On teaching

I am getting a real taste of life as a teacher--I spent almost all night after basketball practice until at least 10:30 lesson planning and grading and doing homework for my class. A few people have asked what I'm teaching, so here is a brief summary. First of all, CAG is on block schedule--so rather than teach units on different topics, they're all rolled up into one long class.

7th: Grammar (parts of speech), short stories (focus on elements of plot), a novel--The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and vocabulary. It's pretty busy, but Monday if vocab day, Wed. short story day, and Fri novel day. We do a little bit of writing and grammar every day.

9th: Because the curriculum didn't come in on time, we started with research papers. I teach various aspects of the research process then the students have a chance to work on their papers.

Government: Origins of U.S. government, moving toward the Constitution. Okay, you all know that I am a nerd, so this won't surprise you. September 17 is the anniversary of the US Constitution so I'm planning a Birthday party with a "National Treasure" esque scavenger hunt :) I'm pretty stoked about it...

English as a Foreign Language: This class will be a lot of trial and error, but I am starting a writing portfolio. It will incorporate reading, writing, and speaking which are obviously important aspects of learning English.

Anyway, that's my life teaching--full time for three weeks starting on Monday.

I should have some good stories and adventures after this weekend, so more to come!

It's a small world after all...

This is the secondary building at CAG


Yo Quiero Taco Bell...all the Spanish one needs


Pretty flowers, I had to make Herm proud


La Chapina (Karina) y la Gringa (me) a la mercado


The world shrunk considerably this past weekend. I was walking with the ladies in the neighborhood (wow, I really am a teacher...) and mentioned to one that I am from Michigan. She said, "oh, I have a girl staying with me from MI, Grandville actually." Yes, a former Little League teammate of mine--go Superior Sports--went to language school in Antigua and is staying right down the road from me. We reminisced about the bubble and ended up going to a Barlow Girl concert with a bunch of the other teachers. Afterwards we were hungry, and where else is there to have a 10:00 dinner? Taco Bell. I promise, I am actually living in another country!

I picked up my 9th grade English class. Day one went pretty well...they're chatty so I had to lay down the law as best I could. I start government later this week (pray for that one!). Basketball practice is interesting--one gym, one court; ideally boys and girls rotate practicing outside, BUT, it's rainy season. So today we learned our offense and defense in the chapel. It gave true meaning to "I will enter his courts with praise." Ha, don't laugh too hard at my jokes.

If you're wondering about the pictures--"gringo" is not a derrogatory term in Guate like it is in Mexico. Karina calls me gringa, and I call her chapina which is the name for Guatemalan people.

Oh, a note to those who are taking seriously the posting challenge...I want you to post, but keep it clean. Lunch with me is worth it, but no fighting (ahem, Herm, Tasha, and a preemptive warning to Uncle Lenny). And Dad, if you win you'll probably have to pay anyway :)

A Challenge

I've been thinking a lot about what my goals are for student teaching, and for life in general...and here's one I want to share. I'm re-reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, and in the preface he writes the following:

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself.

It is as if they are showing you the way.

How can I live life and love Christ in such a way that my passion and love is contagious? Jesus came "that we may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10)--am I living life to the full, or am I just living life? What am I doing to show the way?

It's something to think about...

On the first day of school...and my new home

On the first day of school a seventh grader gave to me...a tasty box of chocolates! We had a half day today--all classes for twenty minutes. It's amazing to see the differences between middle schoolers and seniors on day one of school.

I start teaching 7th grade English on Wednesday--I'm not too worried about it yet, but I am a little nervous about the government class I'll be teaching. We're starting with philosophy of government: think Montesque (I can't even spell his name...I have a lot of work to do!), Locke, etc. It'll be a great experience and I'll learn a lot in the process.

After a week with the my friend Ethan's family (they took me in like family and made me feel SO comfortable here, a HUGE blessing) I am not settled into my home with the Soderling's. I've enjoyed getting to know the family--they're involved in a lot of ministries down here. Mr. Soderling is a doctor and helps organize Christian physicians and health care. In addition they are starting a Christian school up in the mountains somewhere--hopefully I'll get to see it while I'm here!

I am making some good friends already, which is another blessing--most of you know how much I love to talk with people :) I've been running with another teacher, Karina, and am getting to know her outside of school too.

Basketball practice starts on Thursday! I'll be a coach for the first time...

That's all for now, and I PROMISE that pictures will come--I haven't taken that many yet, I'm a slacker.

On Rod, Mario, and a real update

The Tigers/Yankees series has been playing here in Guatemala...watching Tigers' baseball with Spanish commentators makes me miss Mario and Rod! Too bad I didn't get to see any victories!

Okay, now for the real stuff. Over the past week I have been attending New Teacher Orientation and all the beginning of the year teachers' meetings. I have already learned a lot about the C.A.G. culture. C.A.G.'s mission is primarily for missionary kids. These kids are growing up in the overlay between multiple cultures: at this school it's primarily North American, Korean, and Guatemalan. They belong to all while not fully belonging to any. C.A.G. is a place where these students can find a home.

C.A.G. provides a solid, rigorous, academic setting for students so their parents can devote themselves to the mission field here in Guatemala without having to worry about their children's educations. The community here is more interdependent than that of a school in the states: the students need any and all adults in their lives and don't have the outside resources like students in the states.

I think the mission of C.A.G. is a beautiful mission. Every kid, whether a missionary kid or a kid growing up in the inner city, needs a place that he can call his own.

I start teaching tomorrow! Finally the students will fill the classrooms. Over the next few weeks I will be picking up 7th and 9th grade English, an English as a Second Language class, and 12th grade U.S. Government. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out as I will be reporting to four different cooperating teachers :)

Adventures in Guatemala Blogging

Alright, the much anticipated and promised blog is now up and running! I finally sat down in an internet cafe tonight to put this together...apparently since I connected to a Guatemalan network Google is in Spanish. As you can imagine, it took me a while to figure out exactly what to do to change my language to English. I should have paid better attention back in High School Spanish!

A very brief initial update: I love it here, I love the people, I love the school (Christian Academy of Guatemala), I am grateful to be able to see the beginning of the school year, I am excited to meet the students, and finally be a real (student) teacher.

More details to come, but at least I started!