Practicum Week

Wow,
I am not even sure where to start! This week has been one of the hardest and and also one of the best learning experiences I could have had. This training has been really intense and really hard for me, but I have learned a lot.

This past week we have all been up in the Northern part of Nicaragua doing a practicum week. Half of the group was in one city and the other half was in a different city. I was in a city called Jinotega. It's a really beautiful mountainous city. It's so much cooler in Jinotega. I found my self going the whole day without sweating and scratching mosquito bites!I even went to a coffee shop and drinking a hot drink didn't make me want to pass out! I wouldn't mind living in this area for the next two years!

So for practicum week we were each assigned a school and we had to teach a minimum of three hours of class in three days. We had to teach 90 minute classes and 45 minute classes. We all had a partner to observe us and give us feedback about the class. We were thrown into this crazy situation and we didn’t know what to expect. At times I felt like I was in the library for finals week, trying to cram in last minute studying. Instead I was trying to come up with a creative lesson plans for a class that I knew nothing about. It was very hard and challenging. It was also very exciting when the lesson succeeded and you knew that you did a good job. It was also really awesome to have all of the other trainees help in the process. We all supported each other.

For the most part all of my classes went well. I worked at a private school and the students were a lot different from what I was use to. I had one really really tough class, the 11th graders. They are in their last year of school and they were just over it! I tried to start the class off really friendly and excited, but it was dead silent. No one participated, everyone just stared at me and I think some students laughed. The normal teacher for that class was in the back talking to another student and totally oblivious to what was going on. It was one of the most awkward moments of my life. The class was 90 minutes and it went on like that for 90 minutes!
But I survived it and I lived to tell the tale.

The practicum week was a really great learning experience for me. Now I know what I am good at and what I need to work on. Also we got to hang out with people in our group that we don’t normally hang out with. It was fun to get to know different people. This coming Friday we will find out what city we will be in for the next two years. I am really excited and really nervous about where they are going to place me. I am sure I will like it but I am very anxious about it! Well I will report back when I find out my permanent site.

Pictures:
1. A picture of the mountains on the way to Jinotega
2. The mist over the mountains in the morning in Jinotega
3. The kids outside playing while the school is being fumigated
4. Me getting my teach on
5. The whole Jinotega group at the thank you dinner for the teachers