Learning as a teacher

My new family is very special to me. My youngest sister Valentina is not learning spanish in her school yet because she is only in kindergarten. Her old sister Maria Jose is in fourth grade, and is learning english. The thing that is interesting to me is that Maria doesn't seem to be learning much from her english learning class. The class is only fifty minutes long so there isn't much time for a lot of information and learning. Fifty minutes realistically is only forty minutes in a class room with twenty five kids if the time isn't utilized correctly. My spanish classes are going very well, but I have started to realize the frustration of every day four hour classes of spanish. ESL students in english classrooms start to become frustrated like I have started to become in classes. After a long day, being in a classroom for four hours and not knowing everything solidly can be very frustrating. I learned that as a new language learner there are times when you may feel frustrated or overwhelmed but that is when I remembered that it is important for my future students that I know or at least understand spanish language. Being here in Costa Rica made me realize more things about myself such as the importance of communication and how at times a lot of people tend to shrug away or ignore students with difficulties learning, or difficulties speaking. These are the students that we need to have higher expectations for because if they know that we care, they will begin to care more as well. My family Tico has helped me to realize a lot about the importance of family as well. My mother tica ask her children everyday if they have finished there homework and if they need any assistance doing so. Many students in America don't have the family support at home that they need to complete homework assignments or to even be assisted with homework assignments. As a teacher I want to reach out to students who may need the after school assistance so that questions can be answered and questions can be asked for the students. As a teacher being in the Saint Elena Elementary school has opened my eyes to the diverse ways of teaching and learning. My students seemed very engaged when we came into the classroom every day. They wanted to learn and that was because we engaged, supported, and assisted them. The english teacher spoke english but it wasn't the sharpest english. That could be something that spanish students have trouble with is understanding spanish from a teacher who speaks predominately english. The barrier may be difficult for the students to understand. In the future when I begin to teach I will be sure to know the correct way of teaching english to spanish children and not just using the books, but also using creativity and uniqueness to engage.