Teaching English in a Santiago High School

Yikes. I'm back in the classroom after a 10 month hiatus and it feels good to be around wild and wacky teenagers that bounce a basketball in the classroom and pass notes and try to get away with chewing gum. CHEWING GUM.

42 hormonal and energetic 9th grade students in 1 classroom for an hour and a half. In the US, a lot is 28 students. I'm at an at-risk high school in a barrio called Renca, Santiago. It's about 1 hour 20 minutes from my house, by metro + bus.

Bringing the TFA "we will close the gap or die trying" mentality to this job? Will I be sacrificing personal life to plan, grade and plan some more? No way. But I will be using Teach for America resources (thanks English Language Learner online community!) to plan games, get ideas for ways to facilitate 42 kids talking and listening.

Twice a week for 3 hours: 1.5 with 9th grade and 1.5 with 10th grade. Plus, I can keep my private lessons going. Hooray!

First mistake? Expectation: 100% English. 

Try 60% Spanish and 40% English. But, we'll get there! These kids barely know "What's your name?" and only a few know "What time is it?"

Today was Day #2 and a lot better than Class #1, that's for sure.

Kids wear uniforms, all have dark brown and black hair and brown eyes. They all looked the same. Alonso is really good at English. Yerko is very competitive. Fernanda doesn't want to be wrong; and it usually correct. Catalina is the 'pretty girl.' Sam is the wanna-be tough kid. Andy loves positive reinforcement and is a good teacher's helper. Francisca is funny. Alan is bright.

I'm already falling for this kids. Why do I love Latino kids so much? Or is the vulnerable, at-risk students that I love? One thing is sure - I felt that "teacher tiredness after a day in the classroom" today.

Did I mention I'm teaching kids that don't speak English? Love it.