School Week in Uruguay!

These will a hodgepodge of different things that happened during the school week.

Tuesday - Visit to Escuela Primaria Simon Bolivar

In the morning, we went to visit a local primary school which teaches grades 1 through 6. My host chose this school because it was the primary school of most of her students. We sat with the principal, and she told us some interesting things about the school. After, we got a tour.

The thing I will take away from her chat is the involvement of outside actors in the school. The most important group is the parents. It's kind of an interesting topic for any teacher in any part of the world to discuss. Parents run the spectrum of being too involved in school to not being involved enough. What it seemed to be here is that parents at the primary school level were very involved, but in a positive non-overbearing way. For example, while we were talking to her, a parent came in with some money that she had collected from the parents in the neighborhood. She does this on a weekly basis. The money can go to a variety of different things that are going on at the school. My host said she wished her parents were more involved at the secondary school level.

Although the school is secular, there was a minister that got involved in helping the school especially with maintenance and things of that nature. Also, Venezuela has also helped the school out because well it's name after Simon Bolivar, a Venezuelan military leader. Kinda of shocking that the country of Venezuela would take such an interest in a little primary school at the other end of the South American continent.

These three actors have allowed the school the chance to give the students a good education. The students in one math class, we saw were so cute and enthusiastic. I saw that this elementary school teacher is no different than any American teacher. You could tell she loved being there, and the students showed her the same love back in return. These kids were just so excited to learn which is sometimes is an energy not always found in teenagers.

I love this one!

Love the tunics!

Explaining angles and lines to 3rd graders

One thing that is different is the heating. Sadly, most of the schools in Uruguay do not have heating in the school. Most of the students (and teachers!!) in these pictures are wearing many layers to keep themselves warm. Before the trip, I was so concerned because I had been warned of that, and I am glad I listened to the advice and bought the boots. My Uggs came in handy! (Now, that I look at my suitcase, I wish I never brought nice shoes, I didn't need them!! I'd much rather have art or books or more alfajores to bring back than shoes I never wore which take up way too much space.) Again, I take my hats off to these teachers in Uruguay. They are very special people.

Presentations

I had worked hard to prepare the presentations I was to give to the students. I gave one about a day in the life of a typical teenager. After, my first one my host said, that it was probably a little too over the heads of kids in ciclo basico, and to rather spend more time on New England instead. I made one about the New England region on Prezi primarily using photos so then I could use it in either language. Plus, I think that the students have only a general concept of what the United States is like. We, Americans, know that there is a cultural different between Northeast, Southwest, Mid-West, South, and Northwest, but the students don't know that. It was much more interesting for them to learn about the US at a regional level. Later, they said they loved the part about the snow, how big the apples are that you pick at an orchard, and carving pumpkins for Halloween.

Click on this link to see pictures of me giving my presentations. http://liceo-de-shangrila.blogspot.com/search/label/U11%20-%20VISITA%20DE%20UNA%20DOCENTE%20DE%20LENGUAS%20DE%20ESTADOS%20UNIDOS%20-%20JULIO%202012

English classes

My host is an excellent English teacher. She speaks in the target language as much as she can to make the class communicative. We are very similar in our approach and thoughts on teaching languages. We enjoy working in themes, try to make all the activities connect to each other, and maintain a high expectation of the students. She also likes to use music and culture to motiva

Our big difference is technology. Although her students do have computers, unfortunately, the internet is not so stable and can not support so many computers at one time because of the bandwidth I'd assume. There are no language labs with recording software and Smartboards.

Also, she struggles with the textbook because it is very outdated. The pictures are from a long time ago and she has to use an audiocassette tape since there are no CDs. If there is nothing in the book that she can use, she has to make up a lot of it on her own which is difficult when she has over 230 students and long days.

 

What else I enjoyed was participating in her classes. I would walk around helping to answer students' questions or help correcting their work (or just correcting them in general. I can't help it I'm a teacher) After being in her class, I felt excited about returning to my classes in September and incorporating all that I have learned into my lessons. I'm glad I have a month before I see my students so I can really do justice to what I have experienced in this program.

 

Happy Father's Day/Feliz Dia del Padre

One of people who encouraged me to learn Spanish was my Dad. When I was just six years old, we would watch Sesame Street and sing along while we Luis and Maria taught us Spanish. Here's a link to one of the Classic songs - this one is about saying "hola". Classic Sesame Street - Hola with Maria and Luis.

In the second grade, my elementary school had an international week. My teacher asked us to bring in words in Spanish, and whoever brought in the most words won a prize. So, my Dad kept giving me words that he knew. I don't really remember what I won, but it doesn't matter because learning those words was the bigger prize.

As I got older and started to learn about the world, my Dad started to tell me about the places in the world he visited in the Navy. He loved Barcelona, Cannes, Italy, and Greece. As I entered high school, he told me about his high school Spanish teachers. My Dad often quotes one of his teachers, "M, you speak so well too bad you don't know what you are saying." My Dad's mother's friend Hazel told my Dad the importance of learning languages, too. He never forgot that, and clearly, passed that on to me.

When I was in high school, my Dad and I made a promise to each other that if I went to Spain to study abroad, he would come and visit. In 2002, we fulfilled that promise. I drank my first cafe con leche with him in the Cafe de Indias on la Avenida de la Constitucion in Sevilla. We visited Ronda and stayed in a Parador over looking the gorge. The yemas from Ronda were so good. We took a train to Granada to see the Alhambra. Then, we returned to Sevilla. The night before he left, we went to see flamenco at la Carboneria while sipping on tinto de verano. We stuffed our faces silly with jamón serrano and queso manchego at the Alfonso XIII hotel. It was a trip I will never forget.

My Dad and I in Ronda, Spain

I am grateful for a father who cultivated within me such a love of Spanish language and culture. Parents play an integral role in encouraging their children to be open to learning languages and by seeing value in it. Having supportive parents, of course, make the Spanish teacher's job that much easier.