San Gerardo Teaching Experience

For three days, I worked with students in the village of San Gerardo in Riobamba. Our group taught in Bolivar Chiriboga Paquibug school for two days. We were welcomed with open arms and in such a wonderful way. As soon as we entered the village, an announcement was made for the village people to gather near the school to start our welcoming parade. The parade took us around the village so we could see where our students lived and familiarize ourselves with the area.

The men, women, and children of San Gerardo were so sweet and generous. They made us fresh food right after the parade using fruits, vegetables, and meat grown on their land. We were all given tokens of appreciation on the day of our arrival, which were hand-made scarves and bags.

During our second day at San Gerardo, the students of Bolivar Chiriboga welcomed us with wonderful performances of songs and dance. They sang “Old McDonald Had a Farm” in English, Spanish, and Quichua. The day before, some of the students taught us how to sing it in Quichua. I was able to pick it up pretty fast, so my director made me sing it alone in front of the school! It was actually pretty fun, and I was able to record it on video!

After the performances, we were sent to our classrooms to begin teaching! Alex and I read “The Shoemaker and the Elves” in Spanish and in English to 4^th graders. I ended up teaching the entire class in Spanish and asked the students comprehension questions to see their understanding of the book. I was surprised at how I was able to get through to the students without using any English. They were all really responsive and very intelligent with their answers. At the end of class, Alex and I gave each of our students a little goodie bag that we packed prior to leaving for San Gerardo. The students were so excited for their notebooks, pens, and puzzles!

Once classes were over, our director took us to meet some ladies who make Shigras. Shigras are items made from the specific type of Aloe Vera plant that only grows in that area. Shigra-making is a dying art that our director helped to revive from the years she has been coming to San Gerardo. The ladies take the Aloe leaves, dry them, and weave the fibers together to make the beautiful artwork. I was able to purchase two Shigras from the two ladies who still make them. It takes them two months to make one Shigra!

The next day, we only had two hours with the students of Bolivar Chiriboga because the teachers of the school planned an all-day excursion to the town of Colta. Alex and I read “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” to our 4^th graders and also taught them the song “John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt.” The students loved both our activities and were definitely not ready for us to go.

We spent the rest of our day touring Colta and seeing the ruins of churches and buildings created by various earthquakes in the 1900s. We were also able to see the first church ever built in Ecuador! The teachers of Bolivar Chiriboga went out of their way for us to experience this side of Ecuador. They even took us to the Lago de Colta - Lake of Colta - so we could take pictures and relax for a little bit.

Overall, my experience at San Gerardo was definitely a life-changing one. It was amazing to see how the students thrive in their learning environment with what little they have. The village people were so generous and so loving and wanted to ensure that all of us felt welcome in their homes. I am so grateful for this experience and it is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to share pictures with my family and friends back home and to tell them my stories in detail!

This weekend, we’re off to the beach in Esmeraldas! Time to relax and soak up some sun before heading back to the States!

Reflection on Teaching in Quitumbe

Well, today was the last day at Quitumbe. The five days we spent with the Quitumbe students went by so much faster than with the America Latina students. The amount of love and appreciation I received from my students in Quitumbe was so overwhelming, but in a good way. I connected with the students a lot more because I spent more time with them outside of the classroom. I played with them during recess and learned their favorite recess game, Tazos. With six sections of 5^th and 6^th grade, I was responsible for teaching 240 students. I obviously was unable to form relationships with all 240 students, but I was able to get to know five students very well. These students were so nice and polite and did everything they could to make me feel welcome in their classrooms. I would speak with them in Spanish outside of class in order to make them feel comfortable around me.

At the end of the day today, my students surrounded me and wished me good luck for the rest of my trip and gave me small gifts- Tazos, which are the small disks that we played with during recess and a wristband from one of my favorite students, Benjamin. It was so hard to leave all my students, who eventually became little friends of mine! They were all so bright and worked really hard to speak English. Their work ethic inside and outside of the classroom was remarkable.

