Final Reflection

Final Reflection

At first when I looked at studying abroad I desperately wanted to study abroad in Argentina, Buenos Aires. That was the place I was set on studying. I did two years of community college at Wake Tech and once I transferred to UNCW and I realized after my first semester that I was not going to be able to balance working as much as I used to and also taking 16 hour credits. This short summer session was the perfect amount of time for me to study. It saved me so much money and it was jammed full with full on experiences every day, every minute, every second of our trip we were running to be observing something new.  Our first weekend of this trip after we traveled to “La Paz” everyone was in complete awe of what was next to come. For me, this trip was to learn Spanish and that was it. I have not completed any Spanish through school and I really wanted to take my Spanish to that next level. I can say after completing this experience that I not only have taken my Spanish further than I ever before but also have had the experience of my lifetime that I probably will never have again.

Comparing San Jose to Monteverde, I have to say I liked San Jose better for the area we were in. I loved how fast we caught the bus, the shopping mall, I loved how social San Jose was however; I enjoyed my company better in Monteverde. Monteverde as the locals call it is much more “tranquil” meaning relaxed, there is less crime, the families are closer and everyone is a local and they know if you are from out of town. San Jose I did not feel comfortable walking around downtown or even late at night, also I had a lot of trouble figuring out where my house was. In Monteverde everything is so close it’s impossible to get lost and also it’s much safer later at night. The people of Monteverde are very trusting and caring; if you need help they are there.

The family I stayed with, in Herdia was great, they had three daughters and Thursday night I began to really get to know them. We left Friday for Monteverde, I was upset because I didn’t want to go through the transition of that change again, changing to a whole new family, getting used to a whole new situation. When I arrived to Monteverde the first night it was just me and my mother and immediately it was so comfortable and I felt very at home. I met Edwardo Tuesday when he arrived home from San Jose from helping his sick brother. I quickly learned that the mother, Mayela wanted and really enjoyed helping and doing things for me. She also told me that Edwardo was unable to have children, which was very sad because they would be amazing parents. Edwardo was sometimes harder to understand and I often looked to the mother to help me translate what he was saying. I learned that the couple had never been outside Monteverde but one time for a vacation. Edwardo is deathly afraid of flying and this is the reason they stay here. They have no hot water, no car but Edwardo owns a motorcycle to get to and from work each day. On my paper is said Edwardo was in the field of construction, but May 2^nd we visited him at The Cloud Forest School and I learned what his real job was.

Edwardo works for “La Creativa” or the Cloud Forest School as basically the biologist of the school. Edwardo takes care of every plant; every tree and also helps the students create new protected forest areas. He is responsible for 106 acres of property that the school owns for basically everything that is planted. The group learned from the guide that Edwardo’s class is the most popular class at school and it fills up so fast that students are turned away often. Edwardo is a people person and has an amazing personality. I watched him at school with all the kids and he was so natural playing around with them. I have truly enjoyed everything about my host family, they are special are very unique, caring people who have gone out of their way to make me feel comfortable. I don’t’ think I could ever live in Monteverde, but I would most definitely come visit the couple again. They have been amazing to get to know and visit with each night.

I found that the cloud forest school made the biggest impression on me. I thought it was awesome that the director told us “Anyone who really wants to come to school here can.” They make things happen and I believe as teachers we need to create an up and moving generation. The director was telling us how they are teaching students to reach out to companies, write proposals and also plan for their future all in one lesson. The thing that impressed me most about the school was the fact that they were educating the students mostly outside the classroom. Although some of their education obviously takes place in the classroom, most of their life lessons take place in their organic garden, or in the luscious trails of the 106 acres the school owns.

Becoming a teacher is a huge step for me that I’ve looked forward to since I chose this major. I’ve always been very nervous about it however, because I am not extremely smart, horribly creative nor am I artsy. Going to Spanish class daily has given me so much more insight as to what it’s like to be a student from a foreign country. I knew in my head this Spanish course was not a real grade, but I can imagine being a student from a foreign country trying to make sense of the non sense English talk going on for hours at a time could be so frustrating. Also certain topics we covered in class were much harder than others and some of the times people in our small group of four would zone out of get extremely frustrated.  Teachers need to recognize those students who are falling behind or not understanding the material. I had a math teacher in 8^th grade who I keep asking for help over and over and she repeatedly would tell me to look the material over in my book. Obviously I was not understand the material because I was failing all my quizzes and test in her classes; however she overlooked this and just thought I was not studying and not paying attention. It was later that year that I officially got diagnosed with epilepsy and we found out I had been having seizures and part of the reason I did not understand the material was due to the right lobe in my brain. Part of your job as a teacher is to connect with your students, I truly believe this is the only way your students are going to open up to you and share things with you. We are not just teachers most days, some days you may be a counselor or a friend, some days you may be more of a parent, and often you might just be a teacher. Part of this job is to understand each student and knowing what they need. Teaching is kind of like having 20 of your own children.

