Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a typical school day like at Blanca Jeannette Kawas Bilingual School?
The school currently runs from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Typically your schedule will consist of teaching seven to eight classes a day. Each class is 40 minutes. There is a break for snacks. The school is approximately one minute walk from the volunteer house. Everything in town is within a 20 to 25 minute walking distance. Walking in town is safe, even in the evening.
2. How do you plan your lessons?
Honduras education laws specify the subjects, and the number of hours per week per subject, that are to be taught. The major subjects in the Primary School (5 class hours per week per subject) are (in English): English, Reading, Math, Science, and Spelling. Honduran teachers cover Estudios Sociales and Español, the other two required subjects. In addition to the main academic areas, BJK School teaches Handwriting, Oral Language Development, Art, Music, Physical Education, Computers, and Library.
The school provides new teachers with an inventory of texts being used for each grade level. In some cases, we do not have texts for a particular subject or do not have enough copies of a text. According to Honduran Law, teachers are required to hand in a “Year-long Plan” by October 1st each year. Each teacher is provided with last year’s year-long plan, as well as other curriculum guidelines, when they arrive for the training in August. Honduran law also requires that the Director check and initial weekly lesson plans, so teachers are asked to prepare and keep clear notes on a regular basis. Time is set aside during the school day for this preparation and planning.Our school can provide you with textbooks and we expect them to be filled out by the end of the year.
3. What kind of teaching experience does a volunteer need in order to come and teach?
You must be a fluent English speaker in order to come and teach here. You do not need any prior teaching experience but we welcome experienced teachers as well. You must enjoy working with children and also be willing to work hard, be patient, and flexible. You do not need to speak Spanish, as all English classes are conducted in English.
4. What is the average class size?
The school has a policy of limiting class size to 25. More times than not we exceed our class size limits in PreK and kinder and classes have been up to 30 students. Any more than that and we definitely start another class. The average class-size in the Primary School is 20, in the Secondary School 16.
5. What subjects could a volunteer potentially teach?
Volunteers teach English in the following contexts: reading, phonics, spelling, grammar, math.
6. What are the dates of a typical school year?
The school year runs from the beginning of August until June. Vacation runs from the end of November, December, and January. Dates are extremely flexible, meaning that they could change at a moment's notice. Though there are no classes, the school still requires help preparing for the upcoming school year so we welcome volunteer teachers at anytime during the year!
7. What do volunteers do on the weekends?
Volunteers usually spend their weekends hiking in the nearby mountains, taking weekend trips to nearby attractions, using the internet when/if it's available, reading, sitting in the volunteer house and studying Spanish.
8. What are the housing accommodations like?
Volunteers house is spacious, has running water,beds, and typical furnishings.Some of the unusual housing features include plastic garden table and chairs for the kitchen, beds for living room couches, mix-matched kitchen supplies, no hot water in kitchen or bathroom sinks, the occasional leaking roof, roof terraces with no railings, flashing light bulbs during rain storms. Some of the unusual living features include electricity power cuts every few days for a couple of hours during the rainy season, water shortages in the dry season. You will also co-habit with ants that come in sizes mini to large, periodic cockroaches, and spiders, none harmful, but all annoying. If you come prepared to laugh off these little oddities, your experience here will definitely be much more satisfying. The house is within a 1 minute walk to school. Teachers are responsible for electricity, bottled water, internet, cable tv and cellphone bills.
9. What if I want to come and teach for a period of time that is longer than a tourist visa permits?
Upon arrival you will receive a tourist visa of 90 days. If you are planning on staying longer than that you need to leave Honduras and come back in order to renew your tourist visa. It is relatively easy to do this and our volunteers have enjoyed traveling while teaching.If you can't leave the country and visa extension of three months would cost you $100.00 dollars.
10. How long does the typical volunteer stay in Tela to teach?
The amount of time varies for each volunteer, but most long-term volunteers stay for as long as they can take it. For short-term volunteer opportunities, time varies from three days to several months.
11. How many other volunteers are at the school?
We try to have four to six volunteer English teachers during the school year, but we usually have three to four.
12. What countries are the volunteers from?
We have hosted volunteers from all over the world. You must be a fluent English speaker in order to volunteer.
