Projects Galapagos

Teaching, CARE, ARTS AND SPORTS PROJECTS

1 Teaching Programme in Projects Galapagos Community centre

Our teaching programmes mission is to provide sustainable educational support within disadvantaged communities to reduce inequality in education. With the work of our volunteers, we aim to empower underprivileged students by improving their future prospects and equipping them with the skills needed to actively engage in a multi-national community.

Objectives:

·       Research and document new learning and teaching aides (flash cards, story books, visual aids, etc.)

·       Use creative techniques to help improve the listening and speaking skills of students, e.g.  Using repetition, building knowledge of vocabulary and phrases, singing songs and role-playing

·       Play songs

·       Make teaching fun

·       Improve teaching and learning English

Important Notes:

·       Conduct the class in English

·       Design lesson plans prior to class

·       Provide individual attention by listening to each child reading and speaking

·       Observe and evaluate students’ performances

·       Keep notes about each class and child and document their progress

·       Always encourage the children to increase their knowledge

·       If you suspect a child is being abused, let William know.

·       Please wear smart casual clothes, such as jeans, smart T-shirts, and long shorts to care and education placements, not short shorts and revealing T-shirts.  Shoulders and cleavages should be covered.

·       Be proactive and seek out work if it is not offered. Your work will be structured around the tasks you are given, but there is always room for flexibility.

·       You are free to make suggestions about how the programme may be improved and to develop new courses and worksheets.

·       Do not feel nervous if you are not a teacher or TEFL trained.  All you need is patience and enthusiasm.

You will be teaching conversational English in schools or becoming involved in community English programmes. You are not expected to be an expert on grammar or literature; your task is to help people speak English. You will normally be asked to teach classes alongside local teachers in schools, and/or you can also lead classes in the community centre’s English programme.  However, you may also work with another volunteer. You will be expected to work normal hours (at least twenty contact hours each week) with normal holidays. 

The Ecuadorian education system consists of primary schools (up to age 12), secondary schools (up to age 18) and universities. Mostly you will be asked to help in secondary schools, although we do work within community language programmes and summer schools.

The level of English in Ecuadorian schools is basic. You will often find that the English teachers themselves speak only a little English - the level varies from school to school. Many schools do not even have a basic syllabus to follow. In some schools you will act as an assistant to the classroom teacher; in others you will be running the classes. Whichever situation you find yourself in, you will have William’s support.  If you have interests such as art, drama, or music that you are enthusiastic to develop with the students, please let William know.

The office will provide you with materials such as coloured markers, A4 paper and coloured paper.  There is a small library of teaching materials, games, worksheets, paper, coloured pencils, crayons, felt tip pens, and books for the children. If you need photocopies or other materials for teaching or care, please let the office staff know the day before you need them. School holidays run from the first of March to the end of April, when the centre runs a summer camp with English, art, and sports classes.

You will have a choice of working in a school or only in the Community Centre, or both. The main focus is on our Community Centre.  This is where we provide English classes for local children and teenagers, aged from 6 to 17. You may improve support classes for children who are slow learners by providing one on one support.  You will be supported by our local staff. Planning takes place in the afternoon. Classes in the Community Centre are divided by age and knowledge of Engish, and run from 2 pm to 5 or 6 pm. The children range in age from 6 to about 16, and they have up to 25 students in each class. No experience is needed.  All we need is enthusiasm and dedication to the Project. Spanish is not required, but it does help to have a basic knowledge to communicate with teachers and children. If you have special skills and experience in teaching such courses, please let William know.

2 TEACHING ENGLISH IN LOCAL SCHOOLS

It is also possible to teach English in the local schools in the morning. Classes run from 7.15 to 12.30 pm. The long summer holiday is in March and April each year. Volunteers help the teachers teach their classes.

A TYPICAL DAY

You can either sign up for one type or do both.  You will teach in the morning and plan lessons in the afternoon.

You can either sign up for one type or do both.  You will teach in the afternoon and plan lessons in the morning.

PERSONNEL IN CLASSROOM

If we have enough volunteers here at one time, 2 or more work in the same classroom.  If you have teaching experience and/or feel confident enough, you may have your own class, without another volunteer working with you.  If we do not have enough volunteers, you may have your own class, without any other help.  If you feel uncomfortable with this, please let William know as soon as possible so that we can combine classes or find other ways to overcome any problems that might arise.

