Classrooms at Escuela Serapio Fajardo... and school dynamics in general... are VERY different than what I am accustomed to in the U.S. I think that how things are at ESF are also very different than they are in other parts of Costa Rica... I don't think that the whole school system is like what I am experiencing.

What I can say is that ESF is very disorganized, compared to what I am accustomed to. There is very little structure, and very few rules, and what rules there are are mostly implemented individually by classroom teachers... meaning that discipline, organization, learning, etc. differs very drastically by classroom. There also appear to be hushed-up things happening in the administration that make learning here even more difficult for the students here.

The classes that Chris and I have been teaching each have anywhere from about 25 to 35 kids, and we've had to adapt our teaching methods a lot to allow each class to learn. We have had to be extremely firm and structured, since the rest of the school day has very little structure in the majority of our classes. The fourth grade class is very large and loud, and we started Harry Wong-ing it on Friday (we spent the whole class going through expectations for behavior and procedures, and practicing following the rules). This helped a lot, and the kids got a kick out of our acting out how to follow the rules poorly versus follow them well (an idea from Meaghan, Britt, and Molly -- thanks, girls!).

I like that the kids are more free here at recess (I like that they can climb trees and play big games of soccer, I mean; many schools in the US have rules that sometimes prevent kids from getting all of their kinetic energy out, I believe), but I do not like how undisciplined many of the classes are. It can make it very hard to get a good lesson in, especially since some of our later classes have lunch (comedor) in the middle... So, Chris and I have 10 minutes at the beginning of class to teach, then 15-20 minutes of break while the kids go to lunch, then maybe 15-20 more minutes of class. There are breaks very often, and we are still trying to get the hang of when they are and what our teaching schedule is, since the schedule appears to change almost every day, sometimes with only about 10 minutes' notice.

I have a lot of hope that this school, Escuela Serapio Fajardo, will improve once some administrative problems are fixed... not necessarily in our short time here, but later, as parents and school board members and caring teachers fight for their kids' rights to a powerful education. The kids deserve it. And I do not think that the problems here are country-wide. We visited a poorer public school in San Jose where the classrooms were shipshape, very well-ordered and managed. And the school grounds were well-kept. Our group is going to be helping to improve the beauty the school grounds as well, which is a gift I hope to leave this school with when we have left.