Bell to Bell

          Observing a classroom from the morning to the end of the day was an amazing experience especially because it was at an international, American school.  Some statistics behind it are: the student population was about 25% Americans, 25% International, 50% upper class Uruguayan, the school ranges from Kindergarten to 12th grade, and there are around 30 students per grade.
          I observed a third grade classroom.  The students were from everywhere around the world, from New Zealand to Ireland to Argentina to Spain to USA to Uruguay.  There were so many different backgrounds, so many voices of accents, so many colors of ethnicity, so many personalities.  It was a beautiful combination in every way. The class had a lot of motion as mainly Spanish speaking students moved from their courses in Spanish to their home class in English and as mainly English speaking students moved from their English courses into Spanish class and as all the students moved from class to recesses and lunch and P.E.  Though the motion may sound like a distraction and a lack of focus, it really was not a big commotion.  The teacher was very organized and had her classes very well structured in order to be as productive as possible.  However, the school did not feel as uptight as most American schools do in the United States.  The rules were simple.  The atmosphere of movement created a unique flow as it was common for students to only be in one country for a couple years then move onto the next.
          I loved being a part of the class. The teacher let me jump in and be a part of everything.  When the class had a science experiment, I joined a group of the little girls.  They were so happy to have me join them and be an active participant in their work.  I also was able to lead a reading group when it was time for reading.  When the teacher was occupied w/ another student and one near me had a question, she told the student to ask me, and she had another excited student show me her success.
          P.E. time came, and the children were ecstatic!  They all ranted and raved about their P.E. coach in how cool he was.  I met the teacher Jeff, and his story shocked me.  As a retired professional basketball player for six different Uruguayan teams, he decided to spend his time with children.  It was an extremely humbling yet encouraging story to mentally capture and evaluate how he was doing more than the typical American life.
          After my experience at the Uruguayan American School, I have a new excitement for my future.  I do not know where specifically God will have me work with kids, but whether it is in the United States or somewhere around the world, I will be thrilled to be doing His work in positively impacting His precious children.