Working in the institutos

In terms of my work, I am in the high schools. I have been assigned 5 schools in 5 different towns in 3 different municipalities. As a result, I travel a lot. I am on the bus hours each week, which I got used to living in Jersey and working in NY. The buses here are old school buses, however, and there is no AC and people are often packed like sardines. I am friendly with many of the ayudantes and drivers. One bus I take Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings so I am a frequent customer. Sometimes I even get discounts!
My role the first month was to observe. I attended the classes, took notes and observed the teaching styles of the different teachers. After about 3 weeks of only observing, I started co-planning in some of the schools. It requires meeting the teacher for about an hour and discussing the upcoming class and how s/he wants to teach the information. I try to introduce some interactive methods and try to make the teacher understands the material that s/he is teaching. The class is one that builds on itself all year long and ends with a Product Competition. They have to do a survey, make a prototype, complete a business plan, etc. We’re trying to provide them with necessary skills in a country where almost everyone is a microbusiness owner. My classes vary greatly. My smallest is 9 (the last time only 3 students attended) and the biggest is over 45. My furthest school is 70 minutes away on the bus and the closest is a 20 minute walk. I will be working with 4th and 5th year students, which is equivalent to 11th and 12th graders in the states.
It is definitely a learning experience, as I did not receive much formal teaching experience in the states. And truthfully, even if I did, there would still be a learning curve. Classroom dynamics are very different here!