Another thing that has really opened up my eyes on this trip has been the way teachers instruct students. I have taught a few lesson plans in the past and I think it’s so important for teachers to connect lessons with meaning. I know Dr. Powell has emphasized this for a reason because it’s so important to know why students are leaning what they are. For me in high school if I knew I was not going to use the material again I would not try as hard; however if I knew I needed it for a test or a quiz then I would study harder or try to remember it. When we went and observed the English teacher at Santa Elena we saw a form of teaching where the teacher just instructed the children very basically and then had them repeat the terms back. Everyone had noted that the “family” terms were first off being taught wrong to the students and secondly it was not given meaning. I see this quite a bit with ELL students where they are learning tons and tons of vocabulary words and it’s excellent but then you ask the student “Ok, what does this mean?” The student doesn’t understand the meaning of the word they are just doing what they are told and using their rote memory skills for the time being to satisfy what the teacher is asking them to do. I also experienced this when I was in high school with my math class where my teacher told us that we were not going to use this information past this quarter test. Well if a teacher tells me that and math, a subject I despise is what we are trying to learn, I am not going to go out of my way to learn and comprehend the material.  The importance of not only knowing the material you are teaching is one thing. We saw in Santa Elena that the English teacher on staff, although she knew the family terms was still teaching them incorrectly. Now she is instilling false knowledge upon the students of the family tree. Knowing the material and then more importantly connecting it to something the students can really relate to. In our discussions we had talked about the students instead of drawing out these numerous pictures possibly talking about their family members. It would be more beneficial for them to learn the word “grandmother” in English and then maybe describe their grandmother. Not only are you drawing in your family tree, but you are asking the students to use their verbal skills to describe using adjectives to describe their family members. There are so many ways you could teach the family tree to your students besides direct instruction.

What I ultimately took away from this trip was an amazing experience and cultural emersion trip. I have learned more Spanish in this short three week trip than I have all of high school and also private tutoring. I also realized that I truly want to become an education major, children are where my passion lays and I cannot see myself doing something different with my life. I’ve seen and experienced so many different things on this trip that will probably never happen again in my life. I realized I don’t think I want to teach in Costa Rica, however; I still want to teach somewhere in South America. My passion for the Spanish culture is just as strong as it was before and now I have an even stronger motivation to learn the language. Javier was telling us that Meggie when she arrived to CPI barely knew how to say “Pura Vida” and now two short years later she is fluent. I truly believe you can study textbooks all day long and still not have an understanding for a language. Just as I mentioned before you have to put the language into context. I can sit and drill vocabulary into my head nightly and know every meaning in the dictionary, however this does not mean that I can form a sentence or understand what Costa Ricans are saying when they talk. I’m very sad to return to the states where I cannot practice Spanish on a regular basis. I took away the fact that we need to teach our children things for the future, not just to educate them for the EOGs or the next big test coming up.

In high school I had so much trouble learning because I never saw the point of math and how it applied in my life. Now as I am twenty one years old and attempting to cook I have trouble with the difference switching from cups to liters, something we learned in math class.  As a teacher I want my students to walk away and tell me “Yes I actually learned and I know how I can apply this theme in my everyday life.” Everything that we saw from the Cloud Forest School related back to the students and how it can benefit the environment, their future, or their families. Every single material was used and if it was not used then the material was recycled for compost. We need to make our children more active in the community, make them aware, conscious and environmentally friendly. We need to make sure as teachers they know how to reach out in the community, to use their resources and know what resources are available. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience for me and I learned a lot about myself, the education system and of course Costa Rica. Thank you so much Dr. Powell, you’ve been an amazing teacher and also I’m so glad you were our instructor on this trip! PURA VIDA!