13. What is the weather like in Tela?
The weather is wonderful. You can live year round with the windows open. On the coldest mornings (in December and January) you will want a warm jacket or a heavy sweater until the sun comes out. There are days when the sun doesn't come out, and you will need the jacket for the whole day. On the coldest evenings/mornings it might get down to 65 degrees F. but most of the time it is mid 80's to 100's (25-32 degrees C.). . During March and April, the temperature is frequently very warm, but even on the hottest days there is often a breeze. It gets uncomfortable and very humid since this is the coast of Honduras.
14. What are some social activities in Tela?
There are several night clubs in Tela. There are several restaurants, and a few bars (local and tourist). Every day new spots open and there are certainly more things to do here than in most small Honduran towns. In short there is not a lot to do and we are 40 minutes from San Pedro Sula.
Although not officially designated hiking or running trails, the roads and mountain paths in and around Tela serve the purpose admirably. Our beaches are famous around the world we have a huge extension of white sand beaches. Also you can visit our National Park Blanca Jeannette Kawas. For runners, traffic on the main roads is extremely light here. If you would like to bring a bike (most airlines accept boxed bikes free on international flights), the area has superb opportunities for mountain biking. If you have hobbies that are portable bring them along. Board games and DVD’s are also fun.
15. What do volunteers wear for teaching?
Volunteers wear casual and simple clothes. You can wear jeans or pants, and a collared shirt or T-shirt. Some women wear longer skirts. Your clothes should not be tightly fitted and should not be revealing in any way. You can wear flip flops, sandals, or sneakers. You do not need to wear expensive clothes or jewelry.Conservative attire and personal grooming are taken much more seriously in Honduras. It is important for Blanca Jeannette Kawas Bilingual School's relations with parents and with the community that our faculty respect local standards of proper attire and grooming. Further, teachers are role models for the students, who are required to wear uniform. General statement: think neat and fairly conservative.
Teachers will pay for one school polo shirt. Each day of the week you will wear white blouse, red schiffon tie, with navy trousers or skirts and black shoes. For men White Shirt, red tie, black pants and black shoes. This actually makes packing a little lighter since you only need weekend clothes. You will probably want to bring one dressy outfit for special occasions, ie., graduations. The school would prefer no visible piercing (other than - for women - earrings or a discreet nose pin) and no dreads. Hondurans associate dreads with drug use and consider them unhygienic
1. What is a typical school day like at Blanca Jeannette Kawas Bilingual School?
The school currently runs from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Typically your schedule will consist of teaching seven to eight classes a day. Each class is 40 minutes. There is a break for snacks. The school is approximately one minute walk from the volunteer house. Everything in town is within a 20 to 25 minute walking distance. Walking in town is safe, even in the evening.
2. How do you plan your lessons?
Honduras education laws specify the subjects, and the number of hours per week per subject, that are to be taught. The major subjects in the Primary School (5 class hours per week per subject) are (in English): English, Reading, Math, Science, and Spelling. Honduran teachers cover Estudios Sociales and Español, the other two required subjects. In addition to the main academic areas, BJK School teaches Handwriting, Oral Language Development, Art, Music, Physical Education, Computers, and Library.
The school provides new teachers with an inventory of texts being used for each grade level. In some cases, we do not have texts for a particular subject or do not have enough copies of a text. According to Honduran Law, teachers are required to hand in a “Year-long Plan” by October 1st each year. Each teacher is provided with last year’s year-long plan, as well as other curriculum guidelines, when they arrive for the training in August. Honduran law also requires that the Director check and initial weekly lesson plans, so teachers are asked to prepare and keep clear notes on a regular basis. Time is set aside during the school day for this preparation and planning.Our school can provide you with textbooks and we expect them to be filled out by the end of the year.
3. What kind of teaching experience does a volunteer need in order to come and teach?
You must be a fluent English speaker in order to come and teach here. You do not need any prior teaching experience but we welcome experienced teachers as well. You must enjoy working with children and also be willing to work hard, be patient, and flexible. You do not need to speak Spanish, as all English classes are conducted in English.
4. What is the average class size?
The school has a policy of limiting class size to 25. More times than not we exceed our class size limits in PreK and kinder and classes have been up to 30 students. Any more than that and we definitely start another class. The average class-size in the Primary School is 20, in the Secondary School 16.
5. What subjects could a volunteer potentially teach?
Volunteers teach English in the following contexts: reading, phonics, spelling, grammar, math.
