BRITTANY
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
BRITTANY
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
Today marked my third day teaching at the private school in Cabarete called, Coral. Thanks to fate, my maripocita from Friday morning ended up being a student in the second grade class I volunteered to teach in on a whim. This realization showed on both my face, and hers; excitement and reassurance that Friday morning was not the last time we would ever see each other again. My co-teacher and I were blessed with a class of twenty five second graders, which soon reached to twenty seven by today with two new students joining the class. They are all very eager to learn, answer questions, and volunteer which is something I was especially thankful for because it allowed for me to continue building onto an already sturdy foundation. My co-teacher and I decided to have our first lesson on fruit and their colors in English, since the class primarily speaks Spanish and a language barrier is present. We discussed with their teacher what the students already knew in English, to have a better idea on what to teach them in English. Today, using holistic approaches, my co-teacher and I created Bingo boards for each student using minimal resources and tools. In each box there was a picture of a fruit. We used cut up pieces of construction paper left over from a lesson the day before as Bingo chips to cover their boards with. Before we played Bingo, my co-teacher and I asked the students if they have ever played a game of Bingo before. A handful of students raised their hands insisting they have played before. In turn, we soon realized that most of them did not understand the concept of Bingo. Because of this realization, a large portion of the time was spent scaffolding and working with those who needed help with their board. My co-teacher and I left all the names of fruit written in Spanish and English on the chalk board for reference, and even drew a large Bingo board filled in when each fruit was called to demonstrate if they needed extra assistance with directions. My co-teacher and I could have easily grown frustrated and scratched the entire lesson, but we continued to persevere because we knew how capable and open minded these children were, just as much as we are to them. As we continued with rounds of Bingo, the students started catching on, and showed much enthusiasm when a classmate won. As we continued to walk around and scaffold, I noticed a pattern on their boards… these children were using critical thinking skills! Instead of just putting any piece of construction paper on the fruit that was called, they would find the same color of construction paper as the color of fruit and cover it when it was called. For example, the mango on their Bingo boards was colored orange, green, and brown, so the students would find an orange, green, and brown piece of construction paper and put it on the square to cover the mango. My co-teacher and I would have never thought of this strategy on our own and their interpretation of the lesson was more successful than our original directions were. With our newly modified lesson in place thanks to our brilliant critical thinkers, my co-teacher and I went with it and ran! I would assume that because most of the students did not know how to play Bingo prior to our lesson, they found a strategy in which they were familiar with and utilized what we gave them in their own ways. I can only imagine if the same lesson was given to students who spoke the same language as my co-teacher and I, the use of critical thinking skills would be scarce and un-utilized. The language barrier between myself and my students enhanced my teaching because it forced a successful outcome through the students’ needs and wants, not mine. I cannot wait stand up in front of classroom among-st my brilliant students tomorrow to see what they conjure up next. Disclaimer: Today the class received two new students in their classroom, reaching twenty seven students to one teacher ratio. One of the girls seemed excessively nervous, and uneasy about the new sea of faces and desks surrounding her. With my heart already so full from this journey, you can only imagine how much my heart hurt to see how afraid this poor little girl was. Being the new student, especially in the middle of the school year, is never a desirable situation for anyone, anywhere. My heart ached for her, and instead of observing what was going on in the classroom, I could not help but watch her like a hawk until recess to make sure she was as comfortable as possible on her first day. Once the bell rang for recess, I looked at my co-teacher and said, “We have to go sit with her at recess. There is no way I am letting her sit by herself with a mass amount of students around her.” So, instead of spending time preparing for our lesson we were supposed to teach after recess, my co-teacher and I slyly followed her into to the courtyard where there were tables to eat a snack and drink. I allowed her a minute or two to settle down at a table and get out her snack, and then sat across from her, with two other girls from her class, in hopes they would start to converse and make friends with one another. At first, the new girl looked at me and wondered why I was sitting with her, so I said, “Me llamo Brittany.” Then I pointed to her and said, “Se llama?” And she shared her name and proceeded to ask for my help to open her snack and juice box for her. After I prepared her snack and drink, I commented, in Spanish of course, how much I liked her earrings she was wearing. She shyly started eating her snack, and with ten minutes to spare left of recess, my co-teacher and I had to return to the classroom to prepare our lesson. It took everything inside of me to get up and walk away from that little girl… EVERYTHING. I could not even focus on preparing for the lesson, instead, I kept peeking out the window to make sure she was okay. Eventually she began to run around with other students before recess was over, but it took her awhile to decide to take a chance and join in with the other students. During our Bingo lesson today, I noticed she only needed blueberries to win Bingo… although I may have “cheated,” I told my co-teacher to call blueberries next ensuring that this little girl won Bingo. Something inside of me compelled me to make this decision because I knew all she needed was a small confidence boost, like winning a game of Bingo, to open that door and allow her to warm up to ensure her socialization and academic skills grow through building relationships with her classmates and teachers. Being responsible for opening that door for her, is something I am so proud to be a part of. I will never think of Bingo or blueberries the same way ever again.
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AuthorJunior | 716 | Alpha Epsilon Phi | Music and Traveling Enthusiast | Concert and Movie Goer | Lemon Addict Archives
March 2017
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