There comes a point where suddenly you become comfortable. You bond with your kids + it doesn’t feel weird when you suddenly get hugged. You know what you’re doing when you get up to teach + it’s not like when you’d have to give an awkward presentation in school. Those little personalities which are all so different start shining through. Suddenly covering a class isn’t a big deal. You know how to control the kids without needing to constantly scream. Your kids become like little best friends. You become a teacher.
Before Project I never thought I could teach – I didn’t even think I could be around children! Now I can’t even imagine not knowing my kiddos. It’s not just 2nd Grade though, I adore every grade I get the honour of working with.
This year has given me the opportunity to work with a variety of ages + though all have their perks + downfalls, the younger kids totally have my heart. I like being able to be goofy, jump around + laugh with them – plus they have SO much love to give!! You get swarmed with love notes, hugs + little treats on a daily basis – all of which never fail to make me smile.
Nivelación has a huge age range from 3rd-8th Grade which meant that we ended up splitting the class. The little ones (3rd-5th) were in one group + the oldest (6th-8th) were in another group, with Giselle + I swapping which group we taught every week. I actually surprised myself by way preferring working with the smaller kids, as I often found there were problems with respect/attention in the older class. Being super strict is not what I’m good at and although for any other class these problems were super small, for nivelacion they were huge as they were normally so well behaved! However, once I implanted slightly more structure it flowed a lot smoother – though I still prefer being with my little ‘uns. Sometimes the lesson turns into chasing me around the cafeteria + tickle parties – which is no bad thing! I have some amazing memories with them of jumping around singing “We Will Rock You”, entire class hugging sessions and distinguishing between Giselle + me because I have super curly hair + she has super straight (with hilarious pictures). Our tests are always covered with little notes, drawings and, on occasion, crying faces.
Nivelación are the kind of class that whenever they see us around school either run up and hug us, tickle us (I spend my mornings running away from Eduardo + Er’s surprise tickles) or, if Brittany + Cristhel run up to me then squeal when I lift them up. They always grab my backpack and water bottle and carry this to the cafeteria, where we have our lessons. They also always give the same response to the question “how are you?” of “I’m fine thank you, and you?” which never fails to make me laugh! The reason I love them so much is partly because they truly want to be in the school so work really hard and have buckets of respect for us and just because every personality, though unique, is wonderful.
Once, one of my boys was crying so Evis decided to fetch him paper, give him a hug + flash him one of his wonderful smiles. That would make anyone feel better – trust me! I adore that child and his wonderful heart, as well as his 2 older brothers who are also in the class. Then, the other day the older ones took a really hard test + when I walked into the class with my little ones, I saw that a few of them were crying, including the boys which led to a chat from me about the fact they never fail to impress me + how smart they are. I ended up hugging a few kids and having a chat in Spanish about how well they’re doing and how I love them. It nearly broke my heart! They are such a hardworking, amazing class who I will struggle to live without.
I’m so incredibly proud of nivelación and all of the amazing progress they have made. They came to the school in January with no previous knowledge of English and now it’s rare I have to speak to them in Spanish. I get told little jokes and stories in English – though the odd joke in class is still in Spanish. At the end of every session we throw in our hands and lift them shouting “Spelling!” Though this week they all shouted “Miss Charlotte!” Instead and if that doesn’t warm your heart, you’re probably the grinch. These kids constantly give 100% and have been a true pleasure to teach – I feel incredibly fortunate to call myself part of the nivelación team – thanks guys!!💙
Everyday at 11:45 I head over to 6th Grade for Language class. The main reason I work in 6th Grade is because of one boy who has some serious behaviour issues. At the beginning I stood next to him in class however this didn’t really work (a couple of times I actually had to pick up his pencil) and then his behaviour got so bad we had to start working outside which definitely functioned a lot better. Though there was a little bit of talking, I found we got way more work done as I also had the opportunity to explain the work to him as we went through it. The best part about the older kids is that their English is so good we can have some really funny conversations and Dario would often entertain me with tales of when he use to live in Teguc. Or, when I asked him what his life plans were, he can tell me “Miss, I’m going to sell verduras” – okay Dario, you do you!
Whilst in 2nd though, I still spend the majority of my time working with the wonder that is Isaac, my adorable boy who has autism. He continues to be an absolute light in my world and I love the time I get to spend with him. He has also made incredible progress this year – at the beginning his handwriting was gigantic, he needed guidance in everything and he struggled to get his anger under control. However, Isaac can now complete tests alone, tells me when another student is bugging him + makes me proud with all he is achieving! Woo, Isaac!🎉
Also, rather sadly, he came up to me the other day + asked if I was going to help in in 3rd Grade. When I said no, that I had to go to England, he simply said “oh”, gave me the saddest face and walked away. I’m going to miss my little sunshine so much😭
Of course, outside of school we still teach the neighbours kids. Recently, the other kids who were there at the beginning came back making the class size larger + actually much harder to control. The newbies obviously didn’t have as good a level of English as they had missed 6 months of class so they preferred talking or playing with any objects they found in the room which led to some strong words from us as they were distracting the others. However, it was such an honour + joy to teach them on Mondays + Thursdays + we really did have lots of fun – as well as enjoy the food after! As we come to the final few lessons our focus has become conversational instead of new topics and I can’t imagine having weeks without our lessons.
Teaching was a big learning curve and it took me a lot longer than I thought to actually feel comfortable in my role. Once I was comfortable though, it was the best thing I’ve ever done. It is a seriously tough job so huge props to all teachers everywhere – you’re rocking it👊 the marking, lesson planning and fact you have to be the best version of yourself all day, everyday can be tiring but to see progress makes it worth it. My kids make me laugh, occasionally bring tears to my eyes and are such little super stars! If I ever think the curriculum is too hard (being made for Americans) my kids continually prove to me that they are capeable of a lot more than I think.
Saying goodbye will be incredibly hard, especially as kids come up to me and say things like:
“Why are you leaving?”
“Can you please come to third grade with us?”
“I’m going to miss you when you go to England!”
“PLEASE DON’T GO!”
As well as lots of hugs. I already know I’m going to sob when I have to give that final hug to my kiddos but I’m trying to remember that I will return. I will see them again. I promise.
I’ve learnt a lot this year, I’ve had the honour of working with some incredible students + I honestly wouldn’t change it for the world. Thanks to Abudant Life, our amazing school, thanks to the other teachers + a truly HUGE thanks to my kiddos, without whom I wouldn’t be Miss Charlotte. From here, I’m going to make the transition back to being the student as I head off to University to study Law. I don’t know when the next time I’ll be teaching is after this but all I do know is I’ll be ready to tackle it when I am!
From a little blue house in Yamaranguila,
Miss Charlotte x
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