Today was our second day of school but our first day riding
the bus and boy was that an adventure. The bus stop is just at the end of our
road so it’s not a bad walk but it turns out that you have to flag the bus down
or it doesn’t stop and instead goes right by you. Once we discovered this, we
were able to make our way to the mall station and switch over to the bus that
would take us to school. We were a little doubtful but when we saw some of our
students getting on as well, we knew it had to be right. Yes, students were on the public bus. Why? Because they don't actually have school buses here. During school hours, certain buses act as school buses but overall everyone just rides the public or walks.
Most
of my time was spent observing some more and still just trying to figure out
the hours and lines. I was able to see some projects that students were working
on, such as biome reports and descriptive poetry. I also learned about all the
different electives offered here. They have Mandarin Chinese and recently
started Spanish. They also offer cooking, sewing, business, computers,
construction, and music. There is no band or sports team though (they don’t
even have a mascot).
After
school had let out we went to our first staff meeting. We heard from one of the
interpreters working in the school and learned about the different ways we can
best assist them. For anyone who ever works with interpreters, know that it’s
important to stand still when addressing anyone with hearing impairments, as
they are both watching for your nonverbal cues as well as reading the sign
language. Additionally, always give time for them to write, as they cannot look
up watching you and write at the same time. Once we learned all we could, we
caught a bus back home and I holed up in the laundry room for a few hours. This is the only room I can
get wifi in at the park!
