First day of teaching!

Today was the first day of teaching at America Latina! Alex and I taught two sections of 5^th grade and one section of 10^th grade.

Alex and I before teaching our
first class!

Our first class was with Quinto Verde, or 5^th grade green. We had them for two blocks which translates to 80 minutes of teaching. We began our lesson by introducing ourselves through pictures of our families, school, and activities we enjoy. We then turned it over to the students to introduce themselves to us. Each student had to introduce himself and his seat partner using “to be” and different vocabulary words.

As teachers, we aren’t allowed to use Spanish in the classroom, but for this class we talked with them individually in Spanish to help them understand concepts and ideas. I’m so glad I have proficiency in Spanish because it made teaching the material a little easier. The students were comfortable speaking with me in Spanish and asking me questions. It helped them relax around us and act like they do with their regular teachers.

The second half of the class was more focused on confidence. We asked the students to describe what confidence meant to them and asked them to draw pictures about times when they felt confident. Alex and I were able to learn a lot about each student based off of their drawings. Some were great singers while others were great soccer players. 

My students in Quinto Verde with their confidence worksheets

 After Quinto Verde, we had one section of conversation with Decimo, or the 10^th graders. To start off our conversation, we read out a few sentences about confidence that the students had to agree with or disagree with. Some of the statements we asked were, ”Confidence can be learned,” “I know people who are confident etc. The discussions were very insightful and made the class enjoyable. For 10^th graders learning English as a second language, their thoughts and responses were well-developed and well-thought out.

El Panecillo

 Our final section was Quinto Azul, or 5^th grade blue. We only had 40 minutes with this class so we were only able to do our introduction activities. These students were really lively and loved the activities we planned. Tomorrow, we have them for two blocks so we’ll get to know them a little more and be able to do more activities with them.

One of the many churches
in downtown Quito.

After teaching, our group left to go visit the Panecillo, which is a statue of a virgin with wings. I was able to climb up the steps of the Panecillo to the feet of the virgin. The view was beautiful and I could see all of Quito!

We also visited downtown Quito where we were able to tour different churches and the President’s Palace! The churches were made during the Baroque period and almost all of them are lined with real gold on the inside!

Tomorrow will be my second day teaching at America Latina. I hope my classes go just as well tomorrow as they did today!

The group outside of the Church of San Francisco.