Trinity Catholic School Visit

On Friday, we visited a Catholic school from LKG (lower kindergarten) through 8th standard (8th grade). When we arrived, we got to watch the Kinergarten Christmas pagent. Many of the students are Hindu, but because the school is Catholic, they are celebrating Christmas. We also had the opportunity to speak with the teachers in a Q and A format, which is the first time we actually had sit down time with a group of teachers. The teachers asked me how I taught nursery rhymes and when I was talking about my pocket chart, they had never heard of one. There are 40 students in each Kindergarten classroom, so the teaching methods of reading groups and learning centers would be difficult. The classrooms are too small to break into groups, and supervision would be a problem. Their lessons are taught whole group in lecture style. The students practice a lot with oral recitation in order to learn English.

The teachers were very interested in learning new teaching methods. I think if they could get an American teacher to spend a year at this school, it would be a great learning opportunity for all involved, though I'm not volunteering, as I miss my students back in Virginia! I am attaching a picture of their library as well. The teachers do not have "classroom libraries." The students share books from one room. I noticed that there were not books for Kindergarten age students to check out. I wish I could give these Kindergarten classes some of my picture books.