It's strange because in the States it is drilled into your brain that you might as well just not touch students AT ALL in order to avoid any confusion or problems; but here it's just normal. It has been hard for me to adapt - I think students were kind of confused at first as to why I was so impersonal, but now that I am warming up and getting comfortable, I think it might be even harder to go back to that stone cold teacher we are all taught to be. Not to say that I was mean, or completely impersonal before, but it's a whole new level of expectation for friendliness and camaraderie with your students here. I like it. Of course, there is always the line that teachers must balance on with their students between friendliness and being a friend...but I think that line is a tad wider here; and I am comfortable with that.
I introduced one of my 9th grade classes to a little bit of my culture on Friday...and taught them how to line dance! haha. I taught them the hustle, it's the easiest one after all. They loved it; and every single one of them that I saw Friday night at Bingo asked me when we are going to dance again, haha.
I think I have learned so far that Costa Ricans are just generally very friendly and helpful - but at the same time they are also very formal. Men here are persistent; I think "no" means "maybe" to them, haha. Costa Ricans enjoy learning about and experiencing other cultures - but they also seem to have a little bit of a superiority complex when it comes to other Central and South American countries - which, in all honesty, is in many ways earned.
I'm not sure exactly what I expected to experience culturally in Costa Rica before I came - perhaps that is something I should have spent time to write about before leaving. I do know that I have been surprised to find fewer differences between the culture that I expected. I don't know if it's because of where I am living, or because of the school I'm working at...but I don't feel like I have experienced any sort of grand culture shock; if that makes any sense.
This school is a world of difference from OHHS, but I feel that it is fairly similar to NHMS - this probably has something to do with the SES of the students; my students here being much more similar in status to those at NHMS than at OHHS. Actually, I think my students here are even richer...I heard a rumor that one of the older students got a yacht for his birthday - a YACHT!
Students are definitely held to a standard here; and they do not want to get in trouble. I'm not sure if that is because of their own drive to be a good student; or if their parents are really hard on them about it. One thing that I find a little discouraging about students here is that a good handful of them do remind of my students at OHHS in the sense that they don't seem to find education important, or worth their time. However, they do put a lot of effort into their work and into their projects. We just finished up with a project on building models representing multiple topics about Medieval Life.
In fact, many of the students actually LIKE doing projects! Which is great because I think it is a great way to supplement material and to really make the students experience what they are learning. I would be interesting to see though how they would perform on a test; out of curiosity to see if project work really does increase the retaining of knowledge.
One thing that I have noticed as a change in myself is that I have become increasingly aware of the term "American." Costa Ricans are Americans too after all...So I have tried to keep myself from using it as a term that strictly suggests the United States, although it is just so much easier to say in conversation! I don't think that the United States has a horrible image here; at least since Obama was elected anyway. One of the first things people wanted to know about me when I first got here was what I thought about Bush - luckily I have the same opinion that they do about him! :)
I want to see if I can work in some observations of other teachers here to help me with my project - and I definitely need to start diving into some research and some interviewing. I feel a little discouraged though, because I'm not sure that my project is going to end up being what we were all expecting. I don't feel like I have experienced as many differences as I was expecting to in order for it to be a profound finding...we will see!
No comments:
Post a Comment