3 SUMMER CAMP

During the summer vacation time we also run a summer camp, when the local children and youngsters study English in our centre. Summer Camp begins in March and ends in April. If volunteers come before that date, they may help with planning, arranging trips, and preparing materials.

4 SPANISH

You do not need Spanish to teach, but a basic knowledge of the language will be very helpful.  You will learn it quickly when you are here.  It is possible to arrange to have Spanish classes while you are here.

Teachers travelling during their placement means no English lessons for the children! Projects Abroad has a formal agreement with the Ministry of Education which must be honoured. 10 weeks teaching = 2 weeks’ travel. Placements for less time (under 12 weeks) are not entitled to travel time. It is always best to discuss travel periods with William, since there may be an obvious gap in the work schedule which the volunteer may not be aware of, e. g. school holidays, national holidays (feriados), the completion of a specific project, etc.

5 Care

Introduction:
You may work in one of the kindergartens, assisting with classes of up to twenty-five children aged 3, 4, or 5 years old. Pre-school children in this area have generally not had much educational nurturing from their families, so it is important that they receive lots of help at this stage. You may be helping with cutting, sticking, playing games, and singing songs, and will be working alongside a classroom teacher.

The children that you are working with will not speak English. Whilst you may incorporate English lessons into your programme, the most important aspect is to involve the children with interactive, fun activities. Therefore, one of the best ways to prepare yourself for the project is to learn as much Spanish as possible. You will be communicating in Spanish with the children, so try to learn some key phrases that will be useful. Working with children is one of the best ways to learn more as they won’t have inhibitions, so they will talk to you and expect you to understand.

Care placements provide the opportunity to use your own interests such as sport, art, music, or drama as tools for working with the children. There is no hard and fast rule as to what your role is, so you can develop this yourself, and will probably find that at first you take a more observational role, but you may plan to develop your own projects with the children during the course of your stay. You will have a supervisor working with you at the placement if you need any assistance. We strongly encourage you to let us know your talents and interests as we want to have a wide variety of activities available for the children.

Mission:

Our mission is to provide sustainable educational support, care and protection to children and groups to enhance their physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.

Care Programme Goals:

·       Assist teaching with different activities during classes

·       Support activities for children with special needs

·       Teach basic English vocabulary

·       Organize educational, fun games and activities for children

·       Make sure the children play safely

·       Work with teachers to improve classroom rules and methods of discipline

·       Supervise children during breaks and play time

6 Sports

Sport is extremely popular and there are many children wishing to participate, but due to a lack of resources, opportunities are limited.  Whatever your skills, with energy and enthusiasm you can coach the sport you love or help with a range of games and general fitness sessions.  Volunteers are involved with coaching basketball or football in addition to planning training sessions, with the ultimate goal of improving general fitness, techniques, and team involvement.

Emphasis is placed on enjoyment and participation; the students attending these sports clubs have a real passion for playing sports, especially football. Your role, therefore, will be to help make sure the fun and enthusiasm continues. As a foreigner your very presence will help make each training session enjoyable. The training sessions are held in the afternoons, so many volunteers choose to combine this project with a care or teaching project.

7 Creative Arts Project

Depending on where your talents and interests lie, as a volunteer you can become involved and focus on one or more of the following areas:

Teaching the local children and teenagers art including painting, and drawing, and working with recycled materials.

Painting educational murals on the outside walls of local schools.

Teaching the children and teenagers different dance techniques.

Acting

Developing the acting abilities of the local community and encourage them to speak English through role playing while learning English. You can also help write scripts and direct short plays and sketches.

Music

Teaching children and teenagers how to play different musical instruments, e. g. guitar and piano, and teaching singing.

You will be able to see our impact on San Cristobal Island if you click on Online Magazine. We look after La Galapaguera, where giant tortoises live and breed, monitor sea lions, iguanas and petrels, run beach clean ups where we collect data about recyclable and non-recyclable trash, paint murals with conservation and environmental themes, and teach English using themes relating to conservation in our Community Centre, which also has a small bilingual library.