Week One = Finished! ✔️

Wednesday May 23rd:

Third graders created a market place with inventions of their own. They displayed these inventions to their peers and sold them and then profit would be donated. As I was walking by this market, I couldn’t help but think that these third graders were super creative and smart. Personally, I don’t think I would have ever thought of any of these creations when I was in third grade. I have yet to see this activity back home. I have seen that some schools hold these kinds of activities except its optional. Here at Colegio Roosevelt, it’s not an option, its required. What I really enjoy about Colegio Roosevelt is the fact that, it seems to me, that they give students a lot of opportunity to create things and they give them room to be independent. I think this is something that would be very interesting to bring back with me because I believe this sets up student to not only be creative but to also be independent. While making my way through this market, one of my students, Mateo, came up to me with a plant and said, “I bought this plant for you”. Let me just say that this made my day and probably put the biggest smile on my face. Can’t wait for it to grow!

Thursday May 25th:

Today at Colegio Roosevelt, room 218 started their day by taking part in a reading buddies activity. This reading buddy activity is between room 218 and a kindergarten class. The kindergarten class create books in which then they read to their 5th grade buddie. After they finish reading, they each have four books, in their reading bucket, and either the fifth graders read to them or the kindergarteners read to the fifth graders. Following this, we visited a fair that was going on. The 7th graders created an innovation fair in which they create a solution to a problem in their community. Walking through this project, I was amazed. It was so interesting to listen to the different solutions that these students created. For example, one group created a pull down desk, (similar to what they have inside airplanes) to build inside a school bus so students can complete their homework while riding the bus. I thought this was rather interesting because there are some kids that spend more than an hour on a bus and during that time, they can complete their homework but can’t because they don’t want to have to hold stuff in their lap or what not. Overall, I was fascinated.

Fellow readers, now I’m going to say a word and I want you to think about how you would define them:

Learning

Oppress

Teaching

Okay, well done. I can write out the definitions for each of these words, but I rather not. I’m simply going to talk about how these relate to one another.

When I hear the word ‘Oppress’ I immediately think of the action of being put down. So, in relation to these three words, I can’t help but think about the students that are being put down. By this I mean that there are some classrooms in which the teacher is the only person with a voice. It makes me think that teaching is only allowing the teacher the freedom and taking away the freedom of the students. When I think of this, I think about how some teachers don’t allow students to think creatively nor reflect. Students must finish it one certain way or else it’s not correct. However, It’s crucial for students to integrate their creativity into the class just as much as reflecting upon certain work. If a teacher inhibits this, students don’t grow nor learn to think critically. For students, this can convince them that they aren't being valued. However, as Freire emphasizes, it’s important that not only teachers and staff be valued but also students. Students should not be objectified for any reason. They should have a voice inside the classroom because students are constantly changing and growing, therefore having a voice can help foster this growth. It makes me think of a cycle. If from the beginning of their education career, students notice that they aren’t being heard, they bring this with them until their education is over. This then leads the oppressor to continue oppressing which leads to more students being oppressed. For me, my ideal classroom is allowing my students to understand that their voice is being heard and makes a difference inside the class.

Smiles,

Liz