Favorite Adventure in the Sky

Today as we entered the park for zip lining I wasn't that nervous until we got on the first zip line. I thought to myself that it wasn't that bad and then we climbed the stairs for the second one and I felt my nervous get so weak, but after I got on it I was flying through the canopy of Costa Rica over looking the entire country and it was amazing. I felt so amazing. I think zip lining besides the hot springs was overall the best experience I've had here. I've never done anything like that in my entire life and will never do anything like that again probaly because the opportunity will not arise again. I am SO afraid of heights and I am seriously so proud of myself for accomplishing that goal. This following Tuesday I was so ready and leave and wanted to get home and back to my enviorment but now I am so sad to be leaving my family and I feel like I am just now settling in. This entire trip looking back has gone by so incredibly fast and I can't even believe we have two days left here in this amazing country. I hope that other people get this amazing opportunity to experience Costa Rica and the culture here. It's been amazing and we still have three days left here! I can't wait to see what we have left to do!

Farm Tour/Stella's Bakery

We have only three days left, it’s so sad. I have a mix of emotions of excited to see my dog and my friends at home and also very sad to be leaving my amazing host family here in Monteverde. I wrote them a long letter today thanking them for everything. Today we went to the coffee fields to experience how people work on a field. I thought what we were going to be doing was just going and planting seeds and working. Our tour of the coffee plantation was much more interesting than that however. The man who worked at the farm told us that it was much better than a company farm but also it wasn’t owned by a company. The farm was owned by ten people I believe he told us, by aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, basically all owned by local family and friends. All of the family worked together to help the forest and help the farm grow. The farmer told us that ALL of the farms affect each other. He spoke about how children need to learn to care about not only their farm but their neighbors as well. This theory could easily be applied in the classroom when you have two children fighting and the way to resolve the conflict was within them and not just go to the teacher to resolve the problem. He was saying that children need to think about the effects of others, outside things like the environment. I think this is an excellent concept to teach our children, also this is somewhat of the same concept that the Cloud Forest School was teaching us. Costa Rica as a whole is trying to preserve the primary forest and rebuild what has been lost or torn down. We can learn so much from Costa Rica as a nation. I don’t know of five people in my head that recycle. My own mother does a horrible job of turning lights off and conserving energy. A lot of children were not taught growing up to conserve energy and grow up in the mind set of “It’s not really hurting the environment.” The effects of our pollution is going to affect our kids, our kids, kids and so on. We need to educate our children about this and much more. I loved our tour today I learned so much. We were also taught how the planting of the trees work and why it is good to rotate the crops, because in the long run the soil is going to be more beneficial for the crops. I thought that Guillerme was very wise in his ways and very knowledgeable. He has had students in his home for more than 15 years now he told us and has such long term relationships that he taught a student’s 20 years ago and now that student has come to stay with him to study the farm. I loved the tour I learned so much about coffee, and about the land! Also for you future students who may want to travel to Costa Rica you must eat at Stella’s Bakery, it’s a must. It’s small and adorable and the perfect quite place to get some work done. Awesome day and looking forward to returning home to the states soon!

La Creativa.

          My all time favorite. I knew I was going to love “La Creativa” or otherwise known as The Cloud Forest School. This school is like no other. I have read all about it beforehand because I was going to do my research project on it but then decided on the theme of “Pura “Vida.” However the Cloud Forest School has amazing, luscious acres of diverse wildlife. The wildlife has all organic matter, all different types of plants and animals. The view from the school is incredible. The interesting part of the school is that most of the students have planted the diverse wildlife and things that we had seen. The students have been taught how to plant, and transfer each part of the plant. Every part of the school was bright and filled with colors. Unlike other schools La Creativa was filled with the work of all students, all their hands had touched and painted the rocks, the walls and the school rooms. The school has 6 different trails which the students hike daily and it’s not a big deal to allow the students to go hiking into the rainforest. The longest trail is 6 hours long and the students have actually completed that hike our guide has told us.

                Edwardo the biology man of the school is actually my host father! I had no idea that he worked at Creativa I thought he worked in construction. I watched him interact with all the students and everyone loved him. The guide told us that his class was the one that was always full and students beg to take his class. Edwardo is amazingly smart and has brought so much to the school. I mentioned earlier in one of my blogs that he and his wife cannot have children and I think working at the school and also hosting students is a great outlet for the family. I know both Edwardo and Mayela would be amazing parents if they had the opportunity.

                I found La creativa to be my all time favorite school. The director told us that anyone who wants to come to their school is able. Most all the schools are naïve, 90 perfect are from costa rica and the other 10 percent are foreign exchange. I think we should have so many more schools like this. Not only is the Cloud Forest School a great opportunity but it’s TRULY teaching our future generations about planting, harvesting how to conserve the environment. We are trying to teach our students here in America about trying to conserve the environment but yet we have millions of cars polluting the air each day, TV’s that stay on with no one watching them. We need to make our future generations awake and more aware. The Cloud Forest School is made up of half Tico and half naïve English teachers which provides the students with a fully bilingual education. One question I find myself asking so much, is why are other countries so aware of the need to speak other languages are in the United States we are not? Whenever I have traveled I have met amazing people who speak multiple languages (not just Spanish and English). I think especially in America we should make our children more aware of the need to know other languages. I know this has been an ongoing debate, why should we make our children learn another language since this is America? Well everyone in America is a melting pot and came from some kind of roots.

