In the 'big room', Naomi and I were working with about 7 older kids (yes, dream class size, 7 kids with two teachers) on CSF expectations. The other day we nailed down our five main expectations and have been teaching them to each group: 1) Cuida el espacio, 2) Respeto 3) Usen voces bajos y escuchen 4) Responsibilidad 5) Ten un buen actitud.
It is incredible to see this group of kids go from screaming out questions and grabbing pencils from others' hands to asking for things (in low voices) and working quietly on a project for an extended period of time.
To reinforce the learning, the kids did mini-skits to demonstrate the 'Normas' and created the class poster to remind kids of the expectations. Everything went so well, I had to pinch myself to make sure this real life. Teaching has always been a bit of a high stress job for me while in Colombia, but this was pure bliss. I was able to wander from group to group checking on their work and they were ALL ON TASK the whole time.
The kids were working so well independently that I took a few minutes to check out the other literacy teachers' classrooms. Karol was reinforcing expectations with a game of 'quemado' (burned aka hangman). Cerys was freed up to work on literacy with kids that are on the cusp of being fluent readers and writers. During the course of two hours, she was able to pull out all of the kids in Karol's class to give them one-on-one attention. Increible.
As my kids began to finish their poster pieces, I pulled out kids to read to me for a few minutes...they were the ones to get that started. One of the boys found a book about reptiles that he wanted to read and when I asked if he would want to read it out loud he practically pulled me outside to begin. Did I say I love this place? I swear I will try to stop saying this kind of stuff, but I am still in the 'wonder' faze of this experience. 
Libia used the time today to work with a student, Duban, who has shown some psychological concerns and has demonstrated very aggressive behavior during his time at CSF. He was not able to participate in activities today due to the fact that he had spent art day running around doing his best to disrupt all the other kids and his 'coup de tat' of the day was to take handfuls of paint and smear them all over the other kids.
Instead of let Duban 'sit it out' at home, Libia sat and talked with him about his decisions and she helped him to write an apology letter to the teachers. Then at the end of the day, she called the teachers into the school and read Duban's letter (while he hid under the table). If you could have seen this kid's face when we thanked him...it brought tears to my eyes. His relief and joy at having accomplished something great was beaming out of him.
I suppose you need to know a little bit about Duban's story to really understand how far this kid has come. When Libia, Cerys, and Brigette started the foundation a year ago, Duban had been one to explode on a regular basis. This had greatly concerned the teachers so after further investigation into the matter, Libia found out that Duban had recently found out (via other kids in the barrio...chisme) he was abandoned by his parents and that the people he thought were his mom and dad were his aunt and uncle. In addition to this, Duban was still suffering from an incident that he had witnessed a few years earlier. He found his older brother after he had been murdered. Unfortunately, this kid has endured more than most and the fact that he is coping at all is astounding.
Today I received an email from a psychologist that is going to donate sessions to Duban. The amount of great things that are happening for this foundation are occurring at an exponential rate and I know it is because at the core of these teachers...everything is good, positive and well meaning. As Winston Churchill said, "You create your own universe as you go along."...CSF is creating an undeniably beautiful universe.
Instead of let Duban 'sit it out' at home, Libia sat and talked with him about his decisions and she helped him to write an apology letter to the teachers. Then at the end of the day, she called the teachers into the school and read Duban's letter (while he hid under the table). If you could have seen this kid's face when we thanked him...it brought tears to my eyes. His relief and joy at having accomplished something great was beaming out of him.
Today I received an email from a psychologist that is going to donate sessions to Duban. The amount of great things that are happening for this foundation are occurring at an exponential rate and I know it is because at the core of these teachers...everything is good, positive and well meaning. As Winston Churchill said, "You create your own universe as you go along."...CSF is creating an undeniably beautiful universe.
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