HaileeExceptional Education Undergraduate |
HaileeExceptional Education Undergraduate |
¡Hola! This week has gone by wayyyyyyyyy to fast. On Monday, we enjoyed an amazing, authenic Dominican Republic dinner cooked by Maddie’s step-mom and her sister. been able to be more involved in activities at 3 Mariposa Montessori (3mm) which has been huge for me. As well as being involved in activities at the Mariposa DR Foundation (MDRF). One of my favorite things this week, was helping lead both places in the Let’s Go Buffalo chant and putting our own spin on it. For the MDRF, the second time we sang the chant we would say “let’s go Mariposa” and for 3MM we sang “let’s go 3MM.” Monday, Maddie came to our house with her step-mom and her sister to cook us dinner. We watched them cook fried yucca with green peppers, tomatoes and onion, rice cooked in a broth type thing with lots of goodness in it, and then the meat was pork (tasted like thick bacon) it was phenomenal. Everything had so much flavor and so much love put in to it. People from the Dominican Republic (where her step-mom and her sister are from) have such a passion for food and want to share it with everyone. Throughout the week, I was definitely saw relationships growing between me and the students. In classroom environments, I always believe that as a teacher, having relationships with your students is the most important thing to have. Last week, I was in a little bit of a tough spot since it felt like I was making those strong connections I came here looking to make. This week however, I was reassured that I was connecting with these students and that I was making an impact. At the MDRF, we worked with groups of younger students doing activities such as, ballet, reading, kickball and art. Those kids, while only being with them for two days, they really seemed to like having us around and always wanted us to sit next to them (I always love that). The 6th graders that me and Grace worked with at Coral, we also worked with at the MDRF. Now, at Coral, I’m not going to lie they didn’t seem to be intrigued by us. But at the foundation, where we did cooking and ate lunch with them, I feel like some of them started to get more comfortable. They started pulling me into activities and wanting me to come talk to them. On Thursday (our last day at the schools and foundation), we did an art project with them. Each student painted their hands and put them together, to look like butterflies, and then put their handprints on a large sheet of paper to create a mural for them. After lunch with them on Thursday, I also did the cupid shuffle and the cha cha slide with them, and I don’t know about them but I had a lot of fun with them. I was for sure sad about leaving them, they all said goodbye to me and one gave me a hug, I will 110% miss those girls. At 3MM this week, we spent all of our time being with the students and doing different activities with them. I lead bead making with the 6–9-year-old group as well as the 9-12 group and let me tell you they got a kick out of it. Most of my beads (I had a lot of them) were gone, and whatever was left was donated to the school. I also lead a song called “All the Fish” and the song itself only takes about 2 minutes to do and teach so the other 8 minutes I had to improvise a little. After the fish, I let the kids tell me what kind of animal they wanted me to sing about and they came up with so many fun ideas like, dinosaurs and unicorns. I also did the cupid shuffle with them, and they all absolutely love the Buffalo chant. While I made not have made a super close connection at the Montessori school, I know we left a lasting impact on all of those kids and even the guides.
One of the main things I took from the schools was how much someone’s presence effects the students and staffs. Every single teacher we worked with wanted us to be involved with the students and learn from them. They are so happy where they are working and all of them were more than willing to talk to us about their rooms and their kids and what the school is like. As for the kids, having us there seemed to make all the kids so excited. They always wanted to be with us, and do games or read our book, or even just being on the play area with them. And even though there was such a language barrier between us and some of the kids, we still were able to communicate and make connections where we could. It really just showed me how open kids are and if we keep showing kids that its okay to talk and be friends with people from all over the world, we can start to make more culturally diverse and accepting places.
Every child has a story, but at school, they don’t judge each other for their story, they just want to be supported and have friends. I think more people need to start viewing things that way and jump right to judging. Both 3MM and the MDRF provided their students with not only academics but with life skills that they will always continue to use. As I am so sad to leave this amazing place that I was so lucky to call my home for two weeks, I have no doubt in my mind that I will be back to continue my growing as a person and to continue make connections and leaving impacts.