                As teachers we could learn amazing things just from the tour of this school. The children were brilliant at this school learning all about the environment, the world and how it applies to their life. They are growing their own crops, harvesting them and recycling every piece of material they have. Compost is something we do in our own back yard. Compost is something so simple that you could do at your school which is cheap and so good for the soil. There is so many ways you could teach children about the importance of the environment. The school runs on very little money and has so many resources. As Dr. Powell was telling us REACH out to alternative people, churches, and local places. People are willing to help if there is a need somewhere.

La Creativa.

          My all time favorite. I knew I was going to love “La Creativa” or otherwise known as The Cloud Forest School. This school is like no other. I have read all about it beforehand because I was going to do my research project on it but then decided on the theme of “Pura “Vida.” However the Cloud Forest School has amazing, luscious acres of diverse wildlife. The wildlife has all organic matter, all different types of plants and animals. The view from the school is incredible. The interesting part of the school is that most of the students have planted the diverse wildlife and things that we had seen. The students have been taught how to plant, and transfer each part of the plant. Every part of the school was bright and filled with colors. Unlike other schools La Creativa was filled with the work of all students, all their hands had touched and painted the rocks, the walls and the school rooms. The school has 6 different trails which the students hike daily and it’s not a big deal to allow the students to go hiking into the rainforest. The longest trail is 6 hours long and the students have actually completed that hike our guide has told us.

                Edwardo the biology man of the school is actually my host father! I had no idea that he worked at Creativa I thought he worked in construction. I watched him interact with all the students and everyone loved him. The guide told us that his class was the one that was always full and students beg to take his class. Edwardo is amazingly smart and has brought so much to the school. I mentioned earlier in one of my blogs that he and his wife cannot have children and I think working at the school and also hosting students is a great outlet for the family. I know both Edwardo and Mayela would be amazing parents if they had the opportunity.

                I found La creativa to be my all time favorite school. The director told us that anyone who wants to come to their school is able. Most all the schools are naïve, 90 perfect are from costa rica and the other 10 percent are foreign exchange. I think we should have so many more schools like this. Not only is the Cloud Forest School a great opportunity but it’s TRULY teaching our future generations about planting, harvesting how to conserve the environment. We are trying to teach our students here in America about trying to conserve the environment but yet we have millions of cars polluting the air each day, TV’s that stay on with no one watching them. We need to make our future generations awake and more aware. The Cloud Forest School is made up of half Tico and half naïve English teachers which provides the students with a fully bilingual education. One question I find myself asking so much, is why are other countries so aware of the need to speak other languages are in the United States we are not? Whenever I have traveled I have met amazing people who speak multiple languages (not just Spanish and English). I think especially in America we should make our children more aware of the need to know other languages. I know this has been an ongoing debate, why should we make our children learn another language since this is America? Well everyone in America is a melting pot and came from some kind of roots.

                As teachers we could learn amazing things just from the tour of this school. The children were brilliant at this school learning all about the environment, the world and how it applies to their life. They are growing their own crops, harvesting them and recycling every piece of material they have. Compost is something we do in our own back yard. Compost is something so simple that you could do at your school which is cheap and so good for the soil. There is so many ways you could teach children about the importance of the environment. The school runs on very little money and has so many resources. As Dr. Powell was telling us REACH out to alternative people, churches, and local places. People are willing to help if there is a need somewhere.

How am I going to affect my students?

Going to CPI has been a wonderful experience here. I have really enjoyed the type of learning that they provide for the students and not only that but also the amazing teachers that they have. Our first week in Herdia we had a teacher named Henry. I have spoken about Henry before but his nonstop comedy and also his style of teaching was amazing. Although I’m aware every teacher is not going to be a comedian keeping the mood lighter I think is better. The first two hours of class was somewhat serious and we took care of things like book work, but then the last two hours of class we did games like Jenga and word play. These games were always related back to our Spanish. The teacher we have in Monteverde also has the same teaching technique and we play the Spanish version of memory or other things the last two hours of class.

