Panama Update #54
September 26, 2008
So far I have spent two days at the new job. The second day was better, after the initial shock wore off for me. I haven't been in a 7th grade class for a long time since for the last 6 years I have been working with high school students. As I mentioned in the last blog, most of the students have a lot of trouble with English and/or math. It is supposed to be an English based school, but they have a lot of catch up to do. Same with math. Most of them need a lot of review. With academic problems usually comes a lot of behavior problems. I am assisting the regular teacher by taking small groups of students who are either ahead or behind the class and are either bored or frustrated. This seems to be how I can best help, but the job will probably continue to evolve. I think it will be a nice way to fill out my day a little and give it some consistency, since the private tutoring students seem to come and go. Last night there was an open house at the school and Nikki came along. A lot of parents came to hear the teachers talk. It is a new school and they are paying a lot of money (about $10,000 per year) for tuition. This is a huge amount for Panama and a large amount for anywhere. Nikki found some of the religious teachers to speak Hebrew with. Because of all the Jewish Holidays coming up and the trip to the US from Oct. 2-10, I don't go back to work again until Oct. 13. We are not sure where we will celebrate the High Holidays this year.
