English Class at the Escuela Normal

In addition to the literature class at the Universidad de Guanajuato, I have been team-teaching an English class for English teachers. Mark and two excellent U.S. students helped with the class. Last night was our final class meeting, and we had a de traje (potluck) party. The opportunity to teach this class developed serendipitously through a connection with an education consultant from Oregon who was here in Guanajuato helping the Secretariat de Educación Pública develop its program for providing English language instruction to children at the kindergarten and primary school levels. This English course was designed to help the English teachers improve their own English language skills and to help them develop strategies for teaching English effectively. The class met twice a week at the Escuela Normal, a stately, rose-colored ex-convent building. Going to class here felt like an occasion. I loved walking across the spacious, tiled courtyards and up the wide, white staircases to the room that never had an eraser for the whiteboard.

I loved teaching this class. The teachers showed such enthusiasm and dedication to improving their skills for the sake of their students. They taught me a lot about the education system here in México. And we shared a lot of laughs over funny word pronunciations - mine in Spanish, theirs in English. There is something about communicating across languages that can be a great bonding experience. What we lack in words we make up for in earnestness.