The Mexican Classroom

I was not sure what to expect when I entered my first Mexican classroom but it was definitley eye opening. I am teaching at Instituto Pedagogico Profra Margarita Aguilar Diaz A.C. which is private school. I teach at the elementary school, the middle school, and the high school so there is a wide range of ability. The teachers move from school to school, teachers who teach english do so in all of the school. Both the students and the teachers wear uniforms and when the principle enters the class everyone stands up and says "Good Afternoon Maestra." Liz (my teaching partner) and I first went to the schools on a Monday. Every Monday morning they start off the day with a flag ceremony, the national anthem, announcements for the week, and other important information. At this ceremony Liz and I got introduced to all the students. The middle and high school students seemed curious about us but not overly excited. In the elementary school all the kids started cheering and seemed really excited to have us there.

The first class that we observed was a gr.6 english class. The energy in the classroom was unreal. There was never a moment of silence and hardly a moment where it wouldn't be considered loud. The kids would often get out of their desk and not pay attention to the teacher. It was the polar opposite to the gr.12 classes back home where it is a struggle sometimes to get the students to speak. The teacher did not seem overly concerned with the students moving around. She would pick a specific student and ask them to answer a question while everyone else did whatever they pleased. When we moved into the gr.12 class, however, the energy was alot lower. They were still quite talkative and more energetic than the Canadian classes, but they were managable and it was more of a learning environment.

Going to the elementary school was a new experience for me since I have only been in high schools. I first observed a gr.3 class there and again there was a tremendous amount of energy. The kids were hardly in their desks, but they seemed more engaged with the material. They were moving around but listening to what was being taught to them. Instead of raising hands like back home, they all just yell out answers. When I first walked in the class the kids began cheering and about 10 of them jumped up and were hugging me. They were touching my hair and asking me many questions in really fast Spanish that I could not understand. They were cute and it was nice to have them so excited to have me there.

I am eager to spend more time in the Mexican classroom. It is quite different from back home and I feel I will be able to learn alot from my time there. I think I will be able to bring home a new a wider understanding of education.