OLIVIA
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
OLIVIA
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
February 3rd, 2019
It has officially been a week since we have been home. Although it is nice to be home, it is also bittersweet because I miss the beach, the kids as well as my cohorts. Since, I have been back I have not stopped talking about my experience so far. Everyone has been asking me “so how was it?” My answer is “it was amazing, everything was amazing!” One person asked me “what was your favorite part?” Without hesitation I said “the students.” I really miss the students and I have not stopped bragging about how amazing they were. When people ask what I did with them I am so eager to show them the work we did with them and how well they did it! People are amazed by the pictures I have shown them. I have also not stopped talking about Montessori schools. I am so ecstatic to tell everyone about Montessori schooling since most people do not know that there are other choices for education. After this experience, I have decided I want to extend my certification. I want to have a early childhood as well as childhood education certification. I have decided to do this extension in graduate school though since I am student teaching in the fall. I really enjoyed being with the pre-k students in the Dominican Republic so I want to take the passion I had for it there and bring it here. What I really enjoyed about pre-k was how creative and fundamental it was. You really have to have creative ideas to keep the students interested, but you are also teaching them life-long skills. For instance, when did you learn how to write letters or numbers? (in pre-k or kindergarten!) Pre-k and Kindergarten are the first stepping stone of learning basic skills you will use for the rest of your life. Before this experience, I had no intentions on getting a certification but after this experience it open my eyes and made me want to expanded my options as a teacher.
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Have you ever heard of a Montessori school? Did you know there are other school options for your child rather than a public or private school? Either did I, until I went on this trip. There are Montessori schools in the states but there is also one in the Dominican Republic known as Tres Mariposa Montessori.
Two of my cohorts had the opportunity to work in the Montessori school and they absolutely loved it. They would always explain their days and the schools but I never got a clear picture till I went to the school. The school is like a fantasy. It is so relaxing, mysterious, and unique. It is not your traditional school. As we walked around the school, you can tell it was once a house. As we got a tour around the school we seen the school store, playground, chickens running around, and library. I will try my best to describe what I had seen, but this is something you need to see for yourself. The first class I observed was the 6-9 year old. As I sat in the class I noticed how independent all of the students are. Some of the students were reading to themselves well another student were sitting on a mat. On the mat, one of the students had wooden letters where he was spelling things out and then writing them on a paper. Another two students were working with the teacher. She was formally showing them how to introduce themselves to me and ask if I wanted any water or anything. The next group I had seen were 1-3 year old. They were so tiny and still so independent! The students were painting by themselves! One of the two year old even grabbed their own chair no one carried it for her, she did it all by herself! These children were even washing their own plates! The last group I saw were 3-5 year olds. One of the students were making alphabet letters out of wooden blocks. Another student was putting the amount of beads that go under the number. For instance, if the number is 5 there will be 5 beads. If the student did not put the right amount of beads they will be able to notice at the end and self-correct it. The last thing we did was play freeze dance with the students and they loved it! Seeing this school was very interesting and I had so many question running through my head. As I sat there I thought I do NOT think I could be a Montessori teacher. The school is very calm and quiet and I am the opposite of that. They also give positive reinforcement in a different way. Rather than just saying good job to the students they say “look at all the work you have done, is this your best work?” They let the child determine their success rather than the teacher. I had even asked “what if you see a student writing a letter backwards, would you correct them?” The answer I received is “we would not correct the student, but the next day we might give them a lesson on drawing the letter in sand to show how the letter is being written so they can self-correct it.” Did I also mention that they do not wear shoes in the classroom?! They want the students to be comfortable in their environment to do their best learning. I just do not see myself personally teaching in that environment. I would defiantly take some of the Montessori techniques into my classroom. I really enjoyed the hands on activity and how they learn different material without worksheet. I also liked the choice of snack time. The students get to choose their snack time. There is snack sitting there and the students get to choose when they eat rather than a schedule snack time. This is important because children have different times that they are hungry. There are a lot of things I learned from this school that I would like to take into my own classroom someday but like I said before I do not see myself teaching in Montessori but I would defiantly send my children to this school. Some of the questions that I still have are how the students know what lesson they should be doing and when they should be doing it? How do students transition from a