Though their English level was not very advanced, the little phrases they produced in English were enough for me. It was so rewarding to hear them say “I will give friendship” in English and then explain what friendship meant to them. The students loved being around native English speakers and showing off what they knew, even if it was very little.

Working at Quitumbe for a week was a great experience for me to see what it would be like to work in a challenging environment. I had to modify my lessons and change my style of teaching for this school, which taught me to be more flexible. 

My experiences at America Latina and Quitumbe have helped me shape who I want to be as a teacher and what I need to do to improve myself before I have a classroom of my own. The students in both schools had different dynamics, but they all had the motivation to learn and to become better at speaking English. I can’t wait to see what experiences I will have in the village of San Gerardo and what the students are like there!

End of the First Week

I haven’t blogged in almost a week. I am SO sorry. This week has been so busy! I had a full week of teaching along with sightseeing, so I was left with very little time to blog!

After the first day of teaching, Alex and I continued teaching our 5^th and 10^th graders about confidence and giving. We have bonded with both of our 5^th grade classes and love teaching them. They are all so intelligent and want to learn. When teaching them about giving, we read the book “Rainbow Fish” and asked them to tell us how they can give to others. Many of them had really creative responses like giving love, happiness, friendship as well as toys and candy. I was very surprised by the answers they were giving and was very proud of the way they were contributing to our lesson.

Our 10^th graders also had a lot to say about giving. We had a wonderful discussion about giving and what they have given to others and what others have given to them. A lot of the students said they enjoyed volunteering and giving to the community, something that I loved hearing from them. They are really open to talking to us about various topics and always have something to say. Their English level is very high and they have no trouble speaking their minds!

Besides school, I’ve been very busy being a tourist! In the past week, I have visited churches, the President’s Palace, the City Museum, a bakery, two crafts markets, two lakes and I lived in a resort. By visiting these places, I can say that Ecuador is absolutely beautiful. Pictures don’t do it justice! I’m learning a lot about Ecuador just by visiting all of these tourist sites. I’m excited to come back and share what I have learned. 

I spent the weekend at a resort with the rest of my group- this resort, Casa Mojanda, was the prettiest place I have ever been to in my life. We had a perfect view of the mountains from any part of the resort and had flowers and trees all around our cabin. I lived with five other girls- Kalia, Morgan, Leah, Emorie, and Samantha. We had quite a fun time in the cabin and at the resort!

The view from our cabin in the
resort.

My roommates and I

One of the highlights of my weekend was hiking to go see a waterfall. I have never gone hiking, so I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of being able to do so! I hiked for about 20 minutes to get to the waterfall at 6 am. It was a wonderful experience and so fulfilling. The sounds of birds chirping and water hitting the rocks were so serene and peaceful. I went with my professor, Neil, and our guide, Humberto. We spent about 30 minutes sitting and admiring the scenery. It was such a great experience, and I hope to hike again sometime in the future.

I hope to blog a lot more next week telling you all about my last day at America Latina and my new journey at Quitumbe school.

Remember that professional development session on special education that I talked about a few blogs ago? Well, I have now been assigned to interpret what Ahnya says in English into Spanish for the teachers to understand! It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to use Spanish in a big setting. I have definitely improved my Spanish and can have conversations with many native speakers. I have never received so many compliments on my Spanish, so that’s a real confidence booster! I’m surprised at how much I have improved in the past week. I’ll take this time to thank my Spanish teachers, Señorita Frenzel, Señora Sebastian, Señora Polin-Silva, and Señorita Saunders for teaching me Spanish in high school and to all my professors in college. I’m glad I took those 8 years of Spanish because it has helped me connect with different types of people during this trip.

I’ll let you all know how my Spanish interpretation goes tomorrow and how the rest of my week goes! 

First day of teaching!

Today was the first day of teaching at America Latina! Alex and I taught two sections of 5^th grade and one section of 10^th grade.

Alex and I before teaching our
first class!

Our first class was with Quinto Verde, or 5^th grade green. We had them for two blocks which translates to 80 minutes of teaching. We began our lesson by introducing ourselves through pictures of our families, school, and activities we enjoy. We then turned it over to the students to introduce themselves to us. Each student had to introduce himself and his seat partner using “to be” and different vocabulary words.