I really think this is so important to integrate fun activities into our lessons even though I do not believe the entire lesson should be about how “fun” we can make our lessons. As teachers we are not there to be friends with our students, however; if we can connect with them in a special way through humor and games I believe it makes them much more motivated to learn on a regular basis. Students are in class for up to six hours daily and then come home to be drilled by more homework, which is also increasing each year. For me I want to make my class a place where my students can come and feel as comfortable as possible. I have very at home at CPI and never degraded when I did not pronounce something correctly. This is important because having ELL students the frustration levels are going to rise even higher than with regular students. As Dr. Powell has states, new standards are being put out for North Carolina schools, so as teachers this raises the standards; we have more to teach our ELL students. Coming into a new country is already a culture shock, facing a new territory and now ELL students have to learn a whole new language. This trip has been such an eye opener for me and realizing how students may feel trying to listen to a lesson in English. After listening to my teacher speak in Spanish for about an hour I get extremely tired. The teachers are extremely good about having everyone participate and also using hand gestures. Hand gestures are an excellent way to explain a theme or a meaning when a student looks confused. I feel like I have learned a lot more Spanish just being around my family every night, just because I am forced to understand the conversation. I have really enjoyed staying with my family in Monteverde. My dad speaks differently than my mom and sometimes it’s a little harder to understand. He speaks very quickly and sometimes I look to my mom to get her to translate. My mother speaks very slowly and also uses a lot of imagery to compare and explain thing to me. She loves to explain Spanish terms to me and in exchange I normally tell her the English meaning for things which she also enjoys. So how do I feel like I’m going to affect my student? I feel like imagery, context clues, speaking slowly all have to do with making sure my students are on task and engaged in the lesson.

A blog dedicated to the wonderful people on our trip

We have two guides here while we stay in Costa Rica. Meggie is our school guide and is with while we attend school and local events during the week. Meggie is an amazing young woman from Chicago if I remember correctly. She came here one summer for an internship and fell in love with Costa Rica and now has built a family with CPI and works here translating all day long. Word around the street is two years ago when Meggie came here she could not even pronounce the common saying “Pura Vida.” Pura Vida is the way of life in Costa Rica and necessary to be able to say while living here. Now, Meggie is not only fluent in Spanish, but I could not tell which her first language was when I met her. She now even has Spanish dreams; this is how proficiently her language is progressing. She is always smiling and deals with situations extremely well. Meggie is an excellent guide and a joy to be around.

Javier is the other guide that travels with us. Javier is one of the smartest people I have met in quite some time. He is considered our nature guide. He knows every plant, seed, leave, animal that passes us. And what’s so impressive is that he knows all the Spanish and English names for everything. Javier is so much fun to be around, always joking around and also sets good boundaries for our group. He’s been an amazing guide for us and has taken us all around San Jose, and also Monteverde. We have hiked five trails with him and I’ve seen more wildlife with Javier in three weeks than I have my entire life. My brain contains so much new knowledge! Thank you Javier!

How can we forget Roy. Roy is our dedicated and talented bus driver. Roy has had our life’s in his hands almost every day of this trip, winding around the mountains of La Paz and then continuing to Monteverde. Roy has traveled with our group to each site and then patiently waited for us to finish our daily activates.  Everyone has gotten to know Roy a lot better and also really enjoyed his company on our 3-4 hour bus rides to our activities. Our slogan some of the students have come up with is that “We trust in Roy.” Thank you Roy for your dedicated service!

To the staff of CPI: Students, who are wishing to join this trip, please do! CPI is a wonderful, friendly, warm place to come study. The teachers offer nothing but support and help for you while you attend your classes. There are times when you are going to feel frustrated at your Spanish skills; however the teachers at CPI offer humor to lighten the mood and also great teaching skills. In Herdia we had a teacher named Henry, who I really enjoyed. Henry had a game planned for us each day we were with him. One of the games we played was Jenga, the game had Spanish phrases written on the blocks and once you pulled one out you must answer the question. The classes are creative and go at a great pace that pushes you, yet also does not make you shut down. I would definitely love to see more emersion schools like CPI closer to home. Again as I said earlier in my blog, Meggie our guide learned Spanish fluently in two years. This language building is due to emersion and solely emersion.  