Montessori classroom to a traditional classroom? So many questions left me with curiosity to learn more about Montessori. The last days 1/22/2019 Today is our last day with the Mariposa girls. It is very sad to say goodbye but I cherish the time we had together. We learned a lot about one another in such a short period of time. One of my favorite memories with the Mariposa girls was when we played softball with them. They were so competitive and so good I loved every second about it. The take the game seriously and so do I! Did I mention I also got a triple?! Another one of my favorite memories is when two of the girls took us to get our nails done. We waited for the girls after the foundation and we walked to a ladies house. While I walked with the girls, I held my head a little higher because everyone knew who they were and no one bothered us because we were with the Mariposa girls. When we arrived to the nail salon it was just a little room and one lady. We were there for 5 hours but this lady did such a good job! She added glitter and flowers to our nails! My nails never looked better. It was special that the Mariposa girls sat there with us while we got our nails done. We bonded and realized how caring and genuine these girls were. On our last day, we wrote books with the girls about Cabarete. We wrote the English and they translated it in Spanish. The last activity we did with them was very special and rememberable. We all wrote our name on a color sheet of paper. We then passed the paper around and everyone said something nice about you. It was nice to see how everyone felt about you, when they only knew you for a short period of time. To finish our time and to give them something to remember us by we gave all the girls ankle bracelets. The time we had with them was very special and I will never forget the Mariposa girls. 1/23/2019
Today was my last day at Coral. For our lesson today we did numbers in English and Spanish. We started the lesson off by Casey writing the numbers on the board and then going over them in Spanish. After, we went over them in English and they repeated me. They were flying through the numbers! I could not believe how well they already knew them! After that we played the song The Ants Go Marching. While we played the song we marched around the room and every time the song added a number we added a child to our train! We wanted to stop at the end and count all the students to show there were 10 but they all ran to their seats once the song was over. Once they went back to their seats we split the class into two group. Casey and I both had Popsicle sticks for our lesson. I would hold up the Popsicle sticks and the students would tell me how many were there. I then put the Popsicle sticks in front of them and they would count them in English! These students are so brilliant and they blew my mind every day. Right before we said our goodbyes we sang a tooty tot with them one last time since it was their favorite song. The students did not know it was our last day till the teacher announced it before we left. They all said aww and one boy screamed “por que” (why) they all ran and gave us hugs. I will never forget these kids and I will miss them so much. Since we have been in the school every day now we get to enjoy a little free time this weekend. First stop is monkey jungle and zip lining. Having monkeys jump on your heads and jump all over you sounds like a lot of fun until it happens. Especially when animals do NOT like you. As we are in the monkey jungle I hid my face and held on to one of my friends arms while the monkeys jumped on me. The only time I smiled was for a picture. I usually had a scared face the entire time. Towards the end I noticed the monkeys did not go to the bottom of the stairs as much because there were not as many people. So I went to the bottom of the stairs because I did not know how I felt about it. Then the instructor held us a plate of food for the monkeys. At first I was hesitant but then I took it because when will I ever do this again. I took the plate of food and about 7 monkeys came on me and I did not like it so I frantically handed it back to her. Next, we went and seen monkeys that were in cages. The one monkey George was 38 years old! He also loved our tour guide and is very protective over her. Every time a women hugged her he did not react, but every time a male hugged her HE GOT VERY MAD. It was interesting to see. Another interesting thing we learned was the alpha must always get fed first. One time the tour guide feed another monkey first and let’s just say she has a scar on her hand now and she KNOWS who to feed first. When they are not eating snacks from the workers they eat their poop. Yes, their poop. The men go in and pick out all the good stuff and eat it and save the stuff they did not want for the women. The female monkeys were also on birth control because they do not want these monkeys to get pregnant. When these monkeys have babies they usually kill them, so to prevent that they have them on medication. After the monkey jungle, we went zip lining. There were a total of 6 zip lines and one 52 feet free fall. In the beginning, they asked if anyone wanted a professional to go with them and I thought “I got this” well let me tell you I did not have it. I did the first one by myself and it was cool but I somehow stopped before the end. Apparently, I was breaking too early. Well after that I had a professional come with me and I liked it a lot better! I got to enjoy all the beautiful sceneries and I even got to do cool things like go backwards and spin around! At the end there was a 52 foot drop into a cave! I was nervous but I did it! I’m pretty sure my eyes were closed a majority of the time because I only remember seeing the cave unless it happen to fast! The worst part was climbing up the ladder after because my legs were shaking so much! Overall I loved today and I would definitely go again but I might hide from the monkeys.
