English please

The adventures of el Liceo Santa Theresa continue. So does the pandemonium. Chaos just seems to follow me around like one of the hungry street dogs that wants your empanada. When I caught a micro in the first 10 seconds after my arrival to Avenida España, I thought, what luck! It never is that fast. Wrong one; I went to Miraflores alto alto. I was curious so I stuck with it, and got off close to what I thought was the water tower-looking thing near my school. Wrong. There are many such towers, as I found out during my wanderings in a seemingly shady Miraflores sector. I am fairly certain if I had stayed on that micro I would have passed right by my school. This is quite the familiar scenario. So I arrived, half an hour late, to find out my teacher was ill and not present. No no one had any idea what to do, and I was the only person there who was free (the other English teachers had meetings and whatnot) and knew enough English to teach it. One class was occupied by a presentation on bullying, but I taught the next one solo. Well, the math teacher accompanied me, and he was very nice but speaks no English, which is not much help in an English class.

I don't know what to make of this situation. 37 10th graders, one teacher. If they were on relatively the same level, I would be alright. But the difference in ability levels is astounding. It is like years of difference in level between some students. I keep telling myself that it is possible to teach to the needs of all of these kids at once, but I am losing my security in this idea. Fast. It needs to be two classes, I can't see any other way. There has to be something I can do better of course. When I taught today, the upper-level kids read faster than me and became bored. The lower-level paid no attention for the most part, became frustrated, and played with the phones and MP3 players that they are allowed to have in class. Some were engaged, but it was an extremely low percentage. I watch this in other classes too, it's not just my novice teaching. What can I do? Why can't this be two classes? It needs to be. Is there some way to effectively teach this way? I like to think so, because there is no other choice. It's hard but until the situation changes it is reality.

Not all schools have such large classes. This school is not private, but not public, a mix of both; it is less expensive than private. I am beginning to think that there are more differences between the classes of school than there are between the two countries. By this I mean that there are huge differences between city and rural schools, public and private, just like in the US, and that these differences are bigger than the differences between the education systems in each country. This is just a thought, I really have no idea if that is true because I have not seen much of the education system here. Also, many schools have cafeterias, but mine does not. It does have a nifty snack stand though. All, or nearly all, Chilean schools require uniforms. I am drawn to the equalizing factor of the school uniform.

After school, I took the same micro as Aaron and another student. The concept of taking public transportation to get home, riding alongside your students instead of simply driving home, is bizarre. It is a good kind of bizarre though, and makes me feel even more integrated in this life here.