Teaching in Loja

We are slowly becoming accustomed to our new teaching assignment. To say it is different from what we are used to is an understatement. Having spent our entire careers in public education we are finding some obvious, and some not so obvious differences, in teaching a small group of missionary children.  

There are a total of five students in our school. Yes, five! There are 3 elementary students and 2 high school students. And how many teachers do we have? Four! I know what you’re thinking, but let me explain. The other couple is involved in other ministries as well, so we have divided up the workload to allow them time for other things. It also gives all of us time for our Spanish lessons during the week. Dave is teaching the elementary math, science and history (and the phys. ed. which happens once a week!)  I’m teaching all of the language arts, both elementary and high school. Even though we only have five students they are at different grade levels, which means preparing multiple lessons. The preparation is essentially the same whether you have one student or twenty-five.

Our day begins at 8:30 every morning. We meet in a room on the top floor (actually, it is the whole top floor) of the Loja Mission Center. We liken it to the old one room schoolhouse, although we are much too young to have experienced itJ The high school students usually work in a small room, off of the larger area. The students work until 11:00 when they have a break. There is a small rooftop area where the kids play. They have learned to improvise and play their version of dodge ball or baseball with an empty plastic pop bottle as a bat. At 11:30 they resume their studies until 1:00 when they are finished for the day.

To be honest, the first few days we really felt like there wasn’t enough to do. When you’re used to dealing with 25 or more students at a time, 3 is just weird! Those of you who are teachers can probably understand. Obviously classroom management isn’t an issue. Class discussions? Difficult. Group activities? Almost impossible. Competitive games and activities? Very difficult. We are having to come up with new ways of doing things in order to motivate students and facilitate learning. Now that we have completed three weeks of school, we feel like we are getting into the groove and can appreciate the differences and the time we can spend with each of the students.

Another big difference is the curriculum. We come from a public education background where we are not permitted to discuss Christianity or try to influence children in that direction. To look at all subjects from a Christian perspective and to be able to talk about it freely is new to us. All of the students have surprised us with their Bible knowledge as well as their spiritual maturity.

We are enjoying getting to know our students and are learning some important things from them. Things like, what to eat and more importantly, what not to eat. Where to find the best pizza, what soccer team to cheer for (depending which student you ask), and how to pronounce things in Spanish. (They love to correct our pronunciation.) They are a wealth of information when it comes to Ecuadorian culture. We hope they will learn as much from us as we are learning from them.