Topic: Spanish Class Frustration and Alligator extrusion

                 I have found that I am much closer with my second host family than the first. I feel so much safer walking around in Monteverde. The entire atmosphere is so different. People say hello to you as you pass by, it is a very small town and the community stays very close. Also a huge difference is that there are no bars outside houses, which means less crime. My host mother is extremely caring and goes out of her way daily to make sure I am comfortable. I found out that she and her husband are unable to have children physically, so I think having students is a great outlet for them to care for people. Both parents stand over me nightly and help me with my homework. They would make excellent parents. My mother, Mayela is a stay at home mother and has never traveled anywhere besides Monteverde; she also tells me that she is very jealous of my world experiences. Edwardo my father told me that he has been on an airplane once but he did not enjoy it and also he would not do it again. They really have no reason to travel beyond Monteverde, everything they need is there in the town. I asked Edwardo whether he preferred San Jose, which is much more urban or Moteverde which is very rural. Edwardo told me he preferred Monteverde because there are no autobuses, less people and it is more tranquil. Not only has my host mom her bought me a beautiful necklace, but also handmade me a bracelet with my name sewn into it. My mom and dad both greet me like family and I feel extremely comfortable here.

We traveled to a lake today to visit our cute friends, the alligator. We viewed them from afar on the bridge. Everyone thought that was our surprise of the day, but to our surprise it was not. We got back on the bus with our amazing bus driver Roy and drove further where we kept seeing signs for an alligator excursion. As we arrived at this small dock everyone loaded into boat where we made our way into the lake seeing beautiful wildlife of every kind. Every child has his or her breaking point and I think the point of this was to in some ways reach our breaking point, not as people but as students. As ELL students or even everyday students we try and learn as much as we can, however; some students may have more motivation than others. We have a common goal as teachers it’s to help our students achieve academic performance. However how this is handled makes a huge difference. Thursday in Spanish class we started learning about a new topic and it was quite difficult for everyone in our group to understand and comprehend. As we learned in class maybe the reason for a child putting their head down is not because they are tired but because they do not comprehend the material. I remember in math class my senior year I went through “learned helplessness” which is where you think you cannot learn a subject and convince yourself you are not able to learn it. I convinced myself I was no longer able to learn math due to my previous test grades and classes and no teacher told me otherwise. As teachers one of the biggest things we need to understand is when a student has hit that point of where they have not only given up but also when it becomes learned helplessness. This is important because we have to work extra hard to strive and help the child learn and understand the material. As the teacher you have to work from the bottom up, from the very first concept. Becoming a teacher is a dream for me, but also I would never want a child to feel like I felt in my math class, so close to tears trying to comprehend the material so desperately but yet it wasn’t working. We want children to strive to learn but yet as Dr. Powell had said also it takes work, endurance, and maybe late nights up studying. Intelligence does not come naturally for most people and even most people who are naturally intelligent struggle in other areas. We want our future generations of children to want to learn and strive to know more.

Santa Elena

8 days left

Our trip is going by incredibly fast and we all have had incredible experiences learning not only academically but street smarts and things we did not know about ourselves. Monteverde although a very safe town you still need to keep your wits about you and stay smart about where you are walking. We went to Santa Elena School Friday and I noticed several things about not only the teaching style but the kids in general. We saw a video of a third grade teacher in Dr. Durrington’s class about managing classrooms and defining chaos. The classroom we saw a video of was considered “organized chaos.” The children were loud and clearly communicating, but also on task and knew the exact assignment they were to be doing. Again this was considered organized chaos; children were on task, but yet loud. In Santa Elena I found that it was unorganized and the children knew what to do, however I observed kids in the back of the classroom way off task (poking each other, menacing with their backpack). The closer it came to be break time the louder the children got. Also even when the teacher was teaching the lesson most children was not engaged and not listening. This is the case in most classrooms I have seen where it’s a large class and the teacher loses the children’s attention. The second thing I observed was the assignment the children were learning was being taught wrong. The teacher was teaching about the family tree and she started with the mom and the dad in one class and then in the older grades she began with the grandmother and the grandfather. The lesson was inconsistent.

Also the classroom had 40 minutes to learn this lesson about their family tree. 40 minutes was not nearly enough time for the students to learn. The family tree lesson included the teacher drawing extensive details of the family (mother, father, uncle, aunt…) and then having the students repeat the names. Then after this the students themselves had to draw and write each family member in their notebooks. I found that three of the students right in my area were getting extremely frustrated trying to just draw the actual tree and had not even started their lesson. I found a lot of things that the teacher could have done differently and also I as a teacher could improve on and in 40 minutes how it’s so important to have your lessons planned out ahead of time. There are many things I observed from Santa Elena when we visited but these were the main points that I pulled out.

