General Expectations

1. Always speak to the children in English. Use a lot of repetition, body language, acting, hand signals, visual aids, and examples to get your point across. Keep talking to them in English even if you don’t think they understand. If you need to communicate something important that you can’t get them to understand, try to get a Spanish-speaking teacher to explain it in Spanish. Switching to Spanish should be a last resort.
2. Reinforce English with the children at all times. Point out colors, numbers, shapes, animals, and other familiar vocabulary in the environment or in books, songs, etc. When there is down time (field trips, waiting in line, bus rides), sing songs or play games in English.
3. Have fun with the kids, play with them, and be silly. Try to get to know them and give them a lot of attention and affection.
4. Sometimes keeping order and discipline in the classroom is difficult when they don’t understand you well. Some ideas: When you need to get the whole group’s attention, try using a song or some other teacher trick like a quick game, hand clap pattern, or action like raising your hand or flipping the lights off. Just keeping the kids busy and interested will cut down on a lot of discipline problems— plan ahead, be organized, keep things moving, and get kids involved. Try to imagine possible problems ahead of time and rearrange things to avoid them. Redirect the children to what they should be doing instead. When behavior problems arise, don’t lose your patience, don’t raise your voice, and don’t act rough with the kids. Use time outs by moving the child to another part of the room, another classroom, or simply not allowing him or her to participate in activities until the behavior improves. If necessary, ask a Spanish-speaking teacher to talk to him or her.
5. Make sure you communicate with the national teachers, with the administrators, and with the International Team Coordinator. Try to get to know the national staff and the university students doing practicums in the school. If for any reason you will not be teaching when you are scheduled to teach, make sure to let the national teacher know. While you are teaching, let the national teachers and practicantes know what you need from them and ask to see if they have any suggestions for you. If the national teacher is teaching the lesson, don’t just sit back and watch. Volunteer to help out by passing out materials, helping out children that need more support, or participating along with the children while talking to them in English. If you have any problems with the national staff or are having trouble communicating with them, let Xime, Pachi, or the coordinator know. If you have complaints, frustrations or suggestions for the school, let us know.
Resources and Materials
•    Basic materials (white paper, colored paper, pencils, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue, finger paint, tempera paint, tissue paper, crepe paper) are available in each classroom.
 
•    If you would like to use books or materials from the library, please check each item out by writing your name and the date on the card and leaving the card in the box in the library. Please leave the library neat and organized.
 
•    If you would like to use a CD player, they are available in Monica´s office. Don't forget to sign it out.
 
•    If you need something special for an activity that we do not already have in the school, talk to Pachi. We may be able to reimburse you for the purchase of the item. Please ask before buying an item and expecting to be reimbursed for it, as you’ll need an invoice number.
 
School Events and Meetings
•    International team members are asked to be at CEDEI School from 7:30 am - 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Besides the official holidays and school vacation days which will be announced, you will be allowed 10 vacation days. Please give Ximena  as much advance notice as possible (at least 1 week) and please don’t schedule this vacation time during evaluations (February and July). Also try not to overlap with other teachers.
 
•    Once a month all international team members and national staff are asked to attend a Friday lunch meeting after school. During the meeting we will discuss the schedule and themes for the coming month, as well as other topics.
 
•    Once a month all international team members will have a coordination meeting with Ximena and the international team coordinator. You will be asked to bring lesson plans for the upcoming weeks.
 
•    Once a week the national teachers have an hour of prep time or meeting time. The international team members who are assigned to that classroom during that time are asked to cover the national teachers´ break time.
 
•    Occasionally there may be extra meetings, workshops, or events outside of school hours. These will be announced as they are scheduled.
 
•    Once a month the international team members are asked to help cook an international recipe with the children.
 
•    Several times each month CEDEI School students take a field trip. International team members are asked to help chaperone, riding on the bus with the students and helping to keep them safe. Field trips will be on the monthly schedule.
 
•    Once a month the parents organize a party to celebrate the children with birthdays in that month. There are no regular classes during this time, and the international staff is asked to assist the national staff and parents.
 
•    Other
 
•    In February and in July the International Team is asked to evaluate their students on their progress in English and in the material that the International Team teaches.
 
Dress Code
CEDEI School has a uniform for students and for teachers. The school uniform for Mondays and for special events: jeans, white shirt or t-shirt, and the yellow CEDEI jacket. The school uniform for Tuesdays through Fridays: blue CEDEI jacket, yellow CEDEI t-shirt, blue CEDEI pants. During school hours it is acceptable to wear comfortable, casual clothing such as tennis shoes, jeans, sweats, or t-shirts.
The following are unacceptable:
•    Short skirts, shorts
 
•    Tank tops or low cut blouses
 
•    Denim which is either dirty or very worn
 
•    Athletic shoes that are either unclean, old, or extremely worn
 
•    If you do wear an acceptable open-toed shoe, PLEASE make sure that your feet are CLEAN!
 
•    Any shoe that looks like it was hiked in over the previous weekend i.e.: mud caked or dirty.
 
•    Personal appearance is very important in Cuenca; Cuencanos dress well and have certain expectations about how others will dress. At school events, teachers should keep a very professional appearance. This includes not only apparel, but hygiene as well.
 
•    CEDEI also requires teachers to conduct themselves professionally. The following conduct will lead to immediate dismissal from CEDEI:
 
•    Arriving to work drunk or with alcohol on the breath: When you come to work, not only should you not come to work drunk, but coming to work extremely hung-over or smelling of the previous night’s alcohol is unacceptable. It only takes a moment to smell stale alcohol on someone. If for any reason, you are unable to come to work, you should find a substitute.
 
•    Drug use
 
•    Using inappropriate or foul language in class, whether it be directed at a student or not.
 
•    Other reasons for dismissal include but are not limited to:
 
•    Poor performance
 
•    Consistent tardiness