Friday, October 28

I don't know if I will ever be accustomed to the rain here in Costa Rica.  We saw the sun this morning, and it was beautiful, but within two hours it had clouded over, and it was pouring again by noon.  I know it's the rain that keeps this country lush and beautifully green; I just wish the green didn't show up on my moldy belt, or the shoes in my closet, or the very slippery sidewalk outside my gate.  It would be so nice to wash my clothes, hang them to dry, and actually have that happen!   Oh well.  October is almost over, and that means we are that much closer to December and some sun (knock on wood - but not too hard.  It's rotten.)

We had our Halloween parade today.  It's really fun seeing some of the impressive costumes.  Some might call it a waste of time, and the amount of sugar provided by the parents afterward as scarily excessive, but those people might be called teachers.  While I was bemoaning the fact that we've lost so much "instructional time" this week, it occurred to me that I had participated in events like this in school, missed this time, and still turned out okay.  It was not the end of my educational career.  In fact, when you think about it, the students learned hot to think flexibly, how to create and innovate, and how to think and work interdependently (Yay for the Habits of Mind!)

Overall, they learned outside of the classroom today, and that's quite all right.  They're going to have to live outside of the classroom eventually.

Day Five

Thank goodness there's only one day left in this week.  It's funny how we look forward to the weekend, longing for it.  It's unfortunate that these are considered the "fun days" of the week.  What if you had a job, a career, that let you enjoy every day like a weekend?  If you have one of these, let me know.  I think I'm in search mode again.

There is a lot of change going on in the school where I work.  Some of it is predictable; I've been asked to do the same kind of professional development and paperwork in each of my previous division.  It's a lot of work, and some of my co-workers are up-in-arms, but it's not a big surprise.  It's not particularly welcome, but not surprising.

Some of the change is driven by the school.  We've started using the Habits of Mind, and I think it's a pretty cool way of getting the kids, and us, to really think and evaluate what we do and say.  It's another piece of a pretty big puzzle that's being handed down to us from above, but it's working for some of our classes already.  

Much of the change is being driven by our demographic.  When the school opened its doors, it had a majority of North American native-English speakers, and our programming reflected that.  (So I'm told; I'm not old enough to have worked here then!)  Now our demographic has changed to have a majority of Costa Rican, native-Spanish speakers.  It's a great thing to be enveloped into this culture, but it does come with challenges. I"m not sure our planning and our goals have adapted well.  We still value certain things as an administration, and as the parent council, but our students/clients don't have the same values or beliefs.  Are we begin reactive or proactive?  Where do things change?  Could the school control our demographic?  To a point.  The country of Costa Rica has changed around the school; are we relevant to our clientele, or are we an island apart?

This is what I've been struggling with this week.  I don't have the authority or the place to question the major decisions in my workplace.  I don't know if this is my battle; after all, I need to decide where I am going to be come June 16th, and I need to decide by the end of November.  Do I stay in the upheaval that is sure to come, just ensure I have a position, a paycheque, or do I risk finding yet another place to be, giving up security for something closer to home?

What to do?  I think for now I'll just continue being glad that tomorrow is Friday, and I will enjoy an early bedtime.  Maybe that means I'll be up and ready in the morning.  Maybe.