“To teach is to learn twice.” ~Joseph Joubert

Last week I began co-teaching an after school English class to a group of 12 fifth graders at an NGO called Educari (http://www.educari-ong.org/homesite/) within Vidigal (a favela just south of Léblon beach). They are the cutest things ever! They are so excited to be learning English and love talking to us. According to the director, students in Brazil have classes either in the mornings (7-12pm) or afternoons (1-6pm). Educari provides extra classes, programs, and sports for these kids to keep them out of trouble and off the streets during the remaining hours while their parents are at work.

The school itself is nicer than my grade school. It has a great playground area, nice classrooms with plenty of supplies, TV’s and internet in most rooms, and even a movie theatre and popcorn machine! Apparently, the school was built for rich kids, but somehow got handed down to the school/NGO.

I am co-teaching with 2 of my friends, which is great because we can split the class into small groups for extra practice. It is definitely challenging because we have no experience teaching or preparing lesson plans, and we have the freedom to teach whatever we want. Scary thought, huh? It’s fun to make up games and activities for them, though. Only one of the 12 students has had an English class before so we are starting with the basics. However, they all started singing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to us the first day of class! It is incredible how much American pop culture has impacted Brazil. My host brother blares Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift in his room everyday. NBA jerseys seem like the thing to wear, and probably 50% (or more) of the TV shows and movies are in English with Portuguese subtitles.

As for the kids I teach; So. Freaking. Cute. Johannes told his friend (who then told me) that he has a crush on me. He always hugs me after class and walks us out to the entrance of the favela. Another cutie with wide eyes and a huge grin on his face all the time, Jonathon, asked to take a picture of us on his phone after class. The other day, we were walking down the hill back home and three of the girls in the class were walking up the steep staircase clinging to the side of the mountain back to their homes. They spotted us down below and started jumping up and down, yelling our names and waving! Talk about rewarding… I can already tell it's going to be very tough leaving them in 4 months!