COLOMBIA TIP #26 – Don’t be sucked into buying something just because the prices seem so low!
We had a gradual transition back to school with the first two days being professional development with a lady named Jane E Pollock from the States. There are a few of us who have been doing PD sessions with her once a month via Skype, but this time she was in Colombia in the flesh to give us some tips on our curriculum, how to assess students effectively, and how to make them value their education and be responsible for their learning. Quite the tasks, especially here, if you ask me!
When the students returned to school, they were surprisingly calm. I had heard some teachers say that in January the kids are a little less crazy and with exams coming up they would be focusing more. Some classes were their same old selves, but I definitely noticed a difference. I just hope that I can keep it going for the next 6 months…
Over the break, the Grade 9s had a Tessellation project they were working on. It was a chance for them to see math in a more artistic way and to get away from all the numbers for a bit. I was pleasantly surprised that 99% of them handed in their projects the day they returned when it was due. And I was also very pleasantly surprised to see some of the creativity that they had come up with! Here are a few highlights of their work:
It was nice to see some of the not-so-mathy students take advantage of this assignment and produce some pretty awesome projects!
Last weekend, our friend Travis from Bogota (well, he works in Bogota, he’s from Toronto) came down to Armenia to visit. He brought us some bagels, which you can rarely find in Armenia, so we were pretty happy with that! We went to Salento and did some minor shopping because I needed a new key chain for my newly acquired apartment key. I may or may not have left mine in Canada when I went home over the holidays! So now I have a matching key chain that all of my girl cousins have from Christmas! We also walked up the 238 stairs to the mirador/lookout (I had to count on the way up and the way down just to make sure cause someone was trying to mess up my counting… TRAVIS). We also came across the tiniest dog I have ever seen, and I was almost positive they were saying it was only 200 pesos (the equivalent of $0.10). Travis later said he thinks that taking pictures cost you 200 pesos, but we definitely never paid for this one that I took!
It would’ve been a great purchase, but a) I’m allergic to dogs, b) I didn’t have the direct permission from my roommates Lina and Veronica (although I’m almost positive Vero would agree in a second), and c) I’ve got enough on my plate without a pet! The (supposed) low price was very tempting though!
The next day we were going to hike to Acaime, the hummingbird sanctuary that I had visited before. But it was farther than I remembered and we ended up having to turn around partway there cause Travis had to make sure he caught his flight back to Bogota. So next time, I’ll know better! And for anyone that wants to visit me here in Armenia, I think this hike and hummingbird place is a good place to go!
This past week I had my first Colombian birthday! It was the first day of exams, so I think a lot of the students were too busy worrying about their studying and testing to remember. A few of them did remember though and it made me smile! Once one student found out from me, three more came to say happy birthday, and after the first exam was over, I had grade 11s and 12s also wishing me a happy birthday!
Amber’s birthday is the same day as me and Ferney’s is the 31st, so many from our friend group went out for dinner to the Avenida Mall. There are a bunch of restaurants in one open space with many tables, so you can order the type of food that you so choose. I decided to be classic and go for pepperoni pizza! We also got to meet Nora, Ben and Caitlin’s baby, because they came out for a little bit to see everyone. It was really nice to have us all together, especially since it was towards the end of a stressful first semester!
We got a special birthday brownie that was delicious! It said “Feliz Cumpleaños” which is “Happy Birthday” in Spanish.
Matt also decided to steal my phone away after I was responding to my MANY messages from my awesome friends and not paying enough attention to the people at the table. So to the people at the table, I apologize. To the people I didn’t respond back to for a while, I apologize. Matt, you need to apologize 😉
Actually Matt, no apology necessary because this is an amazing picture. (Matt, Veronica, me, Ferney, Lina)
After this Review/Exam week, the students (and teachers) are pretty wiped out. I’ll have a ton of exams to grade this weekend, but I’m hoping that since it is technically my birthday weekend, I can set some time aside to relax and have fun!
Katie En Kolombia 