Friday before semester break!

Now I would like to think that all the funny colorful hats the students wore today, were in my honor.... in reality the students were expecting a party after school!

The glasses definately make this outfit!

Imagine trying to teach with these three in the classroom....

Where did she find this hat?

I´m too cool.......

All throughout the day, this hat seemed to float from head to head to head.... Minnie Mouse is very popular in Peru!

Say...... Cuzco......

As the groups worked on their assignments, Johnathan and I moved throughout the classroom, monitoring and trying to keep the students on task!

On task..... not an easy concept to get across when the students were wearing these silly hats!

Time to exercise the brain!

I brought a number of different games along with me from California to play with the students, and Tangoes was one of them. 

During one of the passing periods, I gave the puzzle to one of my students, and asked him to see if he could put the puzzle pieces together to form the design on the card.  Took him a little while.... and then he got it!

It was not long before other students wanted to try their luck.... the other students however had trouble putting the puzzle together .... even as a group!  Fun way to take a breather from English class!

In June I........

As part of their homework assignment, this class was to write a sentence of what they, or someone else did durng each month of the year.  The students were to illustrate their work as well.

Some of the boys seemed to have forgotten about the homework assignment, so got busy and worked on it during the class period.

The girls on the other hand, came with their sentences and many of their illustrations already done!  Some were alittle strage, like the one above.... eventually the sentence read ¨In February my sister smells pizza.¨

One group of boys used technology to help them with the translation of Spanish words into English.

Very descriptive and the picture is cute!

Next week, Peru will celebrate its Independence ..... all week long in fact!

This was my favorite!

Johnathan reviewed with each student, their completed assignment.

From days of the week to momths in the year

Following my suggestion to JOhnathan last week that a new lesson on months of the year could build on his lesson days of the week ...... Johnathan had developed a lesson and taught it.

As Jonthantan taught the lesson, I moved throughout the classroom monitoring student work.

Frequently students would ask for my help translating a Spanish word into English.  As part of this lesson students had to write a sentence for each month of the year.  For example..... In May I study at school.  Since Jonathan had also introduced the Present Simple verb congugation in this lesson, students had to change the verb accordingly.... i.e. In May she studys at school.

As is the case in any classroom, some students just need a little more attention than others!

Teaching Tisha´s English classes

 When Tisha did not show up for class first period, Johnathan and I decided we would follow the normal daily English class schedule.  He would teach his classes, and I would teach Trisha´s classes.

After checking the student´s notebooks, I could tell what lessons Trisha had already taught and what lesson I could teach today. 

Working in groups, students were to identify the correct family member and then write a sentence in their workbooks.

As the day progressed, I tried my hand at drawing the various family members, using the model in the student workbooks.   After students had completed their group work, I used my drawings and the written text to check for understanding.  Students came to the whiteboard and filled in the correct answer.... which they then read to the whole class, and the class decided if the answer was correct.

Trisha´s classes are use to working in small groups and this works very effectively in here classes.

DVD Day!

On Tuesday, the second English teacher, did not come to school!  We heard that Trisha had had an accident, but that was all. The Director of the Colegio called Johnathan into his office and asked Johnathan to combine his and Trisha´s classes ...... and show them a movie! That´s what we did.... it was all in English and the students really enjoyed the movie... I did too!

Calendar next...

This class had not yet studied the days of the week, so Jonathan began the class with a model written on the whiteboard.  He also included drawings, similar to what he wanted the students to draw in their notebooks.

This class tends to have...... let´s say, lots of energy!  So I spent a lot of time working one-on-one with students.

¨What´s the English word for nadar?¨This student asked me.  Looking at his sentence frame, I responded, ¨On Saturday I go swimming.¨

More Spanish to English assistance.

Keeping this young man on track was nearly my full time job!  When I looked at his paper, I got a clue why he was so, so active.  Check the paper below....

On Saturday........ he didn´t even have to write a complete sentence for me to know what he does ..... my guess is, Red Bull is not just the beverage for Saturday however!

When students had finished their work, Johnathan would go to the student and check the student´s book.  I noted to Johanthan that since this lesson on the days of the week, with specific drawings for each day, had been going so well..... we could next teach the months of the year.  This would build on the current lesson plan, and expand it.  For students to come up with something specific from Cuzco, or Peru for each calendar month would be a good learning challenge for them.

A cold week! It´s winter in Peru....

It´s the dead of winter in Peru, with the night time temperatures dropping into the low 30s. The secondary classrooms do not get sun until late morning ..... so the first classes of the day find their classrooms cold!  The Moray, named after the circular terrace agricultural system used by the Inca, can be a fantastic classroom on cold days.

¨Where´s your book?¨ Seems to be the question every teacher, everywhere in the world, asks at the beginning of class.

¨My book is at home.¨ Comes the frequent reply..... so the next response of the teacher .... ¨Can you share?¨

Eventually, everyone has a book or can share their book with another student.  Class can begin!  Let´s learn about English verbs!

Class in the sun!

 This morning, the classroom was very cold!  July is the coldest month of the year in Cuzco and everyone feels it!  So when the students asked if class could be held in the sun..... outside we went!

Just below the classroom, overlooking the school and the valley below, was a nice grassy area where we could hold class.  The sun to our backs ..... it was delightful!

Students read from their book and answered questions regarding the present simple and the present continual.

Wait a minute!  Is this English class..... or a science experiment?  The sun indeed was strong enough to burn the leaf the student was holding.

Days of the week lesson.... continues!

 The days of the week lesson continues into the second week!  What with Johnathan and I seeing the students at Pukllasunchis for only one hour per week, one good lesson plan can go on for a week or two!  Especially given the holidays and the special events at the school it is easy to see a class only once every two weeks.  

Since these students are just beginning to learn English, the emphasis is on vocabulary development and not on grammar .  So lots of visuals, lots of short sentences which the students can use and build on.  

Johnathan modles for the students on the whiteboard, what he wants them to do. 

Students use the model on the whiteboard to copy into their notebooks, and add their own individual ideas.  Here the students were to write what they did each day of the week and then illustrate the activity.

One activity I saw over and over and over ...... On Tuesday (or whatever day of the week) I play on the computer!

Student asking me, in Spanish, for the English word....

At the end of the period, each student would come to the front of the class and read to the whole class what they did each day of the week.