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¡Es el fin de semana! It is the end of week one and it has definitely been filled with so many fun activities! I’m writing this a little late but still all the same details! This first week went by kind of slow honestly but this week is already going by fast. Friday, we found out our ziplining monkey jungle was going to be moved to next Saturday, so we had planned to spend the day at the ocean and pool. Saturday morning, I made some pretty good French toast since I was up at the crack of dawn. Grace smashed cinnamon cookies for me since I did not have cinnamon (which is essential for French toast). After that we put on some sunscreen and went to the beach chairs to tan (got bored quickly) then went into the ocean. The ocean decided it wanted to try and make me drink as much water as possible by making the waves smack so hard into me that I feel (numerous times). Went in the pool for a little bit and then decided we all needed dinner. We walked along the beach to a little restaurant called Pomodoro. It was really cute we got some drinks and some pizza and pasta (not very Dominican Republic we know). But it started raining like halfway through and everyone decided to sit inside at the restaurant except us, we stayed out under the tent during the rain (we did get a taxi home). On Sunday, we started our day with a catered breakfast at Cabarete Coffee which include, fresh fruit, yogurt, eggs, and croissants, ooo and passionfruit juice (highly recommend). Maddy joined us and we ventured on our 2 ½ hour car ride to the Casa Museo Hermanas Mirabal. The Mirabal sisters who opposed Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic around the 1950’s. In 1960, three of the sisters, Maria Teresa, Patricia and Minerva (Dede was the 4th and was nit murdered) were set up and murdered by Trujillo’s men. In class this semester, we read the book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alverez, which follows the story of the sisters. The museum we visited was one of the houses they stayed at for 10 months before they died. It was a pretty cool house to see since a lot of things were still intact from their clothes, to even one of the braids of their hair. We learned a lot about the history of the sister and their story. We also stopped at the house they grew up at (wasn’t too far). Dede (the sister who was not murdered) had lived there until she died in 2014 I believe. There was a national guard there and he showed us the house and even more stuff here was authentic like all the furniture and glasses. He also brough us to the back where there were 6-day old puppies that we got to hold, the were so cute. Across from this house, we saw the skeleton of the jeep that had been pushed off the road and it just kind of hit me that this didn’t happen that long ago. That just kind of blew my mind a little bit. After that we started our 2 ½ hour drive back to Nanny Estates.
This week was jammed pack with information and school, so it was very nice to have a little breather to just relax and enjoy the weather (with some learning in there as well obviously). I also tried a raw cacao seed and it was interestingly good. ¡Bienvenido de nuevo! This past week, not only did we get to begin to experience what 3 Mariposa Montessori is all about, but we also spent our days at Coral, a private school here in Cabarete. I talked about Coral a little bit in an earlier blog when we went on a tour of the schools. But Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this past week, I’ve been able to be in the classroom and doing a little teaching. Wednesday was our first day here and it was definitely a tad overwhelming. Maddy from the Mariposa DR Foundation had told me that she wanted me working with the 15 sixth graders who go to MDRF in the morning. There is a girl in there who they’re keeping an eye on because they’re not sure if she has dyslexia or not. Me and Grace got paired up to go into the room together, and these girls are quite the group. After we introduced ourselves, the teacher in the room had each of the girls go up at the front of the room and introduce themselves to us in English, since they are working on that a lot. Many of the girls were nervous to get up there and speak English (it is a very difficult language; I don’t speak it well myself). After that the teacher asked us if we had anything prepared and we didn’t but, we went up there and just went over some basic vocab in English. On Thursday, we came prepared with and activity using the bilingual books we wrote. We used mine on Thursday, the book it called Calm. It’s about finding 4 words, starting with each letter of the word calm, that make you happy. After I read my book to the class, Grace wrote the word CALM up on the board and I asked the students to come up with words for each letter that make you happy. I used mostly English to explain it to them with some Spanish, but the teacher did have to translate a little. At first, they were doing mostly Spanish words but their teacher and me kept reinforcing to use English. So they starred to come up with some good words. And then I think they ran out of words that made them happy in their English knowledge, so they just started screaming out words in English that started with that letter like apple, May, April, March and words like that. I definitely wasn’t mad about it since they were still practicing their English and it was good. After they did that I read a second book that I had, Margaret and Margarita which was also a bilingual book (I did not write this one). But it was just so cool when the students are yelling the correct pronunciations of Spanish words and just helping me (and laughing at me which is always good). It shows the students that they’re nit the only ones that are still learning. Oh I almost forgot, one of the student volunteered to read my book Calm! That was a really big moment for me that a student who I didn’t get too much time yet to build a relationship, was so happy to get up there and read this book in front of everyone one. Friday, Grace read her book to girls and she did a great job (even though she was a little nervous since she is a psych student hasn’t really taught much). But after she read the book (which was about butterflies and getting nervous), she had each of the students come up to the board and draw a butterfly with their name in it and then she counted the butterflies with them in English. They did a really good job and then the same girl who read my book Thursday, read her book as well.
