Tasted and Seen: Week One Done!

It is hard to believe that I am already in my second week here at Good Shepherd Christian Academy!

Let me tell you a bit about my classes!

Music Class

Before school started, I was very nervous about teaching Music. I want Music to be a class that my students look forward to each week, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make it fun for them. How wrong I was!

Highlights:

The Bilingual grades (K4-4th grade) have been learning a song called "Dios Nos Ama" (God loves us). The kids LOVE this song. Many of them have approached me outside of class to sing and dance the "Dios Nos Ama" section of the song. If they get nothing else out of my class, I hope they will always remember this song that says God loves them.

My 9th grade class is learning how to count rhythm, and at the end of class one day I divided them into three groups. One group tapped quarter notes on the table, another group clapped half notes with their hands, and the last group tapped sixteenth notes on their legs. It was UBER-simple, but they were so excited to be making "music" together! One of my students from the community -- a teenage boy named Ruben -- leaned back in his chair and exclaimed, "Que lindo!" (How cool!).

English Class

English class has gone well, so far. I have resolved to speak all English in my classes and to have my students speak all English. Since my students come from both the community and the children's home, their levels of English-fluency are varied. The children from the home understand and speak a lot of English, while the community students understand almost none. It has been a challenge to find a way to bridge the gap between the home kids and the community kids, but I am learning!

Highlight:

I have a new 6th grade community student named Johan. At the beginning of the week, he said almost nothing, and it was clear that he didn't understand anything that I said. By Friday, however, he was volunteering to write sentences on the board! I was very proud of him, and I am glad to see his excitement to learn English.

Ministry

I have been trying to build relationships with the older girls in Casita 3 and Casita 5. I have found that one key to their hearts is movies. We watched both One Direction movies a couple of weeks ago, and the other day I took my movie case to their Casita and let them choose one. They chose my favorite movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I was more than happy to watch it with them!

I hope to start some bible study time with a few of the girls very soon. I am looking for girls who want to learn more about God's Word. I would appreciate wisdom in what to teach them.

So long for now!

With love,

Bailey

Photos!

The sunsets here are beautiful. I walked outside a few nights ago to try to capture it with my camera . . .

This is where I live, with 6 of my fellow teachers! We share rooms -- each room has a bedroom and bathroom.

This road is right in front of our rooms. We get to wave "Hola" and "Adios" to anyone who passes by. The trees you see in the background are Orange trees -- they come in handy for afternoon snacks!