sardines in ministry orientation

Teaching methodologies vary from person to person.  Each individual has their own opinion of what works and what doesn't.  And some things work for certain people that might not work for others.  With my own little bit of previous teaching experience and the 2.5 weeks of very effective WorldTeach training already under my belt, I was already feeling pretty comfortable with the whole teaching in Chile business by the time Ministry training started.  Good thing too because it made the week pretty tranquilo for me and I'm sure the other WT volunteers can agree.

WorldTeach training at the lovely and well-ventilated Instituto Norteamericano

Ministry training

The Ministry trainers were made up of a group of seasoned teachers turned supervisors, former volunteers turned ministry staff, and interns who crammed as much as they could into the 9-4:30 workshops.  They were very knowledgeable and had years of experience collectively but it was just a lot of information in a short, compact time, and all presented on less than attention-grabbing powerpoints.  I ended up just sitting in the back of the room with at least one wall to lean against and tuning in and out when I felt the information would be of use to me or confuse me, respectively.  It didn't help that all 51 volunteers, 3 trainers, and at one point, about 10 apoyos curriculares (curriculum coordinators for each region) were squeezed into a small classroom with no windows, desks for ants, and paint thinner fumes from renovation work in the building.  We were literally elbow to elbow and everyone, save for the few lucky ones who scored a wall seat, corrected any kind of slouch problem they might have had before.  However, these are the circumstances of post-terremoto Chile.  Some buildings, like the one the Ministry usually uses for training, are still not structurally sound.  Luckily, we were very understanding of this and were able to keep positive attitudes about it...most of the time.

First day of Ministry training

Last day of Ministry training