. It was really interesting to observe the difference in the Costa Rican education system compared to the Estados Unidos (USA).

When we arrived to the school on Monday, the circus-like scene in the recess yard immediately took me aback. Children zoomed by with hulu hoops and skateboards, screaming and giggling; it felt like a scene out of a movie. During our first day we worked with 10-14 year olds. It felt a little experimental finally putting our lesson plans into place, but we had awesome results. Once we broke the ice and each taught a different lesson, it made me feel more confident in my ability to interact with the kids and motivate them to feel engaged in the classroom. Our lessons typically consisted of basic conversational prompts, (“Hi..How are you// My name is…//Nice to meet you”), but we also emphasized nouns + adjectives (animals, professions, emotions) and the alphabet and numbers. Most kids participated and seemed to really enjoy repeating the prompts and working on activities that involved putting conversations in order. We also had a lot of success with charades, professions, drawing, and identifying colors on the board. Some activities we’re a bit of a bust, such as “duck-duck-goose” and “the knot game”. It was difficult to explain the rules of a game that isn’t really part of their culture. 

            During the classes, Victoria, Kim, and I so badly wanted to be able to communicate better with the children. They were adorable and so interested in talking to us, but it was hard to think around the words we didn’t know. Often times, we would recognize what the child was asking or telling us, but we didn’t know the words in Spanish so we had to try to think of another way to say our intended responses. We’d often need to ask Rachel to translate for us. I feel much more inspired to build on my own Spanish skills so I can communicate more freely and not feel like I’m stifled in my understanding.

The children at Escuela El Estadio had much more free time and way less discipline than what I am typically used to seeing in grade schools in the U.S. Having worked in schools for three years prior to starting law school, I often observed that whenever kids acted out, disobeyed a teacher, refused to participate, or play-fought/got physical, they were immediately disciplined or lost a privilege. At Escuela El Estadio, this was not the case. Many of the children would get up during the middle of lessons, interrupt teachers and peers, play roughhouse in the recess yard, and refuse to participate in the lessons we prepared. We had many great students that were enthusiastic to learn (and show off) their English skills, but we also had many “class-clowns”. It was hard to keep their attention for very long, and like most kids, they were easily entertained, and also easily bored.

Despite the added craziness and lack of discipline, the kids were incredible to work with. Their eagerness to learn and participate in class as well as communicate with their teachers and peers was such a breath of fresh air. When I worked in the U.S., I often felt like some of the children were stunted in their personal expression by being forced to follow very “cookie-cutter” classroom expectations and lessons. It was refreshing to see all of them just be themselves and act silly with one another. I’m so happy I was able to have this experience and work with so many bright, hilarious, and promising kids. 

Pura Vida!

Lauren