School

I have 19 monsters. Imagine a classroom full of 19 (fill in the name of wildly naughty child here)s, and that’s what I have. It’s not surprising, given the background of these kids. In 8 years of teaching, I have never been struck by a student; here at Escuela Rancho Santa Fe, it has happened FIVE times. Most recently, a girl was bothering a boy who was working. This somehow erupted into a fistfight, which I proceeded to break up. The boy calmed down, but I had to forcibly remove the girl from the room, at which point she hit me twice and also pinched me. This was the third time with the same kid, and I was livid. I had her suspended for a day and also took away her privilege to have Proyecto Familiar. This is the time once a year when the kids come to the volunteer house to cook dinner and have time with their biological brothers and sisters. It was a serious consequence for a serious offense. I had the full backing of Montessori and several of the tías, but I know there were others who didn’t agree with what I did. After a good talk with Mom, I knew I was doing the right thing. And my strengths in discipline are why they brought me here. When I explained to the little girl her consequence and why I was doing it, she said nothing but started to cry. And this is a tough kid who comes off really strong. Today, she gave me the biggest hug, apologized, and worked really hard. I couldn’t have asked for a better reward. It was an awful experience, but I’m so glad I stuck to my guns.

It’s not really true that they’re all demons. I have 4 or 5 who really love to learn. There is one boy in particular who I absolutely adore working with. He was taken from his home due to “riesgo social.” His family let him wander around the city unsupervised, and before he got to the Ranch, he was hit by a car. He still has serious scars on his legs that make me cringe every time I see then. But his attitude is wonderful, especially given what happened to him. I love showing him new activities because he always tells me how much he likes them. We’re able to joke around too. One time, he teasingly refused to let me into the religion classroom until I knocked appropriately. Our relationship reminds me of the one I have with a certain munchkin I had at Zeiger who shall remain nameless.

One thing I always enjoy at work is the people I work with. Montessori is Momo’s baby. She is an ex-pequeña from Mexico who is married to the former director and founder of NPH Honduras. She is all about the constructivist school of learning, and so am I. I love how child-centered and development-oriented Montessori is. Momo is also flexible enough to let us start a behavior system with our group of first graders, even though it isn’t very “Montessori” of us. I came up with a system where the kids can earn 2 stamps each day. I made the chart by hand (oh, how I miss the teacher store). In the morning, half the kids do math activities with me, and half do Spanish (reading and writing) with Kenia. After recess, we switch. They get a stamp if they work hard and respect the teacher and their classmates. When they reach 10 stamps, they get to choose a ticket for a special privilege like an extra PE, time on the computer, etc. I thought it would be better to reward with an experience rather than something material. It’s working pretty well most days. We still have our “bombas” that explode, but things are really improving.

It looks like I’ll be getting my own classroom just for math. I’m excited to have my own space, but it also means I’ll have to clean it myself and set up an aseo chart for the kids and then enforce it (oh, how I miss Larry aka the best custodian in the world). I’ll also miss being with Kenia every day. She’s such an awesome person, and my Spanish is improving so that we can really joke around like girlfriends. Whenever we have a specialist, we go to the cafeteria together for baleadas or tortillas con quesillo and a Pepsi. She invited me to come have lunch with her family one day in Talanga (her husband is a tío in Casa Suyapa), and I should get to meet her 3 year-old daughter tomorrow. All of Montessori is going to a park (with TWO swimming pools) tomorrow for El Día del Niño. There will be games (I made Pin the Tail on the Donkey…by hand), a delicious merienda as well as lunch(we are killing two pigs especially for the occasion), and surprise gifts (sandals, barrettes, and socks for the girls and boxers, gel, and watches for the boys). I can’t wait, even if I do have to wrangle 19 little devils.