Our Teaching Fellows are spending two days in local schools near San Jose, Costa Rica. We are visiting Atenas Prescolar y Colina Azul and an INA seconday school on May 21 and Santa Fe Bilingual School on May 22. The fellows will observe classrooms in the schools, interact with faculty and students, and teach lessons based on their major. As these days conclude, the fellows will examine:
-how they felt prior to arriving at the schools; what did they expect to see when they arrived?
-how they felt teaching and/or interacting with the students.
-how they felt leaving the school visits; how did their lesson develop? How were the students at the schools? What did they learn about themselves during this experience?
When I was preparing for my lessons to teach at the school I was going over in my head everything that I had wrote in my lesson plan. The night before, Clink told us our classroom placements, mine was a third grade classroom. (I had originally planned for a fourth grade science lesson on soil so I figure, third grade was close enough) However, upon arriving at the school and talking with the director, it was clear that that was not the case. The director had different lessons paired with different classrooms; in short it was a very confusing as to where we were going and which lesson we were to teach. However, we worked it out and each taught our lesson. I was not expecting the school to be as open as it was, but as most things in Costa Rica are open, it made sense. The school had an amazing view of the mountain range in the background and a ton of open windows to see the surrounding scenery. In my classroom I observed for the first twenty minutes before I taught. The kids were out of control. It was the largest classroom in the school, containing 22 kids. The teacher, while she spoke in Spanish, I could tell had very little classroom management skills as she only worked with one student at a time and then yelled at the other kids to keep quite. I was very nervous when it came my turn to teach. While I was teaching the ESL teacher came in to help translate and keep the students speaking and practicing English. Surprisingly, the lesson went really well. I had the students touching and recording fake clay soil, silt soil, and sandy soil. Then feel real soil and record how it felt in comparison to the first soils they touched. I'm sure some of the lesson was lost in translation as their English wasn't fluent and I could speak Spanish, however I think they got the majority of it. After completing my first lesson and getting a lot of compliments on how well I did, I was feeling very confident.
ReplyDeleteDuring my second school visit I was a bit overwhelmed. The first school I taught/visited was a pre-6 school and was not very big. However, the second school was a K-12 school and was much bigger. This school also had a schedule in which we taught. Unlike the other school where we were allowed to observe and teach almost whenever we wanted, we had to be in certain classrooms at certain times. This time, I was asked to perform the same lesson on soil to a group of second graders. I was expecting it to be a little easier than the other school because this school was a bilingual school and most of the other students that I had observed had spoke very good English. As soon as I got to my second grade classroom, the teacher finished her lesson and just left, without even saying anything to me. The ESL teacher stopped by and I asked her if it was ok to just begin teaching. She said yes and before I knew it, it was just me and 11 second graders in a classroom. I began my lesson in English and quickly realized that their English was not very good. As I was teaching I began to slow down and help the children come to easier conclusions. For example, when touching the clay, I asked was it hard or soft. The children knew these words and answered hard. From there I wrote the answer on the bored for the students to copy on their papers. While I had to re-vamp my lesson mid-way, I still enjoyed myself teaching. Once the students got used to me, and I got used to the students, the lesson went very successfully.
As we continue to teach in the schools I realize that teaching is absolutely what I want to do with the rest of my life. I feel that it comes so naturally to me, even when it's in Spanish. I also feel that if I can teach to students who know very little Spanish, I should be able to teach to American students with little problems.
I was at the primary school and I wasn't too nervous before I went. I have taught PE lessons before so I had the mindset that it would be no different. When I arrived, hardly any of the 2nd graders knew what I was saying. They had trouble with The Human Knot, but the 5th graders at Santa Fe nailed it. They were much older and more fluent in english so that helps. I felt very comfortable teaching even though there was a language barrier. Once the students knew the simple instructions, it was all movement from there. I felt satisfied leaving the schools because my lessons developed really well and all the kids enjoyed it. I was even able to do my lesson with a high school group after math class. I learned that I truly enjoy teaching PE, no matter who my students are. This was a great experience for me.
ReplyDeleteI had a very positive experience when I visited the schools here in Costa Rica. I gained a lot of confidence in my teaching abilities and I increased my excitement about becoming a teacher. In the first school, the students were pretty shy, mostly because they have only learned English since January so they don't know many ways to describe mathematical situations or what happens in a science experiment. However, I found that in my lesson, where I had them working in groups, I got them to interact a lot. That was encouraging to me because I want to teach that way, so to see it work among students who were a little shy means it should also work among my own students. Then the next day, the students I taught were anything but shy. I used a different lesson, but still had them working in groups and they interacted very well. At first I was a little nervous, but I quickly found that they would listen if I asserted a little authority and they were actually interested in learning even though they weren't required to listen to us for any grades or other purposes. It was a very refreshing experience for me, and it reinforced my desire to teach abroad for a year or two after I graduate. I really appreciate this opportunity to get a little experience in the classrooms while I was here.
ReplyDeleteSo I was really expecting a one room classroom with a chalkboard and old desks, but I was not prepared for the "classroom" at the top of a gymnasium that was sweltering hot. I was there for maybe ten minutes and already covered in sweat, it was gross. I wasn't nervous to be teaching, I was actually excited. When I started teaching I just got into the rhythm and went with it. My lesson was on making lava lamps with acid-base chemistry. I did not do the demonstration, I let student volunteers do it themselves and gave each student a piece of Alka-Seltzer to add to our mixture of water and oil. When I was finished with the lesson, I was really shocked with the INA professor complimented me on my lesson and told me if he was observing me he would give me a ten because I made sure all my students participated in the lesson and were actively involved. This advice meant a lot coming from not just a teacher, but a Costa Rican teacher at that.
ReplyDeleteThe second day of teaching at Santa Fe Bilingual school was also interesting. My lesson was on density and how cold water is more dense than hot water and hence will take longer to spread things through it like food coloring. This lesson was not any harder than the lava lamp lesson, but it was harder to teach because the students did not have the English skills the INA students had. I've never really considered how big of a barrier language can actually be, but it was there and it was definitely challenging. However, the challenge was worth it. After rewording my statements a few times and helping the students with their explanations, things got easier. I really enjoyed visiting Santa Fe Bilingual school.
There has been rumors that maybe by the time we're seniors, there will be a student teaching opportunity in Costa Rica. I would definitely be up for it. Prior to studying abroad, I did not really think student teaching abroad was really very appealing, but after teaching in these Costa Rican schools I believe that it would be such an amazing experience to teach in a different country. All in all, I just can't wait to be a teacher.
I felt extremely nervous when it came to teaching in the schools. I think it was because of the language barrier. My students could not speak english either day. I made a mistake and forgot that they didn't know a lot of english and was using words that they hadn't learned yet. Other than that I found being in the schools fun and interesting. It was really cool getting to talk to the high school students about their school days and just getting to know them. We had a lot in common and they were just like I was when I was in high school. I had so much fun teaching my students and seeing how much the students in Costa Rica enjoyed learning about us. They have a lot of respect for their teachers. They found us fascinating. It was a great experience to be able to see how it feels to be the minority. Teaching in a country where you don't know the language can be extremely challenging. I found it awesome and a life learning experience.
ReplyDelete