Closing Remarks

So classes are over now. It was really hard to say goodbye to the kids. I talked to them about the pictures and they said it was okay if you posted them on the website.

Sometimes it was hard to work in the library because the library's staff wasalso working in the same area and their talking and moving around distracted the kids. The last week there was also another camp for little children organized by the library staff and they would sometimes come into the library which made it hard to teach. The other main issue was that i had organized some
activities using the internet thinking that i had more computers, but only 4 were working. It worked out in the end since they did things in groups and taking turns. The staff was always willing to help if i needed it, which made things so much easier.

The things the kids liked the most were the field trips. They loved to leave the classroom setting and just explore what was out there. They also loved activities like jeopardy where it was more like a game than class. On the other hand they didn't like writing assignments or reading by themselves. They seemed to enjoy more reading as a class. I'm not going to be able to talk to Ana for another two weeks, but I will definitely ask her about future projects and different things that can be done for the school. Maybe we can get more people involved for next year. I was the only one helping out this year, but the school seems to be growing and there is still a lot that can be done. Some of the kids even expressed how they would love to come back next summer to learn more english. As for me, I'm currently in the Dominican Republic. I've been here a week and i'm leaving tomorrow. I came to observe different areas of the HOMS hospital
in a town called Santiago. I was mainly watching surgeries, but I was able to observe many other areas like the ER and the ICU. The hospital is new, very modern and has a lot of new technology. I was really impressed during my visit. I'm staying home the rest of the summer and I will be back at Duke around the 16th of august.

Update

I'm in my last week of class and things have been going great. I have had a couple of new students come in for the last 4 weeks and they've all been wonderful students. I am sad that the class is coming to an end but I hope the kids have learned a lot and that they keep improving their English skills.

Overview of what I have done as of week 2:

Week 3: Movie Week

- Make a presentation about your favorite movie

- Lesson on verbs

- Field Trip: Went to see the Chronicles of Narnia

- Write a movie review for Narnia

Week 4: Travel Week

- Project: Look up information about a country of your choice and present to

class

- Story: The Legend of the Zodiac

- Write your own story based about how the Zodiac came to be

- Search for different landmarks from around the world

Week 5: Puerto Rico Week

- Grammar worksheet

- Writing assignment: What is your favorite thing about PR?

- Field Trip: Walking Tour of Old San Juan

- Discussion and Assignment: The environment

Week 6

- Story: The Monsters are due on Maple Street by Rod Serling

- Games: Jeopardy (with questions on verbs, grammar, vocabulary, etc) and the

Game of Life

- Field trip: Beach Day

- Last day: reflection, movie and party