We may not have been at Coral long but the girls I think liked having us there. I am so excited to continue working with these girls at the Mariposa DR Foundation. I like going in there knowing we already started to build a relationship with these girls. I’m also super excited to work closely with Maddy at the foundation with the girls that might need some extra support in school. More to come very very soon! ¡Adiós! ¡Hola a todos! One of my favorite parts about this trip is the different schools we get to visit. On the tour we saw two schools that we don’t work at while we are here but it was amazing to see. We don’t start at the Mariposa DR Foundation until next week, but Coral (we visited on the tour) and 3 Mariposa Montessori (3MM) we started Wednesday. Wednesday was our first day in the schools and it was definitely a little nerve racking knowing that I would be in a room where there will be a language barrier. 3 Mariposa Montessori is like its own little island almost, it’s beautiful. Sarah, the founder, and director of the school is so very welcoming, she is so proud of this school she has built and the children that are in it. When she talked to us on Wednesday to tell us about what she has built her passion just shines through. There are 4 rooms at the school, El Nido (1-3 years old), Primary (3-6 years old), Lower Elementary (6-9 years old) and then Upper Elementary (9-12 years old). We were able to observe these rooms Wednesday and Friday. It was very interesting to me to see how calm all these children were. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a classroom and children aren’t speaking over each other and fighting for the teacher’s attention. Also fun fact, at Montessori schools, their teachers are called guides. I think that’s a really interesting way of showing that the teachers are guiding students not only in academics, but social emotional skills as well. Through observing and interviewing at 3MM, I learned a lot about how different Montessori really is, and their way of doing things. Nothing is forced upon these students, they want everything to happen naturally. All of, what they call tools, are placed in the room to encourage the student’s growth and learning. There are numbers, mats, coloring, globs, paper, manipulatives and so so much more. The students know they treat these tools with respect and what’s also cool is they don’t just leave them where they used them, they actually put them away. Each student had daily tasks and grids, and they have to complete amount, and meet certain goals, in order to move up in grade level. We also spent time at their day away program, which allows parents to keep their kids at the school for a day an get s taste for what Montessori is like. On Wednesday, we played a fun little game with them and they were so fascinated by us playing with them (I also jumped on a trampoline). And then on Friday, Iskania (the program director for 3MM) asked me to read my book I wrote to the kids, and obviously I said yes. We sat on mats outside and the kids came up and laid on their stomachs and just listened to me it was so cute. That was one of the main things I wanted to do there so I’m so glad I had the opportunity to. Another amazing part of our time at 3MM this week was our lunch with our host mom. Me and Janinna went to our host most, Fabiola’s house Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Wednesday it was just us and her, and then then the next two days her husband and her son joined us. All of the food she made for us was so so delicious. We also learned that they are from Haiti and they taught us a lot of words in Creole. Machin in Creole is car in English.