As teachers, we aren’t allowed to use Spanish in the classroom, but for this class we talked with them individually in Spanish to help them understand concepts and ideas. I’m so glad I have proficiency in Spanish because it made teaching the material a little easier. The students were comfortable speaking with me in Spanish and asking me questions. It helped them relax around us and act like they do with their regular teachers.

The second half of the class was more focused on confidence. We asked the students to describe what confidence meant to them and asked them to draw pictures about times when they felt confident. Alex and I were able to learn a lot about each student based off of their drawings. Some were great singers while others were great soccer players. 

My students in Quinto Verde with their confidence worksheets

 After Quinto Verde, we had one section of conversation with Decimo, or the 10^th graders. To start off our conversation, we read out a few sentences about confidence that the students had to agree with or disagree with. Some of the statements we asked were, ”Confidence can be learned,” “I know people who are confident etc. The discussions were very insightful and made the class enjoyable. For 10^th graders learning English as a second language, their thoughts and responses were well-developed and well-thought out.

El Panecillo

 Our final section was Quinto Azul, or 5^th grade blue. We only had 40 minutes with this class so we were only able to do our introduction activities. These students were really lively and loved the activities we planned. Tomorrow, we have them for two blocks so we’ll get to know them a little more and be able to do more activities with them.

One of the many churches
in downtown Quito.

After teaching, our group left to go visit the Panecillo, which is a statue of a virgin with wings. I was able to climb up the steps of the Panecillo to the feet of the virgin. The view was beautiful and I could see all of Quito!

We also visited downtown Quito where we were able to tour different churches and the President’s Palace! The churches were made during the Baroque period and almost all of them are lined with real gold on the inside!

Tomorrow will be my second day teaching at America Latina. I hope my classes go just as well tomorrow as they did today!

The group outside of the Church of San Francisco.

The first day!!

I made it safely to Ecuador! I flew to Atlanta all by myself without anything going wrong! When reaching Atlanta, I met up with the rest of my group and proceeded with a three hour layover. So here’s the thing. Everything was going smoothly as we sat in the airport… That was until we looked out the window. Gray skies. Thunder. Lightning. Rain. It was horrible. But our flight was still scheduled to leave on time so we weren’t too worried.

The view of the skies
halfway through the flight

We boarded the plane when scheduled and we were all ready to go at 5:30. BUT we didn’t leave the concourse until 7:50. Yes, 7:50. We sat in our plane for almost 2.5 hours before actually leaving the ground. During that time, we got to know a lot of the people around us and were able to talk in Spanish. I also got to know one of my classmates, Ahnya, a little more. Ahnya and I will be leading the professional development session on special education in two weeks.

Once we reached the airport in Quito, we waited for all of our luggage to arrive and be checked. From there, a bus dropped us all off to our individual host families. All of us live about two hours from the airport, so we had a chance to take naps. My roommate Samantha and I didn’t get to our host family until 3:00 am! We did some brief introductions and headed straight to bed.

I'm in two hemispheres
at once!

The next morning/afternoon, Mama Lola fed us some breakfast- tostada con mantequilla y ensalada de fruta. Translation: Toast with butter and fruit salad. She also made us a drink, jugo de naranjilla, which is made from a fruit that looks like an orange-tomato but it’s sweet. After breakfast, we set off for El Mitad del Mundo or the Middle of the World.

I ate an empanada de morocho!

At the Middle of the World, we took a tour of the museum located there and learned more about the people who live in the different regions of Ecuador- the highlands, the coasts, near the Galapagos Islands, near the rainforest, Esmeraldas, etc. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between the people and their cultures. Besides walking around the museum, we were able to take pictures at the equator and shop at the stands in the area.

Overall, it was a great experience. I mean, how many people can say they’ve been in two hemispheres at once?!

Mama Lola with her kids.

We ended the night eating dinner with our host family and meeting some of Mama Lola’s children. Dinner in Ecuador means drinking tea, coffee, or milk with cheese or toast. It’s definitely different from what we consider to be dinner in the States. We spent a few hours chatting at the dinner table and learning more about Ecuadorian culture.

