* I started my class with a classic group problem solving activity. I took 6 jump ropes and tangled them all up. Then each student grabbed a handle of one of the jump ropes and the kids had to work together to untangle the ropes. They accomplished this task pretty quickly because I forgot to tell them that they couldn't let go of their rope. Oops. So I told them this all important rule and they tried again. This second time they also completed the task quickly because most of them just ignored the rule I had just told them. Then I tried one more time to convince them that this was all very easy if they cheated and only worth the effort if they followed the rule. Their third attempt went better. Most of the kids followed the rules and they were working together nicely until one girl gave up and just left the game, thus making it pretty easy for the rest of the class to finish. The students definitely need to work on their perseverance.
* During Los talleres I noticed that a few kids weren't participating in sports. When I asked them why they said they were hot and tired from recreation. Fair point. So I brought out Blokus and played the game with them for half an hour. It took awhile for me to effectively explain the rules (which is really hard for me) but once they understood they loved it. It was such an oasis of 30 minutes - especially for a board game lover such as myself.
The hilight of the day was definitely the afternoon activity that we did with the gringo and Dominican teen leaders. Right after lunch and laundry we all boarded a bus and went in to Santo Domingo to visit Tres Ojos - a series of underground lakes - and then to the malecón for ice cream. Not sure which the kids like better. The best part of the day for me was seeing how integrated all the teen leaders were. Thanks to Ashley and Rossi for that. They had observed that the teen leaders weren't integrating as well as they had last year and suggested that we take matters into our own hands. So they assigned seats on the bus so that Dominicans and gringos were sitting together. Then while they were eating ice cream they designed an ice breaker game for all the kids to play. We need to do this bonding activity much earlier next year and definitely put the Dominican leaders in charge. Both Ashley and Rossi and another Dominican teaching assistant named Thania are really stepping up and helping out so much this year. They really get what we are trying to accomplish. I am very hopeful that these girls will be able to take over the camp one of these days. Which is exactly what we want to happen. This whole project should become part of the community here with us just providing the funds.
One final note, as I'm writing this the kids are putting school supplies in backpacks to give to local kids (the country requires every student to have a backpack and uniform to attend school but doesn't provide any funds for the people to buy those things). I mention this because it has been quite a scene watching 11 teenagers try to accomplish this task. So far lots of different ideas about how to accomplish this task and no fisticuffs as yet. All is good.
Here's me trying to convince Robinson and Sandy to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
