Yesterday when we went to the school to teach, the teacher did not want us to teach English. Instead, he wanted us to help the students with their Spanish comprehension. This experience was a learning experience not because I was teaching, but because I was struggling. I knew that if the assignment had been in the English it would have been easy, but because I did not understand Spanish I was struggling just as the students in my class will be. Often they will understand the topic, just not able to communicate it.
This has taught me to have as much patience as possible with all of my students and to work through as many examples as possible. I will have to work hard with my ELL students to help them with the English vocabulary used in chemistry. In addition, I will also need to work with the other students to ensure that they also understand.
Today when we went to the school we did not teach, but instead did a service project. This service project was unplanned prior to us arriving and seeing the state of the playground. Once we saw this someone asked if it would be possible for us to clean up the yard. Together we all worked to turn this area into an area that was safe for the students to play in.
When the students came over and were allowed to play in an area that before they had been unable to, they were elated. Seeing the smiles on the faces of these kids was one of the most gratifying experiences I have had. We took a few hours out of our day and we made a positive change in someone else’s life. The feeling that this gives is immeasurable and unique.
Overall this trip is still going well. I love being around the students and experiencing the lives of others. Seeing the similarities between the people here and myself is amazing. It shows that while diversity is important so is emphasizing the similarities. Ensuring that students know that everyone around them matters and everyone can contribute positively to the world is so important. I have loved this experience so far and cannot wait to see what this next week has in store for us.
This has taught me to have as much patience as possible with all of my students and to work through as many examples as possible. I will have to work hard with my ELL students to help them with the English vocabulary used in chemistry. In addition, I will also need to work with the other students to ensure that they also understand.
Today when we went to the school we did not teach, but instead did a service project. This service project was unplanned prior to us arriving and seeing the state of the playground. Once we saw this someone asked if it would be possible for us to clean up the yard. Together we all worked to turn this area into an area that was safe for the students to play in.
When the students came over and were allowed to play in an area that before they had been unable to, they were elated. Seeing the smiles on the faces of these kids was one of the most gratifying experiences I have had. We took a few hours out of our day and we made a positive change in someone else’s life. The feeling that this gives is immeasurable and unique.
Overall this trip is still going well. I love being around the students and experiencing the lives of others. Seeing the similarities between the people here and myself is amazing. It shows that while diversity is important so is emphasizing the similarities. Ensuring that students know that everyone around them matters and everyone can contribute positively to the world is so important. I have loved this experience so far and cannot wait to see what this next week has in store for us.