Tomorrow is my first day at America Latina school. I’ll be observing the teacher whose classroom Alex and I will be in for the rest of the week. I hope it all goes well!!

Tomorrow.

In less than 24 hours, I will be in ECUADOR! It’s actually so unreal that I’ll be spending 23 days in another country. I’ve never been abroad (Canada doesn’t count), so this will be my first experience…without my family. I’ll be flying from O’Hare airport to Atlanta by myself to meet up with the rest of my group there. We won’t reach Quito until around midnight, so that’ll give me more than enough time to relax and mentally prepare myself for the journey ahead.

Everything is packed and ready to go. Mom and I packed and repacked to make sure I could fit everything I needed in my suitcase. Apparently, the weather in Quito is not as hot as it may seem. Right now, it’s rainy and the temperature varies from 50 degrees to 80 degrees, so it’s really hard to predict what clothes I may need to wear throughout the day. My solution… pack everything!

After spending three weeks in Kentucky working on lesson plans, planning my inquiry project, and making new friends, I think I’m ready for this experience. I have wonderful professors and classmates who will be with me for 23 days, shaping me into a better person and a better educator. I can’t wait to see what this experience has in store for me and what great things I’m able to accomplish in Ecuador.

Hopefully, my next blog post will be from my host family’s house in Ecuador! Until then, I’ll be spending the last few hours relaxing with my family. I’ll miss my family and friends at home, but I know these three weeks will fly by and I’ll be back before I know it!

Updates. Updates. Updates.

Of course I haven’t blogged in a week… and now that I AM blogging, there’s only one week left until I leave for Ecuador! So much stuff has been happening- finalizing lesson plans, finalizing my inquiry project, creating activities for the kids in San Gerardo, creating my packing list, making my souvenir list… etc. etc. I have two more days in Kentucky and then I head back home!!

A lot has happened in the past week that I should have blogged about but never got around to writing. I spent two days at Northaven Elementary School where Kelli works. It was the end of the school year so I spent most of my time talking with teachers and helping them pack up their classrooms, a side of teaching I most definitely will experience in the future!

Now to the important stuff. Alex and I have finished our lesson plans! We have five great lesson plans that we will be using in America Latina and Quitumbe schools. Instead of teaching in three schools, we will only be focusing on two schools, spending more time in Quitumbe. We received our Quitumbe schedule and found out that we’ll be teaching six sections of 5^th grade, six sections of 6^th grade, and two conversation sessions with 11^th and 12^th grade. I’m so excited for all this field work!!

I’ve also started to get to know my classmates a little more. Alex and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch this week, and I found out that we have a lot in common! We make a really great team and I can’t wait to get to know her even more in Ecuador.

ANOTHER exciting thing happened this week! I contacted my host mom, Lola, and we’ve been sending emails back and forth… in SPANISH! She seems like a really fun and relaxed lady with a really big family. We’ve both expressed how excited we are to meet each other and to learn more about one another. Funny story: The host mom my sister lived with in Spain two years ago was also named Lola… weird coincidence!

Besides all this fun stuff, I also met with Lauren again! If you don’t remember, Lauren was my host two weeks ago. We met up yesterday and went to the other Comfy Cow on Frankfurt Avenue. It was a great night for ice cream and we were able to catch up on our week. I feel like I’ve really connected with Lauren and hope to stay in touch with her even after my trip to Ecuador!

To end my weekend, I met up with some of my friends from college in southern Indiana. We had a great time playing Frisbee, playing Apples to Apples, and eating home-made tacos!

This time next week, I will be in my bed in Ecuador, resting up for my first day of adventures in a foreign country! It’s all starting to come together and is becoming so much more real in my mind. I can’t wait!

I leave you with an update on The Voice: All of Team Adam’s girls made it to the top 8, along with all of Team Blake. It’s so close now that I can’t even predict who’s going to move on! I guess I’ll have to keep watching- though the finale happens while I’m in Ecuador… Here’s to hoping my host family likes watching reality TV!