Happy Peace Corps Week!

March 1 – March 7

     This week is Peace Corps Week – on March 1^st, 1961, John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps and Sargeant Shriver took over as the 1^st Peace Corps Director. I appreciate all the notes on Facebook and well wishes from RPCVs at home.

     This week, I observed Transición (Kindergarten) for the first time, helped teach family vocabulary in 3^rd grade, and taught my “Give me 5” hand signal for silence in 2^nd grade. I also observed 1^st grade and helped a few students practice reading – applause to all teachers who teach basic reading because, though I’ve heard it’s not as difficult as it looks, I can hardly imagine teaching it myself!

     The weekend was busy with Mass, Stations of the Cross, and lots of crocheting. I went to mochila class Saturday morning and then met a few volunteers at another volunteer’s house to work more on our projects. Sewing together is fun and it was neat to see what everyone else is doing.

- Galletas de leche + peanut butter = Do Si Dos. To be honest, Do Si Dos (or Peanut Butter Sandwiches, depending on your Council) are far from my favorite Girl Scout cookie, but if you’re really missing the season, these things are pretty amazing! Just spread peanut butter on the galletas de leche that you find in packs of 4 in any tienda and enjoy!

- For a brief history of Peace Corps, please check out http://www.peacecorps.gov/about/history/ .

- The “Give me 5” hand signal that I’m using with my 1^st through 3^rd graders is a classroom management trick I learned in the United States. I found out there that it doesn’t always work with high school kids, but I’m learning here that it does work with primary grades. You just raise your hand and count down with your voice and fingers, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.” Students should also raise their hands and count down with you (good English practice, too!) and not continue to talk after you reach 0. Especially in classrooms here, this requires a lot of practice, especially the “not talking after 0” part, but it’s definitely a good idea to have some sort of signal for silence, so you don’t destroy your voice every day in large classes of small children.