Escuela La Lucha - TabLab's Pilot Project

Escuela La Lucha was TabLab's pilot project.  Located in a rural community outside of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, the small school and it's principal/teacher Ana were eager to start working with the tablets.

They had a teacher trainer for an entire year helping out with the tablets and classes, for that matter.  La Lucha is a school with very little resources and the 2 full time teachers that they have work with multiple grades or groups at the same time daily.  On Thursdays and Fridays, they have 2 English teachers who come for those specific classes.

When I arrived the other day, there was no one there to unlock the classrooms.  We sat outside and played some English games until someone came to unlock the door.  Also, one of the teachers was sick, so her students were dismissed for the day.  These are the kind of obstacles that the students here have to overcome almost on a daily basis.  Every resource they have - from classroom materials to staff - is limited.  It makes the presence of TabLab and all other forms of educational support so special and greatly appreciated.

The students here are so sweet.  They light up with excitement when I arrive.  They LOVE using the tablets and they LOVE visitors. They are also very helpful with their teachers to move the large case of tablets, keep them charged and other housekeeping duties.

The tablets are a perfect way to occupy one group with independent or small group learning while working directly with the other grade of students.

The younger students are learning to read and write so the application Raz Kids has been a great resource.  There are so many books, many of which are in English, but many in Spanish also.  The kids can not only listen to the stories being read to them, but they can record themselves reading the stories to work on pronunciation.  They earn points for completing books and advance in levels.  Then they can redeem their points to play games - which is of course everyone's goal!

La Lucha is a special little school with a tight knit community of families where they still ring a hand held bell in between classes.   They are planning an event next week to raise money for the school. A band of mothers arrived the other day to plan the menu and wrap bingo prizes.  The students are often seen walking to and from the school on the dusty gravel road together in groups or riding on bike handlebars with a friend.  In recess, you can't tell which grade is what, as they all take off sprinting to the yard to play games all together. There is a real sense of community here that transcends family and grade boundaries.  

I love that TabLab is here to enrich the lives of these special kids from hard working families.