1rst day a la escula

Today was our first day at the Spanish schools and at first when we drove on the bus there I was thinking "how in the world are we going to teach a lesson in spanish by ourselves" Teaching the first lesson was so much fun, but also I think everyone was a little nervous. As each lesson went along everyone got less and less nervous and more and more confident. The students at the school were so sweet and also warm. They were extremley quick to take to us and LOVED taking photos with us. They were so sweet and I think everyone really enjoyed getting to know them. As I was there and reflected upon the lesson I thought about myself in the future and also where I want to be down the road. I think I could really see myself teaching in a school like this. I am thinking about possibly switching my major to spanish major. Maybe the fact that I'm having trouble getting into Watson is a sign that I need to switch my major and also my huge pasion is in spanish as well. We will see where the lord leads me in the near future. But I think it was a great decison to take this trip and also Meggy has said great things about Monteverde because it's a completley different atmosphere. Viernes we are going to go dancing with Amber and her mama Tika! It's only 3 america dollars. Should be interesting and quite fun! Anyways all for now. Will def write when I am in monteverde

Day 5 in Costaaa :)

So my spirits are still very high. I am still enjoying my trip, however what Dr. Powell was saying is very true about being home sick. I don't really talk to any of my family other than my roomates and Ashley and her entire family. I miss Bella quite a bit I'm so used to having her by my side all the time. I am extremley glad I have this experience. Nothing like this will ever happen again. Out of body. Last night, it was def. interesting trying to get home. Since there are no addresses written you had to read the map and remember somewhat where you lived. I got home alright, obviously but I wonder how people function here without addresses? OR without mail getting delievered to their houses? Just thing that I am so accostomed to in the U.S.
I am also coming to the conclusion that I am not sure I could teach here, maybe I could but I feel like it's so very far and so small. Given the opportunity I would love to experience it and I've found that you could be a little less gaurded but today as we went to the bank I was dealing my money outside the bank and a woman came up to me and spoke to me in spanish warning me. I didn't understand everything but what I got was that I should not be dealing my money out in the public eye because it was very dangeous, and as Javier and Dr. Powell has told us that Costa Rica is a povidence and a country of opportunity crime. Very different from the United States where we do not take our own security into our hands, we allow the law to take care of it, here they take it upon themselfs to defend their houses and children and vaulables.

Last night I didn't get to spend very much time with my family I was so tired and I kind of retracted to my room fairly fast. Tonight however I spoke to the younger girls, both of them. I had already spoken to the youngest who I really enjoyed and the other girl seemed more stuck up but I was trying to keep an open mind and today we spoke about the animals which was a great topic. She was telling me "felix" the dog was so sweet but very dumb and it's very funny because my dog at home is the exact same way. She described Felix as tonto. which means dumb.  I decided to write the family a note of thanks (that's how you would say it in spanish) but I did it tonight because Friday I am going to stay with Amber at her house because her mama Tika is taking her dannncing and she is going to ask if it's okay if I come! I have really enjoyed this family I feel very welcomed and she's made sure that anything I need I have. It's so interesting to me how impoverished Costa Rica is. I love learning about it and the culture in general.

Our teacher (our professora) es Henry. El es fabulouso! I love Henry! He makes everything fun with our class! I have really enjoyed the past two days learning spanish with him, however I think that he was a bit tired today he seemed a little less motivated. I think we really lucked out with him as a teacher. I feel I am def learning a lot of spanish and I am really enjoying and thriving on this experience. I think although my finances are taking a bit of a downturn that it's worth it since I am unable to do volunteer things or get heavily involved with school. Alll for now!

1rst Sunday in Costa Rica :)

Sooo today was really fun, up until the time that we got computer time and I checked my final grades for school and they were not good. My grades are not what they need to be for Watson School of Education. I'm really stressed. It's really upseting it's going to take even longer for me to complete school when I'm already on an extended plan. I just am wanting to go home and take care of things and meet with an advisor and figure everything out. I wrote Nancy my advisor so hopefully she will write me back soon and I will have some sort of answer as to what I should be doing. Worst case senario is that I just take a whole semester off and I end up working which would suck so bad but maybe what I have to end up doing. I know that for a fact when I get back I'm going to get off my medication.
Today we got up and hiked up to a volcano, it was amazing. The veiw of it was just incredible. Also the second time as we were walking down it kind of exploded. It was so cool I've def. never seen anything like it. I really hope this trip is something the lord wanted me to do because I feel so spent right now and just worn emotionally not even pyshically. I think it's just because of my grades. I will def. be really to come home when the time comes. But the lord is teaching me pateince and to trust in him because I am always wanting to do things on my own and always have things planned out and sometimes there is not always a plan. One of the best verses I can think of is: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

I really need to follow this verse and not lean on my own understanding and try to direct my own path. We went to this store today and it was amazzzing! They had hammocks that were 20 dollars, so cute. I got a key chain of course because my key chain is not large enough already and then a lizard for ashley's mom, hard to explain but she collects them!  But anyways more later we are going to stay with our host families now. I am reallly nervous about that should be interesting! We have school all this week! I am so tireeeed right now I def just want to go to bed. We went out for a bit last night. lol Off to host families homes! PURA VIDA!

