Well, the English classes started a week ago, and so far they have been incredible! We have had a blast teaching and laughing with the folks who have come. Only a day or two into the classes we had already developed a relationship with the students, and as I write this blog post I anxiously await the class we’re going to have tonight.
How the classes work is we split the students up into three groups; beginners, intermediates, and advanced. I have helped out with the intermediates this week, which consists mostly of elementary-aged kids. We have acted out animals, played games, and performed skits in an effort to teach and make fools of ourselves (Ecuadorians love that). We have encountered only a little bit in the way of struggle, and that is only because of some of the team’s (including myself) lack of speaking (good) Spanish. Despite this it has been a good lesson in figuring it out without much of a plan.
Another one of the major lessons learned this week is feedback. For those of you who don’t know, feedback is an important and necessary component of the World Race. Feedback is when you approach somebody and tell them something encouraging, such as, “I saw how you handled that hurdle, and I’m so proud of you!” or something constructive, such as, “I saw how you handled that hurdle, and I want to encourage you to relax next time and then try to address it.” I am a people pleaser, so I’m pretty good at giving encouraging feedback, but giving constructive feedback has been tough. Some people can’t handle receiving it, so they sometimes throw “spears” at you, which is a situation you don’t want to find yourself in. We’re learning as a team the right way to give constructive feedback, and how to not throw spears back at the folks who throw them at you. Please be praying for us as we work through this hurdle. So far we have tackled quite a few elephants in the room, and things are looking upward, but still keep us in your prayers.
