Welcome to Music Class!

This week I had my first music classes!  I must admit that the exclamation point at the end of that sentence is indicative of both "Wow, it was fun!" and "Ahhhh!"  I certainly had an interesting first few classes...

To backtrack a moment, last week, I spent my days creating posters for my classroom and sprucing it up a bit.  Here's a quick peek!

It was fun to exercise my creative side, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out.  We also bought reed mats for the floor so that the kids would have something to sit on.

My first day of classes was Monday, the day I teach the fifth and sixth graders.  Each period lasts 40 minutes.  Both classes arrived with looks of great anticipation and eager attitudes.  After talking a little about ways to experience music, genres of music, and why music is important in our lives, we spent some time designing nametags.  I had forgotten how engaging coloring can be, even for older kids.  Next was an activity in which the kids had to mingle amongst each other to find classmates that fit descriptions they had listed on a worksheet, i.e. “Find someone who likes rock n’ roll,” “Find someone who wants to be a musician,” “Find someone who can salsa.”  It was fun to compare notes at the end of class—one boy wants to be a drum player in a band, no one has ever played an instrument, and lots of these kids can dance!

Encouraged with my success the first day, I walked into the second day, Wednesday, with hopeful (and looking back, delusional) expectations for the other grades.  Like before, each period lasts 40 minutes, and this day I teach four classes.  My first graders arrived like a bunch of banshees, as one might expect, but soon a nametag activity more or less kept their attention.

Here’s a picture, taken minutes before they (and by they, I really mean the boys, sorry guys) basically erupted into an elementary school brawl.  So much for that class!  We tried to do a little singing to recover, but the temptation to kick each other was just too great.  My second graders entered in much the same manner, and while there was thankfully no brawl, I had a lot of trouble keeping them productively engaged.  My classes are also complicated by the fact that, as you can see, my classroom has two huge windows (without glass) that open into the yard and into the school hallway.  Sound from every other point in the school (and the universe, it seems) enters the classroom, which provides ample distraction.  Thankfully, the rest of the day settled down a bit, and my third and fourth graders did their best to follow along and pay attention.  It was only the first day, and it’s going to take a little while to establish my presence and my class.

My fourth graders

However, it was a challenging day nonetheless, not only to teach, but also to come to terms with what it’s like to be a student here in Guatemala.  I was so easily frustrated with their behavior, and it’s hard not make mental comparisons to classes in the States.  Standards of attention and discipline are very different here—it’s not unusual for kids to be running around the school pell-mell, screaming out of windows, or constantly pestering each other. 

But I also try to remember that first, it’s only the first few weeks of school, kids are still adjusting to being in class all morning, and they can spot an easy target for misbehavior (me) when they see one. 

Second, the amount of training required for elementary school teachers here in Guatemala is zero.  They graduate from high school and move on to running a classroom.  I am struggling enough trying to teach with a college education under my belt, so it is difficult for me to imagine having to teach an entire grade with no instruction regarding teaching or discipline methods. 

Lastly, the community does not traditionally value education.  The prevalent attitude is, “Why learn it if I’ll never use it?  I don’t need that to work in the sugar cane fields.”  But this is where Juan Calvino School is trying to change both kids and their community—to show how education opens doors and prepare kids for a brighter future—and that is cool.  They're doing a lot of work to support teachers in furthering their education, and they try to constantly impress upon the students the importance of respecting themselves, each other, their school, and their environment.  It's a big task, but it's exciting to be part of a school that is really trying to invoke change.

I still have a lot to learn about teaching, but I’m also hoping I can inspire the kids to want to learn more than they want to, say, wrestle.  I’ll be praying for a lot of patience, and the strength to love every kid here, especially the crazy ones—because after all, who wants to listen if they don’t feel liked and appreciated?  It will be a difficult road, but each week I’ll give it another go, and we’ll get there somehow!