As we are fully into our program now, I have less time to blog about it. That’s the way life works, of course.

While Rufo had made plans for us on Sunday, Johan and I begged off so that we could hang out with the Taboras. Rufo took Molly on what sounded like a lovely countryside tour, getting out of Manila to see some beautiful mountainous regions in this tropical country. Meanwhile, us Taboras went to a beautiful brunch buffet that afternoon at the Shangri-La. There were mountains of delicious food that we enjoyed there. We also went shopping (one of the national past times of Filipinos, according to Johan, because the malls have air conditioning) and went for a quick swim at a local club.

On Monday morning, we visited the PAEF office to touch base with Gigi, the Interim Exectuve Director. The Philippino-American Education Foundation is under the auspices of the Fulbright program. I learned that the Philippines is celebrating its 70th year as a Fulbright partner with the US and I learned of the several different exchange programs that Fulbright sponsors.

Later that day, we briefly met the president of JRU and the board of directors and had a delicious lunch (prepared on campus!) with several of the teachers. I observed three math classes that afternoon, in grades 7 and 10. Later in the afternoon, Rufo MC’d a welcome program that included student participation. We heard some awesome ukulele playing by some sixth graders and then an outstanding soloist who was only 12 years old.  I had to get a selfie with her in case she’s famous one day!

Tuesday was a full day, too. I observed four math classes in the morning at the senior high school, which is grades 11 and 12. The Philippine Government recently changed the law requiring students to stay in school until grade 12 (it used to be grade 10), so there is a huge influx of students at these grade levels. JRU has over 4300 students in grades 11 and 12 alone. The public schools cannot handle all of the students, so the government gives families vouchers so the kids can go to private schools. I observed classes in Statistics, Geometry, Basic Calculus and General Mathematics. After another buffet lunch at a local restaurant (did I mention Filipinos *love* buffets?), I gave a short presentation about Chicago and Northside Prep to a class of enthusiastic students who asked great questions about life in the US. They asked if students had to wear uniforms and how much tuition students had to pay to attend Northside. They were surprised that there was no tuition and that the facilities were as nice as they were for a public school. I later told the teacher that Northside’s facilities didn’t even compare to those in suburban schools. It’s all relative. Before leaving, I chatted with the two teachers whose classes I would teach the following day. I was to prepare a lesson for grade 10 math and the topic was arithmetic sequences and series. Teaching demonstrations are part of our planned activities for the Fulbright. It’s a little weird to take over another teacher’s class for a day or two, but I also know that seeing something enacted live is a better way to believe that it can be done than merely talking about it or reading about it.

I woke up early Wednesday to prepare my lessons for the day. I had a few constraints: limited access to copies; no laptops or graphing calculators; class sizes of 45 – 48 students; small classrooms;  small, one-person desk-chairs that really could not be moved around the room. I prepared google slides because I knew that I would have an LCD projector and  decent wifi connection. From my observations, it seemed like students were only making superficial connections as they worked on using the formula for the nth term of a sequence. I presented some problems using visual patterns and asked students to make the connected between the visual pattern and the rule. I also asked students to talk to each quite a bit as we moved through the lesson.

Before we even began the lessons, I asked each class for advice: What should I know about that class or about Filipino students in general before I teach them? I stole this idea from fellow Fulbrighter Molly as she asked it while she presented to another class yesterday. I asked for five students to give me distinct pieces of advice and I learned a lot from what they said. They were nervous about using English with me. They wanted me to know that they can get a little rowdy and to be as strict as necessary with them. They told me that math was difficult for them, so please be patient with them. I can’t remember all 15 pieces of advice now, but I loved that they were willing to help me be more successful as their teacher. This was my quick-and-dirty version of a get-to-know-you google form that I use with my students. I almost like this version better because students think about themselves as a collective and consider what success means for the class.

Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of the day. I think I may be getting laryngitis, but I’m doing my best to save my voice for teaching. Today (Thursday) brings more teaching and co-teaching in the same three classes. I still need to talk with the teachers to decide how we are going to handle the classes and how to proceed to developing the sum of an arithmetic series, the topic that I didn’t have time to get to yesterday. I imagine I will be just as exhausted at the end of this day, too.