January 17
Now today we read my book! My book is about the seasons of Buffalo because they do NOT get snow in the Dominican Republic. So what better way to talk about Buffalo? It is 80 degrees here and they think it is cold, while at home it is -2 degrees. When we read my book the teacher read it in Spanish while I read in English. I am a fast talker so while I read it I had to make sure I paced myself and read slow. I tried to keep the students engaged in my book by having them repeat the season I said. For instance, I would read “winter” and then the students would repeat me. Once I was done with the book, Casey went over to the poster the students are familiar with. Every morning, the students go over a poster about the seasons in Spanish. So Casey decided to use this poster and have them say it in Spanish and then repeat her in English. Then, to get the students up and moving we played a song for them. It was the rhythm of the song “If you’re happy and you know it clap you’re hands.” Instead this one went a little like this “If you know all the seasons clap your hands. If you really love the winter go like this burr. In the spring you run and play shot hooray! If you really love summer stomp your feet. If you really love the autumn slap your knees.” The students really enjoyed the song! What I noticed though from playing the song is student’s first catch on to the motions and then they add in the words. So we decided to play this song a few times so the students could get familiar with the song and continue to connect the actions with the seasons. Once the song was over we had the students sit back down. We handed the students a piece of paper that we worked on the night before. We had to write out 20 sheets of the same thing 20 times. Let me tell you my hand was hurting after! Imagine how the teacher feels she does it 2-3 times a day! The paper was divided into four equal parts for winter, spring, summer and fall. We had a snowman for winter, a flower for spring, a beach for summer and a tree for fall. At first we were going to just let the students color the papers. Then I thought deeper. I remembered when we were looking through their homework notebooks that they reuse a lot of familiar supplies for their homework such as rice, toilet paper, beans, etc. So I thought, lets incorporate this into our lesson! We collected items like sand, leafs, flowers, and cotton balls for the students. While we were in the class, we divided the class into two groups. This was the first time we split them up and it worked so well! It was more organized, constructed, and helpful. We then put the glue down and had the students place the items in the season they went and then they were able to color it. If I were to do this lesson again I would bring in more supplies. Things Like different sizes of leafs, different flowers, or even toilet paper for the students to decorate the snowmen with. I would then allow the students to pick the supplies themselves and place them where they go. I think adding different components for the students to choose from could help their creativity. Even though they were able to color, the papers would look different because the students could pick and choose the supplies they wanted. This way it would be more personal and the students get to be creative and they would all be different. The last thing I want to point out is something I noticed today! I observed how she works with the gifted students in her class. When she hands out the student’s notebook that day they all don’t have the same assignment. For instance, one child’s direction can be “write the letter s.” While the gifted students goal is to write words that start with S that she gave them. Words like salsa, soma, sosu, sal and Silla. She even had them write olibia because the students think that’s my name! At least they are close! It was interesting to see what students were writing words while others were writing letters. I really enjoyed today, probably my favorite day so far! January 16, 2019
Today our lesson plan consisted of teaching colors in English. We started the lesson by my partner Casey reading her book about the colors of Buffalo. Once she was done reading, I went around the room pointing to colors and having the students say them in Spanish. I did not just point to their color poster on the wall, I also used objects in the classroom like a student’s pink sweatshirt and another student’s shirt. After they said it in Spanish I would say it in English and have them repeat me. They did very well! Some of the students already knew the colors too! After, we played a game with the students to review the colors. We brought in different color balloons for the students to recognize the colors. The object of the game was to have the students stay at their seat and we would hit the balloon to them and they would say the color in English. The communication was a little messed up and the students just all clumped in the middle of the classroom. I would hit the balloon and say the color and they would all just try to hit it and not say the color. So since that did not work as planned we decided to change it up. We then decided to have the students get in a circle. Once they were in a circle, we passed the balloon around the circle and every student had to say the color in English before passing it. This was more constructive and organized. Lastly, we put the balloons behind our back and would have them tell us the color once we showed them. As a teacher you always have to be on our toes thinking of ideas. Some lessons do not go as planned so you have to change some things up in order for it to work. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would construct it differently. I would not hit the balloon to a group of students because they are all going to just hit it back and not say the colors. Instead, Casey and I could split them into groups or we can be sure the students stay at their seats and we hit the balloon to them from the middle. One of my favorite parts of today is when Casey and I went into the classroom some students came up to us saying “Ca Ca Cabeza!” Which was amazing because the students remember what we taught them yesterday and it stayed with them! January 15, 2019
