Classroom Observation

My school, Escuela General Carlos Prats González, is located in the poorer region of a middle-class neighborhood in Santiago called Recoleta. The building has three stories and surrounds a covered recreational area where the kids play during recess. I am teaching 5th – 8th grades, or children between 11 and 15 years of age.  I am required to teach 25 hours each week, while an additional 10 hours will be spent completing lesson plans and arranging extracurricular activities that pertain to English language-learning. Below is the view from the 3rd floor of the building:

My first official day of observation (Monday, June 21st) was not only the day after Father’s Day, but also coincided with Chile’s second match in the World Cup against Switzerland. We began the day with a celebratory breakfast for all the father teachers and proceeded to watch the game afterwards with the few children whose parents actually sent them to school that day. There was no sense in trying to teach, as neither the students nor the teachers were interested in much aside from fútbol. Classes proceeded after the win, but in such frenzy that it might as well have been a free day for me.

The second and third days proceeded a bit more academically. I became accustomed to the students staring at me during recess and asking me how to say various words and phrases in English. Among some of the questions asked were “Do you know Tiger Woods/Brittany Spears/The Simpsons/Lady Gaga/Barack Obama,” “Which soccer player are you dating,” “What does ‘Waka Waka’ (Shakira's single for the World Cup) mean,” and “Is your hair real?” There seems to be a general mindset among the younger crowd that those from the U.S. must be celebrities and therefore live among and are acquainted with all celebrities—including cartoons—of the same origin. In addition, there seems to be a strong American influence in the children’s musical preference, so I was also frequently asked to translate lyrics. Some teachers were shocked to learn the meaning of the lyrics to The Killer’s “Somebody Told Me.” Also, Michael Jackson has a particularly strong following in Chile. I took the following video of an imitator trying to make a few bucks on a street corner near my host family’s house. He was quite talented and would stop dancing between songs to motivate bystanders to contribute.

On Friday the school held a ceremony to celebrate the Mapuche (indigenous people of Chile) identity. As many of the students are of indigenous descent, they participated in several dances led by a Mapuche representative dressed in the traditional garb. The event was held outside underneath the covered area, and the children and teachers alike had to keep an eye out for the palomas, or pigeons, that enjoyed terrorizing the crowd with their frequent droppings.

After the ceremony, class was canceled for the observation of Chile’s third match in the World Cup against Spain. Some of the staff were planning an asado, or barbecue, to which my co-teacher and I were invited. Though Chile lost the match 2-1, you would have thought they had won from the celebrations that ensued afterward (one of the volunteers was in the downtown area when tear gas was used on the crowd). Apparently the consensus was that Chile’s loss would make for a more competitive match against Brazil, though unfortunately that wasn't the case. After the match concluded, the teachers began to dance to some salsa music. Someone eventually invited me onto the rudimentary dance floor and, upon seeing my performance, promised to take me to a salsa club the next night where I could receive instruction and dance the night away. I ended up having a great time and even learned a few moves. Altogether, I passed the first week very well and felt much more prepared to begin teaching.