The Okies Take A Long Breath

There have been painful moments when I am trying to ask a question in my childish Spanish, when all the students look at me doubtfully, thinking maybe, what is this white man saying? There have also been blunders in Spanish, especially in taking attendance and learning the names of students. One time I accidentally called a girl “pigeon” when trying to repeat her name, something the class found quite amusing. There has been the difficulty of being consistent with our procedures (always raise your hand, don’t start putting your books away until I dismiss you, etcetera), which are supposedly the secret to having an orderly classroom. And we can feel the students testing our resolve and discipline, seeing what kind of maestros we are going to be. There has been the discovery that even seemingly clear and simple instructions can be taken as many different ways as there are students. And there has been the frustration of limited time for classes – forty minutes each on a normal day, but often less this week as things are still getting settled. After five straight classes of trying to fit everything we want to say and do in such a short period, we feel a bit whirlwinded about.

But we are learning to be teachers, and discovering along the way what valuable skills are included – being able to keep order in a group, talk coherently, communicate effectively, design evaluations, make detailed plans. And it is a great boon to be doing it together. Kelly is pretty familiar with the teacher’s toolbox and is an exceptional planner, and so has been my buena maestra; we have four eyes in the classroom instead of just two; we can confer about decisions and work together on grading and planning; and we can give each other breaks in the classroom. It looks like I will be taking the two first year classes and she the second year classes. We will share the third year group.

We gave our first quiz on Friday, with the following questions:
What are the teachers’ names?
Where do we live right now?
What book of the Bible are we reading in the morning?
What is rule #1?
Write two examples of rule #1.
What is rule #2?
Write two examples of rule #2.

The quiz was entirely in Spanish except for 4 and 6, and only required a little bit of studying. Still we had a large number of students who made less than 50% (some as low as 25%), with most somewhere between 50% and 70%. But there were a few who made perfect or close to perfect scores, and as we uncovered these afterwards when we were grading, it was immensely gratifying. I nearly cried. Oh Kevin! That is great!

I have also been drafted to help Cesar teach physical education, which began on Thursday. We sat out in the hot sun as Cesar (a very gifted teacher) went through the reasons for physical education – primarily, to rest a overflowing, stressed-out mind, and to ease frayed emotions.

And then we went for a run, the students in their skirts and exercise pants and Instituto El Rey t-shirts, me in my dress shoes and pants. It was comical. I know very few words about exercise, except for correr (run) and saltar (jump), and so I tried to keep them in three lines as we jogged along the dirt road towards Yaruca. After about a quarter mile, I noticed that Cesar’s and Chris’ groups were doing stretches, so we stopped and did the same. I tried to teach them an “Indian Run” (carrera indio), later discovering that indio is a derogatory term around these parts, and found that it is difficult with such a diversity of students –some of whom want to sprint, and some of whom reach their limit after about 100 yards. That afternoon Ruben, a second year student from Las Mangas, came over to see if Larry and Chris and I were going running, which is an exciting opportunity for building a relationship with one whom I thought was pretty closed up.

So we are excited to be here at Instituto El Rey, and are reminded that this is not just school, but a war against the powers of darkness – which are very real in the lives of these students. There are a lot temptations poised to take them out: promiscuity (Ester says the word among the students is that there is “plenty of meat” on the campus this year), homosexuality, drugs, occultic activity and Mayan superstition (there is apparently a coven of witches in Yaruca), and more.

“But have courage!” Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.”