Blog 7
May 31st:
Today is day 8 at Colegio Roosevelt. Students are continuing with their science unit of inquiry and brought in their new model with one variable changed. Also, I participated in my first earthquake drill. Initially students were supposed to go outside and test their new airplane models but the earthquake drill took up some of their science time so they were not able to test them out today. After snack time, students worked on math and focused on multiplying a fraction by 1. I enjoy observing the students during math because fractions aren’t my cup of joe, so I get a bit of a math lesson as well. After math, students continued their fiction novel. The day ended with taking pictures with me. Why? Well, this was officially my last day with room 218. I have been in this classroom for a total of 8 days and it has been such a great experience. I have learned many things not only from Mr. Stevens but also from the students. Like I mentioned in my earlier blogs, this was the first time I was in a 5th grade classroom and my initial ideal teaching grade was 3rd but now I would say that 5th grade is definitely an option. After school we attempted to make it to a short film produced by some students at Roosevelt. Notice a keyword? Attempted. Let me just say that traffic was horrible. We left our house at about 5:50ish and initially our arrival time was 6:40ish which was perfect since the film started at 6:45pm. However, we did not make it. Many of you might be thinking, “Wow. She’s exaggerating” or “It probably wasn’t that bad” but honestly, there are NO words to describe it. We wouldn’t move for minutes and when we did, it felt like a step. It was 7:30 (Yes, it took that long) and we decided to just head to the restaurant to eat. So technically, we didn’t even make it to the theater. Let me just say that the food made up for it. We went to another restaurant recommended by Lauren and it was delicious. I ordered a Margarita personal pizza and it was amazing. Many of you might know that I’m not a fan of pizza, so are thinking “I thought you didn’t like pizza” but this restaurant is known for their pizza, so I had to try it and now I know why. We headed back home and it only took us about 45mins! New record, I think! Another thing that is interesting is the sounds we fall asleep to. For the past two weeks, we have fallen asleep to singing, talking, barking and honking but this night was different. We fell asleep to music and fireworks.
June 1st:
HAPPY JUNE!
I can’t believe I have been in Peru for two weeks! I remember arriving and telling myself that this was going to be a long trip, but the past two weeks have gone by super-fast. We have a busy two weeks ahead of us and I’m excited but nervous at the same time. I’m sad that our time at Roosevelt has ended but I’m excited to visit other schools in Lima. Today is our last day at Colegio Roosevelt. You might be thinking, “You said yesterday was your last day”, yes and no. Yesterday was my last day with room 218 because today they have a field trip and won’t be there all day which means I won’t be there to observe. Luckily, Mr. Stevens could get me inside a 3rd grade classroom to observe for the day. This third-grade class was not what I was expecting and I don’t mean for that to sound bad. The class was working on geometry and throughout the lesson, the students were vey social and I could tell that the teacher was rather frustrated. I understand her because, yes, you want your students to pay attention and make sure they are understanding the concept. But how can we expect them to stay quiet for a whole lesson? As adults, we can’t do that and shouldn’t expect them kids to. On another note, after school we went to El Agustino and we all split up and went to different locations of Encuentros. I went up onto their higher part and it was awesome. It amazes me how these houses are built and functioning. At Encuentros, the leader read us a story and after split us up into three groups and then asked us questions that were related to the story. After this, we danced a bit and did some exercises. I enjoyed this activity with the kids because they are genuinely awesome kids. Although they are not exposed to the same resources as other children, that doesn’t stop them from enjoying themselves. Think our day ended at El Agustino? Think again! We went to a water park later! Water park at 8pm? Exactly where we went! This wasn’t exactly the water park we were expecting but more of a water light show. It was super nice and beautiful. Came home and called it a night!
To think critically, one must enjoy thinking. What I mean by this is, enjoying the idea of asking complex questions. Not expecting a yes or no answer but rather why and how. As a student, it’s being able to see both sides of a situation and being able to judge that situation. As an educator, it’s important not to feed information to students. This does nothing but help memorization and that’s not what education should be about. As Hooks says, “Most children are taught early on that thinking is dangerous …children start fearing the thinking mind.” It’s important to allow students to think freely and have an imagination of their own. As an educator, it’s important to allow students to ask questions, either to you (teacher) or their peers. Again, as Hooks says, this questioning allows students “to find the answers to those eternal questions of the inquisitive child”. It’s the ability to allow students to analyze and evaluate questions on their own while still guiding them. Also, its creating an environment that is engaging students to actively share their ideas.
Smiles,
Liz
