Progress! Amazing Progress!!

  Books!!

For the first time, the students have real books!!  

        The “Math-U-See” blocks that I brought last year have been used.  The boxes are dirty and one of the students was actually using them!  I couldn’t help but get teary eyed.  I know they didn’t just throw dirt on the boxes the day before I arrived.

          Recess is gone!  There is very little wasted time now!  Success!!

          I brought some Spanish syllable charts and pictures for the teachers to use.  Lidia did not hesitate!  She started trying to figure out how to use these materials as soon as they were opened. This is such HUGE progress over the last five years!  It used to be that I would show ideas and guide the teachers in doing the activities themselves.  Then, they would go back to the old ways. 

          Who knew that the party game “Twister” could have so many teaching applications?!?!  The students did not know their left from their right—even after we wrote “d” for derecha on their right hand and “i” for izquierda on their left hand. It was also quite evident that short term memory is extremely short!  They had difficulty remembering the placements of their hands and feet.  

          “Connect 4” and “Mexican Train Dominoes” were other games we taught.  I really wanted the teachers to see that learning can be fun.  I also wanted to have games the students could use if there was free time.

           “Scrabble—the Español edition” was a game I left for the teachers.  I told Maritza to use it at a staff meeting.  :-)