Classroom obvservation: Escuela Las Joyas

I always have so many ideas to regulate after two days of classes – it’s almost hard to hold onto them.  So this is why our professors stress reflection.  Instead of trying to force reflection on ideas that are too new or scattered, I’m going to relax with vacation.  I was talking to my mom today about her birthday trip to our favorite island and about what we would bring for the local schools - Dennis and Georges, Isla Mujeres residents, help us with ideas - and about setting up a classroom obvservation in Isla Mujeres.  Which reminded me about last year, in Zihuantenejo, when I got to visit Escuela Las Joyas, an Indian school in the mountains.

The school receives no government funding since it is on an Indian reservation and all of the teachers (all licensed) are volunteers.  That is passion! The principal/6^th grade /5^th grade/4^th grade teacher is one of those people who you meet and instantly you feel like you’re in the presence of someone who is great – someone honorable, intelligent, and passionate.  This man works 40 hours a week in a bar in Ixtapa in order to run Las Joyas.  I can't help but marvel at his dedication.

The school reminds me of John A. Johnson in that it attracts volunteer organizations.  While we were there, there were volunteers giving haircuts, and doctors checking up on the kids.  It certainly wasn’t quiet or controlled.    

Here are some pictures for your own observation.

Upon arrival we distracted the second grade class -

I would have been annoyed with my presence if I was their teacher too

The two pictures below are kind of a panoramic.  On the left is 4th grade, on the right, the back columns are 6th grade and the front columns are 5th grade.  The principal/teacher teaches to each class in turn and monitors study by walking back and forth around the center wall.

Here he is with the 4th graders:

The lunch ladies preparing tortillas with some sort of paste for the kids who can afford it:

Though Las Joyas owns the property it's school is on, there are squatters that have houses built on the property as well.  Though they have received funding to build a school, it's problematic because it would mean ousting the squatters who have lived on the property for generations.

This is one of the houses:

The pre-primary school is much nicer:

It really looks like a 3-5 year old classroom!

I was impressed to see that even though these children had so fewer resources than the kindergartners I was working with at the time, they were still learning the same basic things - numbers, letters, reading, writing, math.  They also acted so much like my kindergartners that it was easy to relate with them even though I don't know Spanish or their culture - they were interested in the same things my kids were (Spiderman, digital cameras, and funny faces)