HOLA PEPE! HOLA PEPE! This is the song that we start the day out with in my classroom and I have not stopped singing since this morning. Even my roommates know this song now! For our lesson, our teacher asked us to teach the letter C to the students. We started the lesson by having the students say “se se si” (this is the way c is said in Spanish and in English) we then picked two words that started with c in Spanish. We wanted to do cat but that’s gato in Spanish. So we picked cabeza (head) and correr(run) we would sing “Ca Ca Cabeza and Co Co Correr” and the students really enjoyed it! I would go around saying “ca ca cabeza” while patting my head and the students copied me. I would then say “co co corer” and run throughout the classroom and the students ran in place. Once we were done we had the students write the letter C a few times and then color the letter c. As I walked around, I noticed some students understood how to write the letter c while others were making it like the letter u. It is hard to communicate, but I would trace the letter in the air with them or have them watch me write c. Every student learns differently so you have to see what strategy works best for them. When I was walking around helping students write their c’s, one student looked at me and made a heart with her hand. That moment was so special for me. I cannot really communicate with these students besides gesture and this student used a gesture to show how she felt about me. While we were in the classroom, two of the students were acting out. So the teacher’s way of punishment was to have the students stand up with their arms out to form a “T” for a few minutes. Let me tell you it can be painful after a while. As I have been in this classroom I have noticed their lack of supplies. The students love to color but have little supply of crayons. Also, they have very little pencils that are barely sharpened without erasers. I mean I am 21 and always make mistakes so I also need an eraser. So imagine how a 5 year old feels learning new letters and numbers. In the states, the students can NOT wait for free time because they get to play on an iPad or computer. Here the students are actually playing with objects. During free time, the teacher passed out blocks to most students or fisher price toys like a dog, piano, and a wheel. The sad part was most of the toys were broken, but the students still had a blast playing with them! The students appreciate everything. Another thing I noticed is how well their motor skills are. The students really know how to color neatly. They outline the picture and color in the lines. Most pre-k students at home just scribble. Before our day is done, the teacher asks us to write the students homework In EACH book. We have to write the assignment In 20 students notebook! She does this everyday by herself. While we were writing their homework, we noticed their other homework. She would have the students color and then add supplies from around their house to add on. For instance, the student had to color the letter B and then add something so they completed it by adding pencil shavings. Another example is a house, the students had to color a house and they add beans to make it look like brick! January 14th, 2019
Today was our first official day in the classroom at Coral. I was assigned to pre-k. I am not early childhood but I have been considering going early childhood since I coach three year olds in soccer and I was also a camp counselor to five year olds. Today was just a day to observe, but it is hard to observe in a pre-k class when they are intrigued by the new person in their class and are asking questions. Sitting in this class really put me in the shoes of English Language Learners. You are sitting down and trying to comprehend what is going on but everyone is speaking so fast it is hard to catch key words. The class started off by singing a song in Spanish and ending with a prayer. They all bowed their little heads and closed their eyes. After, the song they went around the classroom to different posters. The first poster the teacher went over was the days of the week. She said “what is today?” (in Spanish. Everything is in Spanish) and the students screamed “Lunes” and she asked “what was yesterday?” and they scream “Domingo!” She then went over things like the weather, shapes, months, colors, and numbers up to ten. Afterwards the teacher wrote directions and numbers 1-10 in their notebook. Imagine writing in 20 student’s notebooks. There are no worksheets for her or printer so she makes them on her own. So then the students were to write the number underneath what she wrote. So the students would write the number 1 a few times and then move on to the number 