3MM is so different than any school I have ever been to and I could definitely write a whole novel with everything I have learned about it. I’m sad to leave my host family, but I’m so excited to be back at 3MM all this week and continuing my knowledge of Montessori school! Hola hola! I’m back This experience has been jammed packed with so many activities and learning opportunities. I’ve been put into so many quick thinking and out of my regular situations. I’ll pick up where I left off on my last post which was Tuesday with the tour of the schools! Tuesday morning, we met with Tricia again to take us on a tour of the schools. We first went to a private school called Coral (one of the schools we will be working at) and it was much different than schools that I have been in. We spoke to the director a little who was very nice and welcoming. We came in during what I believe was recess, and students were all outside buying snacks and hanging out. We took a little tour of the school, and it was pretty interesting. One thing that stuck out to me the most is that there’s no doors and no clocks. We popped our head into just a few classrooms, and they were learning English. Tricia told me here that because I am a Special Education major and that I know a little Spanish that she had an important job for me. There is a student who they think might have dyslexia who also attends the MDRF. I assume that I will maybe be working with her but I’m not too sure. The next two schools we went to were public schools. One was across the street from Coral and the other one was the school for La Cienega. These schools had a similar layout from Coral, in that there are no doors and no clocks. Students at all 3 schools have a ride, walk, or get a ride on a motorcycle. Students here do get a free breakfast that consists of bread and juice. Tricia just amazes me because she just knows everyone and has the power to just walk into any room and be able to come in. I definitely want to be able to do that one day. The last place on our tour was the Mariposa DR Foundation. I walked out of the taxi, and I was just in awe. You look into the foundation, and you see this beautiful pavilion to your left then you turn to the right and you see these gorgeous columns with butterflies on them. This place is like a little oasis almost. Tricia is so passionate about this foundation and rightfully so because it just amazing work she is doing. She wants to make these girls feel welcome and help them become successful. The DR has high rates of sex tourism and child prostitution, so to see Tricia have so much desire to help these girls not get into that is huge. Tricia said a lot of quotes that really stuck with me, like their vision, Educate, Empower. Employ.” But the one that stuck out the most was... “You are a Mariposa. Your wings were fashioned by many hands. Use them to soar.” ~Mariposa DR Foundation When Tricia said this, she started to tear up and I could just really see the dedication she has to these girls and how much she wants to see them become successful. Tricia has thought about every little detail for this amazing place. She talked to us about how important nutrition is especially for these girls who don’t necessarily have the best diet at home and at school. The girls at the foundation attend Coral (funded to be there by the foundation) so they buy snacks there sometimes and it’s not very nutritional. So, Tricia has switched to a no meat diet at the foundation for these girls. A lot of them aren’t the biggest fans yet but I think they’ll get there. We did eat lunch there and it was pretty good, stepped out of my comfort zone and learned I only like avocados in the DR. When we got back to Nanny Estates where we are staying, us girls decided to go out for dinner. We picked this place called OJO Club which was along the beach. So, we were able to walk there which took about 18 minutes. The walk there was absolutely gorgeous. The food at this restaurant was so good. We had so much food, including garlic shrimp, calamari, and nachos and their strawberry daiquiris were delicious as well. The walk back to the hotel was dark but so cool to see the beach at night and see all the stars.
