Friday, July 26, 2013

TEFL Certificate

Back Row: Shelly, Kim, Erina & Geneva Front Row: Catherine, Amanda, Brookie, Me, Sheri


Jeopardy with the TEFL teachers

If only we could earn money for answering these questions!

Jeopardy was the last bit of torture to help us prepare for the final. :)

Brookie was our perky Georgia peach teacher.

Catherine was our sweet Michigan teacher with an extraordinary love of grammar.



Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Tonight I taught my last class in Costa Rica...:(

It was bittersweet!  I am going to miss my classmates, students, teachers and the lovely office ladies!  Everyone has been incredibly kind!  I still have to put my portfolio together and study for the final.  Then I will graduate, celebrate & back to the U. S. of A.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Plan B

I came to  Costa Rica to relax, pull myself together, figure out a Plan B, meet people from around the world, get healthy, etc... Well I have done all of those things and more. The story I'd most like to share is...

A chance encounter I had in a local "soda" (traditional, fast-food-like restaurant) may prove to be the reason I do what I do for several years to come.  I was minding my own business and eating when I saw a girl struggling to speak Spanish with the waitress. I helped her communicate and then we started talking. She was studying Spanish at the local language school and was having trouble.  I gave her some pointers and we started talking about our future goals.  I told her I wanted to teach in international schools some day.  I also told her what my educational background was and that I was studying TEFL.  I told her that my dream job was to teach specialized English classes to people who needed to learn in order to be successful in their jobs. 

A man at a nearby table apologized for eaves dropping and asked if he could talk to me.  He was the director of La Isla Foundation,  http://laislafoundation.org/ and the producer/director of http://www.bananalandmovie.org/ and was looking for teachers for his school.  His organization brings awareness to the epidemic of men dying in the sugar cane fields, due to severe dehydration that leads to kidney failure.  They also educate the widows and children of the deceased men, so that they can escape the tragic lifestyles they lead. 

We exchanged information and communicated about other opportunities for service.  We are working on a plan for my students in Naples to pen pal with his students.  I would like to get the science teachers involved and come up with a school-wide service project.  He even offered to come guest speak at my school!

Anyway, nothing is set in stone, but I think the first chapter of my Plan B will happen next summer in Nicaragua.  I will teach people who really NEED to learn. :)