2 and so forth. Even though I do not speak a lot of Spanish and did not understand the students well, I will still able to interact and help them with their numbers. I would guide their hand to help them write the number, I would write it and then have them copy me and I also did some with the dotted line so they could trace it. I gave as much positive reinforcement that I could by complimenting them, clapping or giving high-fives to tell them they are doing well. If the students were done early she would draw a picture in their notebook for them to color. They directions said color this flower. They do not have worksheets or coloring books so the teacher draws it all. She also had music playing off her computer while the students worked. After math the students went to gym at the basketball court. The gym teacher used bottle caps for his lesson. He would call out a color and the students had to grab the color he called out and they had bring it back to the bucket. While I was standing and watching, one of the little girls turned to me and said “azul; blue” so then she would say more colors in Spanish and I would tell her in English and she would repeat me! Later on in the day we went to the Mariposa Foundation. The foundation is so beautiful. It is amazing how they created a place for the young girls to go to once they get out of school. When we arrived we did a mini Spanish lesson until the girls came. Generally, there will be more girls but today there were 9. The girls at Mariposa range from 8-18. The girls we worked with today were 15-16. We did icebreakers with the girls and they were so nice. They helped us with our Spanish and we helped them with English. I had so much fun with them and I can’t wait to spend the next week with them. January 9, 2019
It is our first official day in the Dominican Republic. We started the day by taking a 45 minute drive to a cocoa farm. This was a 45 minute drive of sightseeing in the Dominican Republic. You see a lot of reckless driving and multiple people on a motorcycles with no helmets. We arrived to the farm with the most beautiful view. If you have ever seen Jurassic park, picture that view with more land and palm trees. After arriving, Freddy gave us a tour of the farm. He walked around with a machete to cut open the fruit we had seen. We first got to try the cocoa. It looked like a coconut on the outside but in the inside it was this white fluffy substance. The cocoa tasted like dark chocolate. Then, we continue to walk and try new fruits. I liked playing a guessing game of what the fruit taste like. One fruit had a taste like an onion and other fruit had a taste similar to a sour apple jolly rancher. After we went exploring up and down muddy hills we then approached back to the house where Freddy’s mom was preparing lunch for us. While she was cooking, we watched the process of how hot chocolate is made. The hot chocolate was good but I did add water to drink it because it was caliente. For lunch, Freddy's mom prepared us a delicious meal that she was working on since the moment we got there. She made us la bandera, which is rice, beans, and chicken. She then made us these amazing fried plantains that were so good, I had to get seconds. I enjoyed my first day in the Dominican Republic and tomorrow we will be touring the schools! Only two more days until it is goodbye cold Buffalo, hello palm trees and heat. (which means DONT FORGET THE SUNSCREEN) I have been talking about going to the Dominican Republic for months and now the day is almost here. As the days get closer, but I also get nervous. I am excited to explore the beautiful island of the Dominican Republic and be able to learn about the culture as well as the schooling there. I am most excited about working with the Mariposa Foundation and forming a bond with the girls in the foundation. This foundation is inspiring and I can not wait to be apart of it. I am nervous because this is the longest I will be away from my family. Three weeks, Three weeks is a long time. I mean they do say “time flies by when you're having fun.” (I hope it doesn’t go too fast!) Besides being away from home, I am worry about the language barrier. I know some Spanish vocabulary but I am not fluent in Spanish. I am hoping my Spanish will advance while I am there and it will also improve my communication skills.
Over the next three weeks, I hope this experience helps me grow as an individual but also as a teacher. One of my goals is to be open-minded and try new things. This may be a once in a life opportunity for me, so I need to take all the opportunities I can. I want to get out of my comfort zone and try new food, new activities, meet new people and most importantly have fun. Another goal of mine is to become more independent. This is the first time I will be living in a house with roommates and not my family. I want to take this opportunity to see what it is like to be on my own and not depend on my family. My last goal is to take this experience and improve my Spanish as well as my skills to become a teacher. Being the best teacher I can be is what I am striving for in life to impact my students. There is only two more days that stands between me and stepping on the airplane to start a new life changing experience. I can NOT wait to see what the next three weeks has in store for me. Let's start this journey! |
Author• Liv • Buffalo State • Childhood Education • Soccer • Sunflowers • Chicken Wings • Cake Decorator • ArchivesCategories |