In the past week, we have learned several lessons about teaching through our experiences at Divino Corazon. Most importantly has been the effort that it requires to make lesson plans – we consistently devote an hour or two each night to planning for the next day’s classes, making sure to keep the plans interesting and age-relevant. Even for very simple lessons such as teaching numbers or colors, it is nearly impossible to teach effectively without a detailed step-by-step plan.
A successful lesson that two of our groups were able to teach was how to make paper plate masks of the kids’ favorite animals (pictures below). We figured out how to simplify the process and explain the steps in a great amount of detail so that the kids could follow our examples. In both classes—one of 5-6 year olds and one of 7-8 year olds—the students were able to make their own masks without much more help than simple guiding and explanations.
In English classes, it has been an enormous help to have the English teacher in class with us. He keeps the students focused and controlled more than we could possibly do one our own. Subject matter in English has been very age-dependent and has ranged from very simple—numbers, the alphabet, animals—to more complex-for example, sentences, grammar, and the verb “to be”.
The students’ favorite class, PE, has taught us how much everybody here loves soccer. The kids seem like they could play soccer every day and never get bored of it. However, we have also figured out how to introduce different sports to them, with varying degrees of success. Almost all of the classes have enjoyed running relay races and playing basketball, but some games—such as kickball—are too complicated. One group tried to teach a class kickball, but had a very hard time explaining the rules.
The after-hours English classes at our hostel have been going very well. On average, between 10 and 15 kids will come, making a nearly perfect teacher-student ratio (most of us either do 1-on-1 tutoring or tutor 2 students). The consensus among our group is that these classes are a much better learning situation due to both the small “class” sizes and the students’ desire to learn. This past Monday, we gave the students a short pre-test to determine how much English they know at this point. Not surprisingly, they did not score incredibly well, but it provides us with a good baseline on what to teach them and with which to measure their progress throughout the next few weeks.
Other than teaching, we will be doing another service project, which we started on Saturday. The public school here in Pisaq—which the Strive campers taught at last year—has a running track that is very overgrown and needs some serious work. We were put to work using pick-axes and rakes to clear the grass and make it a dirt track that can be ran on. There is still a lot to do, but we have made the all-important first step, and will be going back a couple times a week to continue our work there.
This past Sunday, we spent the afternoon in Cusco, one of the most culturally important cities here in Peru. First, we reunited with a fellow intern, James, who had just completed the trek to Machu Picchu (watch for his blog post on that trip). We then went to the Plaza de Armas (the main square) where we took some pictures and shopped around for a bit. Seven of us—including Nic and Tyler—got massages at a massage parlor, which were incredible for loosening up our muscles, especially after hard work on the track the day before. We then went to the main market in Cusco, where we ate lunch. Most of us were full at this point, but Dave continued to eat everything in sight-churros, papas rellenas (stuffed potatoes), fried pineapple, and much, much more.
To end this post, we’ll talk about what we do first every morning – running. The altitude has been as advertised, resulting in heavy breathing even on easy jogs. . Everybody has adjusted to the altitude differently, with some of us getting minor stomach bugs or headaches, but there are no major injuries to report, which is always a plus. We have two main routes that we go on, and both have incredibly scenic views of the mountains. If we go far enough towards Taray (about 3-4 miles out), we can see some snow-capped mountains in the distance. Some days, the clouds are lower than the mountaintops, resulting in breathtaking views.
– Scott and Dalton
Wow! Sounds like you are having an awesome time!