[Wednesday August 18th]
6:00 Catch the bus to campus
6:30-9:30: Spanish Phonetics and Phonology: I foolishly thought this would be an easy class since I’ve studied Linguistics…today I realized what a challenge it will be, but I’m ready to take it on!
10:30-12:30: Elementary English class: The most challenging aspect of teaching this course is the great range of the students’ abilities. A handful speak only a few words and hardly dare to whisper an answer in class; others speak confidently and with relative fluency. Today we did an extended partner activity which enabled me to walk around and work with each pair for a few minutes. I’m looking for ways to meet the needs of each student and give enough attention to those who are further behind.
*Our class was disrupted by the sound of loud chanting coming from the plaza below the classroom. I stepped outside to see students marching, chanting and carrying a banner. A professor informed me that it was no big deal, just students expressing their opinion about the upcoming vote for a new rector.
12:30-2:30: As I headed for the cafeteria, an infamous Barranquilla downpour began. I spent my two-hour break semi-shielded from the rain (the cafeteria is basically a glorified gazebo), chatting with students. I ran into Luis (a new friend through VPU, a student group associated with Campus Crusade) and we had an interesting discussion about religion with the guy sitting next to us. That stretched my Spanish communication skills for sure.
2:30-4:30: Advanced English class: Great conversations including a discussion about “respectable” vs. “stigmatized” occupations, and a fun lesson on idioms.
At 5:30 I arrived home, changed clothes, attended the performance of a friend’s acapella group, returned home, chatted on Skype with my community group (yay!), graded assignments, planned lessons, and finally crashed!