So I realized that I like to write a lot so my next post will be about the first couple days in the schools, 3 Mariposas Montessori and Coral. ¡Espero que les haya gustado! ¡Hola desde la república dominicana! We have officially been in the Dominican Republic (DR) for 2 ½ days and it has been nothing short of amazing. We had some ups and downs (literally) but as a cohort have become much closer. Everything here, the food, the people, the ocean, it’s just all so different from home (in a good way). And my Spanish is defiantly improving a little which is always good! All of our flights headed to the DR were great, no issues at all. We flew from Buffalo to Newark, and then from Newark to Puerto Plata in the DR. When we got to the DR the first thing I felt was the heat and it felt great. It was drizzling a little bit but, I’ll take the 80 degree heat and some rain any day over snow or a blizzard (sorry buffalo <3). When we went to get our bags, Tamara’s bag had gotten lost. While we waited for her, we went to find our taxi driver (his name is Maximo) and then Pam found a great looking hat…it was on top of a garbage can. Tamara finally came back, without her bag, and we headed out. Our first stop was at a grocery store called Super Pola, to get food for our townhouses that we are staying at. That was definitely an interesting experience because everything was in Spanish and with my broken Spanish it was a little difficult. But we did it we made it through. Once we got to the houses, I was in awe. The houses we are at are right on the ocean, like you walk two steps out of the house and there’s the ocean. Me, Anna, Grace, and Olivia all went down to see the ocean and it was amazing, but it started down pouring. We were soaked. I went back into my room and changed, and we all unpacked everything. We all met at Tamara’s for a meeting and dinner. Tricia, who run the Mariposa DR Foundation, brought us burritos from a place called Gorgitos (I think) and they tasted so good. Tricia gave us a little orientation and then we just hung out together until we decided to go to bed. The next day we woke up ready to go kayaking. I had never been kayaking before but I did a pretty good job. Before we left, I went to the little coffee house (Cabarete Coffee House) by the bottom of our housing and got a papaya smoothie that was insanely good. The coffee house is all girls who went through the foundation and Tricia and her husband founded it. So we get to the river were kayaking on and there’s so much going on. There’s a REAL flamingo just chilling like a pet, and iguana, a bird and some dogs. Grace and I got paired up for kayaking and it was such a good move. We had the time of our life out there; cracking jokes, telling stories, trying to figure out how to steer a kayak; it was quite the adventure with us. Grace and I and Emily and Andrea were at the head of everyone with the guide who’s name we kept forgetting. And when we got to what we thought was the end, Pam and Tamara had asked us if we wanted to kayak over to our restaurant and we went. The food at this restaurant was insanely good. We had this really good fried chicken, with what I think was plantains, a little veggie salad and rice and beans, along with this amazing sauce that I need the recipe for. Once we were done we kayaked all the way back to where we started which was much harder. Grace and I still are trying to figure out that guides name. When we got back to our houses, we went down by the beach to see all the kite surfers which was so fun and fascinating until the little incident. Anna had fallen on some rocks and landed on her wrist. It looked very swollen and we had gotten Pam and moved into their house. We waited with her and iced her wrist and then Pam and Tamara took her to the clinic. We found out a little bit later that Anna needed surgery and was going to have to stay the night. Some were upset and didn’t know how to feel so we all got together made pasta and had a little fun while we waited for updates. Anna’s surgery was successful and has a nice blue cast on and was thankfully able to come back the same night. I don’t want to overwhelm y’all with too much information (even though I may have) so I will write about today and how our tour of the schools went soon! ¡Adiós por ahora! Happy New Year everyone! It is officially 2023 and I am starting out my new year by traveling to the Dominican Republic. Going abroad during college to expand my education is something I have always wanted to do. I leave in 7 days to what I'm sure will be a life changing trip!
As this trip starts to come (very quickly might I add) I am filled with an overwhelming excitement. I absolutely love traveling and always take any chance I can get to travel. My goal after I graduate is to teach in a different country for a year or two, so when the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic for two weeks came into my email, I jumped on it as soon as I could. Now here I am a week before I leave, so ready for this trip. I am probably most excited to experience a different type of school system and different cultures within a classroom. When you're in college to become a teacher, yes you get to see different styles of teaching, but what you don't typically get to experience is whole different atmosphere and culture of teaching from people who learned how to teach in a completely different system than we are learning in. Not to mention being in schools where their first language is Spanish will be a major learning experience for me. I have a concentration in Spanish and I am always looking to grow my Spanish vocab knowledge and the culture as well. I am so lucky to be a part of the 2023 cohort for the Dominican Republic. I can't wait to take back so many new things to use in my future classroom and just life in general. In 7 days I will be starting the beginning of my international teaching journey! |
AuthorHi Everyone I’m Hailee (hail-lee). I’m 20 years old and I am a junior at Buffalo State. I am an Exceptional Education major with a concentration in Spanish! I love traveling, doing my nails, and spending time with my friends and family. I am so excited to experience such an amazing new culture! I want to take everything I learn and experience home with me and incorporate it into my own classroom one day! I have such a passion for traveling and I can’t wait to share my experiences with all of you! ArchivesCategories |