My Seventeen Year Old Sidekick

One thing about teaching in a small town in Guatemala is that I stick out like a sore thumb.  I met many teachers that literally stopped me on the street last year and this experience has repeated itself once again this year.  Last year I met one teacher in particular who spends part of the year living and working approximately twenty minutes from my house.  We met up last winter and he called me right before I left with good news and bad news.  The good news was that he arranged for me to be assigned to his school.  The bad news was that he had to return to the United States for a few months and cannot join me.  He assured me that he left in classes in good hands and that his daughter agreed to take over his classes.

Well it turns out that his daughter is seventeen years old.  She lived in the United States for thirteen years and had she stayed, she would have recently graduated from high school.  I worked with young teachers last year, but that was at an elementary school.  In this case, I am witnessing a teacher be an authority figure to individuals that are only a year younger than she is.  This individual only took over the classes last week and is a little lost as to how to plan a lesson.  She does not seem to mind the age difference, nor do the students.

While I am only here for a short time, my goal is to leave her with a few solid teaching strategies to add to her tool belt.  So far, I have covered the concepts of modeling and having students work in groups.  As I learn more about the expectations and operations of this particular school, I look forward to contributing more strategies.  I also look forward to sharing more updates with you all, so do stay tuned.