6. What are the dates of a typical school year?
The school year runs from the beginning of August until June. Vacation runs from the end of November, December, and January. Dates are extremely flexible, meaning that they could change at a moment's notice. Though there are no classes, the school still requires help preparing for the upcoming school year so we welcome volunteer teachers at anytime during the year!
7. What do volunteers do on the weekends?
Volunteers usually spend their weekends hiking in the nearby mountains, taking weekend trips to nearby attractions, using the internet when/if it's available, reading, sitting in the volunteer house and studying Spanish.
8. What are the housing accommodations like?
Volunteers house is spacious, has running water,beds, and typical furnishings.Some of the unusual housing features include plastic garden table and chairs for the kitchen, beds for living room couches, mix-matched kitchen supplies, no hot water in kitchen or bathroom sinks, the occasional leaking roof, roof terraces with no railings, flashing light bulbs during rain storms. Some of the unusual living features include electricity power cuts every few days for a couple of hours during the rainy season, water shortages in the dry season. You will also co-habit with ants that come in sizes mini to large, periodic cockroaches, and spiders, none harmful, but all annoying. If you come prepared to laugh off these little oddities, your experience here will definitely be much more satisfying. The house is within a 1 minute walk to school. Teachers are responsible for electricity, bottled water, internet, cable tv and cellphone bills.
9. What if I want to come and teach for a period of time that is longer than a tourist visa permits?
Upon arrival you will receive a tourist visa of 90 days. If you are planning on staying longer than that you need to leave Honduras and come back in order to renew your tourist visa. It is relatively easy to do this and our volunteers have enjoyed traveling while teaching.If you can't leave the country and visa extension of three months would cost you $100.00 dollars.
10. How long does the typical volunteer stay in Tela to teach?
The amount of time varies for each volunteer, but most long-term volunteers stay for as long as they can take it. For short-term volunteer opportunities, time varies from three days to several months.
11. How many other volunteers are at the school?
We try to have four to six volunteer English teachers during the school year, but we usually have three to four.
12. What countries are the volunteers from?
We have hosted volunteers from all over the world. You must be a fluent English speaker in order to volunteer.
13. What is the weather like in Tela?
The weather is wonderful. You can live year round with the windows open. On the coldest mornings (in December and January) you will want a warm jacket or a heavy sweater until the sun comes out. There are days when the sun doesn't come out, and you will need the jacket for the whole day. On the coldest evenings/mornings it might get down to 65 degrees F. but most of the time it is mid 80's to 100's (25-32 degrees C.). . During March and April, the temperature is frequently very warm, but even on the hottest days there is often a breeze. It gets uncomfortable and very humid since this is the coast of Honduras.
14. What are some social activities in Tela?
There are several night clubs in Tela. There are several restaurants, and a few bars (local and tourist). Every day new spots open and there are certainly more things to do here than in most small Honduran towns. In short there is not a lot to do and we are 40 minutes from San Pedro Sula.
Although not officially designated hiking or running trails, the roads and mountain paths in and around Tela serve the purpose admirably. Our beaches are famous around the world we have a huge extension of white sand beaches. Also you can visit our National Park Blanca Jeannette Kawas. For runners, traffic on the main roads is extremely light here. If you would like to bring a bike (most airlines accept boxed bikes free on international flights), the area has superb opportunities for mountain biking. If you have hobbies that are portable bring them along. Board games and DVD’s are also fun.
15. What do volunteers wear for teaching?
Volunteers wear casual and simple clothes. You can wear jeans or pants, and a collared shirt or T-shirt. Some women wear longer skirts. Your clothes should not be tightly fitted and should not be revealing in any way. You can wear flip flops, sandals, or sneakers. You do not need to wear expensive clothes or jewelry.Conservative attire and personal grooming are taken much more seriously in Honduras. It is important for Blanca Jeannette Kawas Bilingual School's relations with parents and with the community that our faculty respect local standards of proper attire and grooming. Further, teachers are role models for the students, who are required to wear uniform. General statement: think neat and fairly conservative.
Teachers will pay for one school polo shirt. Each day of the week you will wear white blouse, red schiffon tie, with navy trousers or skirts and black shoes. For men White Shirt, red tie, black pants and black shoes. This actually makes packing a little lighter since you only need weekend clothes. You will probably want to bring one dressy outfit for special occasions, ie., graduations. The school would prefer no visible piercing (other than - for women - earrings or a discreet nose pin) and no dreads. Hondurans associate dreads with drug use and consider them unhygienic