I work at a school for adults with different abilities. They range from Autism (at all levels), to Down Syndrom, to tramatic brain injuries. I have not learned all about the different abilities my students have, but some are know without hearing it directly. My job at the school is to help the teachers and students with everyday activities, and I teach English to four students.
Teaching English is much different than speaking it! But that is a blog post in it of itself.
In the last month CIPAAC (my school's name) has been changing its location. Last year the main school was held in Puebla, in a house they had made into a school like setting. It was nice and cozy for the students they have. But the students they have grew up and now need more space. The school administration has aspirations to have a larger school, to help more students and to build a community of independent adults with different abilities. So they built a school.
This is the school.
Almost all of the student we had in Puebla moved with us to this new school in San Andreas, a city near Puebla but still far away for many. They travel over an hour every day to get to school.
Before the big move I asked a teacher if the students were going to have a hard time with the change and she said no, but the teachers are all going to have some hard times with it. I had my doubts about the students not having a hard time, but the teachers I could believe. They had been talking about the length of their commute and the cost of bus fairs they were going to have to pay now (most lived within walking distance of the school before) long before I arrived here in Mexico and only got more vocal about it as the time came closer.
The first week of school was hard for everyone I think, and now we are only completing week two and the routines have still not been solidified. In week, one we did not have many students yet because many were still on vacation, but the ones we had were behaving irradically. They were confused about were they were the bathroom is, where they should put their stuff, and sit in their new classroom. One of the students became so upset with the big change, that she was inconsolable and flailed and scratched teachers that tried to help her. Other students ran around in the now gated yard we have, in a fashion no one could determine was happy or angry.
The teachers have gotten used to the distance they are traveling every morning, but they looked much more tired and have started to make coffee everyday. Something they hardly ever did in the old school. The teachers are still finding out how they want to set up their classrooms and how they will incorperate the old materials they had with the new ones that was bought with donations for the move.
It is all very confusing and with time things will smooth out.
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