In the U.S. we live by the bell – as soon as we hear it ring, we jump and get to where we are supposed to be. We even have the expression “Saved by the Bell,”and there was a TV show by that name. At WJHS we have precisely 4 minutes to get from the ending bell of one period to the beginning bell of the next. It’s not quite like that here, in Mexico. I had read that some Mexicans may arrive late for an appointment, or in this case a class, rather than cut short a conversation, a meeting, etc. The bell at my school here rings at the end of “Descanso” (the break) at 11:10 for students to go to their next class. Today most students continue to linger as a department sits in the teacher’s room discussing their Four Year Plan that is due on Monday. After fifteen minutes, a teacher retreats from the discussion and heads for the classroom.
I returned home Friday afternoon, feeling a bit exhausted after performing a 3-ring circus for my classes that day – I played movie clips from “Lucas” and “Benny & June” demonstrating characters saying, “Hi, I’m . . .” “My name is . . .” Next, I played the Beatles song, “From Me to You” using a PowerPoint I made on Thursday night. Each line is on a separate slide, each word a different color – with each word’s translation in the same color. The look on their faces when the bell rang before the song finished, the fact that they didn’t spring towards the door, made it all worthwhile and rejuvenated me for the next round. Little by little they’ll become accustomed to my expectations – as they’re already showing progress to not jump up when the bell rings – and become “my Pavlov dogs.”
