On Friday I went to QHS to attend math classes all morning with Claudia. Each class was more or less the same lesson but the way each class perceived it and interacted with the material was always different. One class was very anxious to understand the material they made lines for questions and the study groups were easy to identify. Another class refused to do the work and instead decided to play the ukelele. Clau was okay with this because this was the longest period of the day. So we split up the class into people who wanted to work and get it done and people who would focus on a part of the class work for the second half of the period and for homework. There are so many things going on in Argentina that makes me want to be an international teacher. Church and state are not separated here so presidents are required to follow the teachings of Catholicism. This means that Abortion is not legal in Argentina. The children in senior 2b were having a conversation with me about this and they explained the families living in poverty with low access to education have girls who are often pregnant at the age of 12. Sometimes it is because of sexual violations or because of the lack of access to sexual education in the public school system.
In the afternoon I went to QHS primary school which is where the younger children are. They were getting ready for the end of the year performance in August for chorus so they sang me two songs. After in order to practice their Spanish the group of kids were split into groups wh were they each gave me an interview. After I went to spend time in the teachers’ lounge where i was able to have more insightful conversation about once again politics, Macri, Christina, and the events happening in the United States. QHS primary head Valerie was able to introduce me to Doloris a teacher who participated in a program for international teachers. She was willing to help me out and hopefully, I will be traveling back to Buenos Aires for a month program and training for international teaching. Lastly, I went to the house meeting. QHS gets all their teachings from Cambridge so that is why a lot of their traditions may seem British. Students are identified by houses, Hudson, Livingston, Shackleton. Every few weeks they have house meetings where students get effort pins, merit pins, neatness pins, etc and each house builds up points. Then the house with the most points wins.
