A teaching opportunity

Hola! These past few days have been full of great educational observations. This week our group is in Monteverde. Monteverde is in the mountains and the weather here is very different from Heredia. We are literally in the clouds so a normal day would be full of various moments of misty air from clouds passing by. But the past 3 days have been not so normal, so in addition to the misty cloud cover, we have been rained on quite a bit. This would probably have an effect on our mood, but we are having so many valuable experiences, we’re all staying upbeat. Yesterday we had a tour at the Trapiche farm and it POURED the entire time, but we all agreed that, despite this rain, it was an amazing experience. This week we have had the opportunity to interact many times with students at a local elementary, or primary, school. On Tuesday we read with the students in small groups using our English/Spanish children’s books. We also did a science lesson in our small groups. While in these small groups I was able to utilize the strategies I’ve seen in my own Spanish classes. I tried to use as much Spanish as possible but made sure that some key words were in English. I felt it was important that these students receive some English, but not be overwhelmed by it. This strategy was difficult to initiate because I would lose my words in Spanish. In these moments I found that knowing the keywords in Spanish benefited me. It was almost a reverse realization. The strategy I was sure would benefit them, was a benefit to me. Today I had a different and even more rewarding experience in the school. We were able to teach today to the whole group. I was able to stand before a 1st grade class on my own to instruct on a lesson about colors in English and Spanish. It was interesting because I did my instruction in Spanish. I relied on a script I created last night but was able to inject the vocabulary from my classes whenever necessary. It was exciting to be in front of the class, and nerve-wrecking that I was unable to use my first language to assist them. I wanted to bad to be able to explain better or phrase differently for them, but I lacked the words. The experience made me see how frustrating it could be for a student to have the knowledge, the ideas, or the solutions to a problem, but no way to display this. How many students are assumed to be “behind” or “slow-learners” because they cannot verbalize their true knowledge? I feel as though this morning I was able to briefly experience this frustration. But I had 6 others in the room to assist me when I needed it. I was able to look to Sonia and ask her how to say something or to help me by saying it herself. In a classroom environment that student may be alone, with no other Spanish speakers. Or a teacher may not want them to help each other by conferencing in Spanish. I see now how helpful it can be to have another student there who understands so that children can help each other. Instead of being completely lost with no reference, students could help each other. I’m reminded of how affective small groups can be, for example in the case of “Jigsaw”, students accumulate information and then pass this on to other students. This assists students in their own comprehension because they find the most effective way to pass the information on to others. When ELL students can assist each other, they are creating more concrete knowledge in themselves as well as teaching their companion.