As a teacher, I receive a lot of pressure from Peace Corps to organize student clubs, of whatever topic, as long as it includes English. Unfortunately, in my school, extra clubs aren’t the norm, so it’s a little hard to get students motivated to return to school after going home for lunch. It’s also hard to work around the always-changing schedule. That said, Kendall, my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer at Teodoro, and I eeked out 6 weeks between January and February to teach an English Club. We needed to have our club on Friday afternoons so we offered it to the most motivated students on campus- the International Baccalaureate Students. When asked, they overwhelmingly stated that they wanted to practice more writing. So, we designed a club where each week we used different vocabulary and grammar forms to practice a new mode of writing. We wrote articles and interviews. We watched short movies, had a popcorn party and learned how to write reviews. We introduced the students to Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and wrote down our other favorite recipes. We also wrote persuasive advertisements to sell gadgets, and letters asking for advice. We tried to make it fun and played a lot of games, too. It was a fun group, and in the end, 21 students stuck with it and received a certificate of participation. We were all very proud of their efforts!
Our English Writing Club
Back Row: Dilan, Sebastian, Christian, José David, Josué, Anthony, Camila, Maria, Samantha, Fernanda, Karen, Tiara, Camila, Saul, Kerlly
Front Row: Anthony, Shirley, Massiel, Alisson, Angeles, Alejandra, Gabriela and Me
(Kendall took the picture!)
Ms. Long
These students are so lucky to have you as their teacher. What a great group of committed professional students!