Silly Bands Are Universal

Now I'm not usually one to enjoy spending time with lots of little children that have way to much energy and sticky stuff all over their hands, but today was an exception.

This is my last week in Los Chillos Valley, and also my last week taking spanish classes and so we had a project of sorts. There's an elementary school (grades 1-7) that is a bit understaffed, hugely underfunded, where the majority of the kids are from the campo (rural farm areas where there is often a lot of poverty). This school made the Saugus Public Schools look phenomenal, which speaks volumes as to the supplies available and facilities provided. There are many schools like it, but La Escuela de Juan Garcia Navarro just happens to be located not far from where we're staying. Our assignment was to pair up, choose a grade, and prepare 3 different lessons that would last from 7:30 until 11:30. The elementary school only has classes in the morning because in the afternoon, the same classrooms are used for a high school.


I paired up with Lia, and we chose/got stuck with 5th grade. We prepared a lesson in Ecuadorian ecology, Art, and English. We had no guidelines, only a piece of paper with a school address, the number of kids in the class, and a vocab list of words that would be useful in trying to discipline children. With 28 kids listed in the class, all I was hoping was that they were past the point of needing help going to the bathroom, but not beyond the point of no return where the attitude kicks in.

As soon as we arrived at the school this morning, it was like an alien spaceship had landed. Now, I get stared at everyday by people in the street because I have blondish hair, blue eyes, and a bright green rain jacket(that was a poor decision on my part). This was different though- the kids stared at first, but came right up, didn't hesitate to ask all sorts of question, offer you a piece of gum, and then latch on to your side.

When we finally started class, it was apparent that we were just going to have to wing it. We started with a lecture(as much of a lecture as one can give while 24 little children are running around) about Ecuador and plants and animals. The kids were FULL of energy. After naming about 1000 different types of animals in Ecuador, including the ones from Africa that are in the zoo, we moved on to our art lesson. Everyone drew one of the three regions of Ecuador, either the rain forest, the sierra, or the coast. The kids really got into it, and it kept them occupied, which was fabulous. After we strung the pictures together so that they could hang in the classroom (the pictures were almost thrown away at the start of high school in the afternoon, but Lia managed to salvage them- I don't think I have ever seen someone run so fast) there was a slight snack break (the snack of course was rice) and when we returned, we started our lesson in English. Fifth graders (who in Ecuador are 8 years old) have a limited attention span, so we decided to do games in English. We played "Simon dice" aka "Simon says" and used English words. After, we went outside to play "The Captain is Coming"- it's along the same idea as "Simon says" only instead of Simon, there's a captain and everyone else is doing nautical actions (like looking for pirates). This was one of the least successful portions of the day. There was just too much going on outside to focus. All of the boys decided that it would be fun to run up and wrestle on top of a mound of dirt. Our games in English turned into games in Spanish, and we finally conceded and played "Pato Pato Gansa" (otherwise known as "Duck Duck Goose").

We finished the day indoors and gave the kids lollipops and sillybands (the multicolored bracelets shaped like animals) and it was as though it was Christmas. There were a few sillybands left over, but not enough for two for everyone, which caused quite an uproar of whining. I caved for one girl who was leaving school with her little sister, and gave the younger sister (she must have been about 5) a pink bracelet shaped like an ostrich. This little girl then opened up her backpack and gave me two of her stickers, and it was then that I realized that teachers are able to put up with all of the bad stuff because of little things like that.

Before leaving for the day, the whole group gathered with the teachers from the school to debrief. The teachers of the school told us how it was hard without funding or resources and especially since many kids had tough lives at home. A couple of the teachers weren't really teachers at all, just friends of teachers that had been asked to help out because the school was that desperate- the friends were working for free. It was really interesting to compare education systems here and at home. Here, no matter how rich or how poor the school, all kids have to wear uniforms (it levels the playing field) and everyone learns English. There is a huge disparity though between private and public schools and it's mainly because of a lack of fiscal support to public institutions by the Ecuadorian government.

I can't see myself as being an elementary school teacher ever, but nonetheless I really enjoyed today. The conditions didn't seem to phase the kids at all-they were eager to learn and excited about everything. Any time Lia and I walked anywhere, there was at least 2 kids latched on to each of our arms. They would chat about anything and were patient when we couldn't understand the Spanish. After class, a few of my friends were going to the bar for a drink or 5 because their classes were awful. For me though, I got way more out of the experience than I ever would have thought.