Monday, May 30, 2011

Santa Elena Public School

"Welcome"

This week we were able to visit the public elementary school in Santa Elena. The first time we went, we arrived at the school and all of the children were being dropped off by their parents or siblings in cars, motorcycles, or just by walking. The kids were running around in the entrance to the school with not a worry in the world. The principal was the only one who was there to supervise the children. This is so different in comparison to my own elementary school and those that I have visited. Normally students arrive at school and go straight to their classroom and start some morning work or activity. Also, there are more faculty members monitoring the children as they arrive. It seems like back home if there was only one person, it would be a huge liability issue.

When we arrived in the 6th grade class and all of the students immediately sat down and got quiet. We all introduced ourselves and they all said in unison a little greeting for us, the teachers. Then we separated into small groups of students and I took three girls and began the leaf lesson. This group didn’t know as much English as the students in Heredia, but I was able to work through it. Using gestures and context clues really helped me and the students out. I explained the lesson in Spanish as best as I could and then translated the key words in English for them. Then I asked them to only use English words when categorizing the leaves by characteristics. It was definitely a struggle on both ends. The sixth graders sometimes looked at me like I was stupid which was discouraging at times, but I had to tell myself that I was capable of teaching the lesson. It gave me insight on how ESL students would feel in an English classroom. It is such a struggle to understand a new language, let alone a lesson being taught in another language. It is going to be my job to make those students feel comfortable enough to learn the language and the content.



The next time we went to the school we were able to observe the 1st and 2nd grade English classes. She was teaching all of the grades about creating a family tree. In first grade titled the lesson The Dynamic Family. In the US that means your parents and siblings, but she listed the family members to include parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and cousins. She wrote the word in English and drew the corresponding picture next to it. After each one she would have the students repeat her. After drawing the whole chart she had them repeat her and then try it on their own. They were incapable of saying most of the words without her help. I felt that they way she taught the words was not very effective. She was not giving any significance to the word other than a picture, but I think the students would have benefitted if they knew the Spanish word that corresponded to the English word. It is hard to comprehend something when there is no meaning, context, or importance behind a word. Of course anyone can repeat a word after someone has said it, but the point of teaching new words in another language is for a student to know the meaning behind it and to say it on their own. I took away a lot from watching this teacher teach this lesson plan. It left a lasting impression on me the way the students were incapable of saying the words because they were clueless about the meaning. In my classroom I plan to give significance to everything I teach, especially new words, whether in English or in Spanish.




The English teacher moved classrooms from first to second grade, rather than all of the students moving classrooms. I appreciated that technique because getting students to move locations is such a hassle in the US; the children lose focus, the play with other students and it is hard to bring them back to the reality of the classroom setting. When the teacher moves instead, the children are already in a focus mind set and ready to learn. She started her lesson on The Dynamic Family by drawing a huge tree and splitting it in half. Then she made the mistake of putting two parents on each side instead of one on each so the rest of the tree was incorrect. The students didn’t know any better and because it was a subject they were not familiar with, they most likely would not correct the teacher if they thought something didn’t seem right. It was a struggle for me to watch the teacher teach incorrect content. For me, it reiterated the importance of a teacher needing to know their content before they teach it. Without reviewing the material the teacher won’t be able to teach comfortably causing the students to feel uncomfortable with the new material too. Something similar happened in my “casa tico”. The eight year old son Allen told me that he had an English test and needed to study and I told him I would help. He brought out his English notebook and eventually we got to shapes. He had to color shapes according to a color key, the problem was that there were pentagons and the teacher had labeled them as hexagons and there were ovals that the teacher labeled circles. That same English teacher had taught her students more incorrect information. I didn’t correct him because it would just have confused him. After I helped him study him mom said something along the lines of how I had the qualities of a teacher and she has high hopes for me in my future. It was so amazing to hear that and to have someone else pick on my teaching skills.

We had a class discussion today about the English classes and I developed a new outlook on the English teacher. Before I was disappointed and I felt aggravated that the students were learning incorrect information. But after discussing our experience someone else brought up the point that the English teacher must have felt so much pressure with thirteen English speaking people staring at her as she taught our language. That is a very intimidating situation and I give her a lot of credit for what she was able to teach to those students.

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