La Paz :)

Today we got up and went to breakfast at our hotel which was amaazzzing and I found out I don't like Papya's. After that we took an hour bus ride to La Paz which is a huge waterfall. We were up at 2000 feet altitute which was insane. It wasn't really scary but the bus ride down was interesting haha. We saw everything from jaguars, spiders, sloths, butterflies, and tigers. We hiked down to this amazzzing waterfall which was absoutley insane I've never seen anything like it. I love this group of girls i think we have great girls on this trip! Our host today was Javier who is hilarious and def. sarcastic, he is very funny. I seriously cannot eat any more food holy crap. The food here is amazing though. I loveeee spanish food yummy.  Tomorrow we meet our host families and are going home with them, nervoussss. I missss Bella hahah. This blog is very random todayyy. We are going to dinner at 7 tonight so we have a little bit of free time. I think it's awesome we don't have our phones for a whole month, orrr a lot of time to talk to others, I think it's going to be a humbling experience since my phone is always attached to me. I am hoping to really get my spanish going by the time I get home to america. Costa Rica is def. a different experience. Today Javier was telling us that Costa Rica is very poor, and also that is VERY apparent. We are specifically in Herdia (spelling) and all the providences (or cities) are extremely close to each other. it is extremley small and Javier told us that Costa Rica contains the MOST bio diversity compared to America or even Europe which I thought was so awesome. Also he said Lauren their president is not very efficent and has not made many changes to their country. He said many farmers are having to close down their farms and many people are having trouble keeping jobs. Costa Rica although it's voted one of the happiest places on the earth is also one of the poorest countries. But what's amazing about it's culture is that their priorites are not on wealth and social advancement, which is what the United States focuses on. They are happy and content with what they have. People have so very little and they love it. They focus on family, church, religion, and also the community. I could def. see myself living in a place like this. All I need is my hair dryer and my straightener. PURA VIDAAAAA, it's alllll good.  Adior para ahora.

1rst Full Day In Paradise :)

First full day in Costa Rica, suppostly the happiest place in the world. Yesterday I felt terrible leaving, I felt sick to my stomach and horrible leaving my dog, then as I arrived in Florida I became really excited and it kicked in that I was going to be studying spanish for a whole month. Everyone is so tired today, I fell asleep on both flights and barley woke up to get off haha. When we got off the plane we went through customs and there was a sign about child molesters hahah bieviendos! lol We went straight to the bank o el banko where we had to be scanned into this metal dector before we could enter. Everyone has starred at us all day long haha we look so different from everyone. After we traded our money at the bank we went to the market which was absoutley my favorite! There was SO many fruits and vegtables which we all walked around trying and also practicing our spanish. People here are amazingly friendly and it's been an awesome experience so far. so far I feel sooo full I feel like all we've done is been eating. lol but I am excited to experience the culture and then Sunday we get to meet our families we will be staying with! Kind of nervous about getting lost since I am direction RETARDED. We have an amazing host her name is Meggy hahah yes that is her name. She has come to Costa Rica for four summers now and worked with ICP the school we will be at, def. something I want to look at doing. We are going to La Paz tomorrow I huge resort place and also is a beautiful waterfall! I am SO excited. Alsooo there was an earthquake todayyy that was pretty sick! Well more laterrr, I am on Katie's computer and she's skping with someone! :) Loveeee to everyone!

Pre-Costa :)

Hello! So today is May 4rth and I am posting to show how I'm feeling before I leave the country for a whole month. I am feeling really nervous even though I have traveled quite a bit. I think it's going to be a very tiring trip and a lot of work, however; I am extremley excited to go and practice my spanish and just have that wonderful experience of being in Costa Rica. I think this trip is going to help me advance my spanish quite a bit. I am also really nervous about leaving my dog Bella. She is very young and this is the first time I will be leaving her for this long. I think it's going to be really akward with the families at first, but I am hoping I can catch on quick with the language barrier and make sure to help my family. I'm not really worried about the food or the water, just mainly what I should be wearing haha. I am so excited to meet all the girls going and make some great friends! :) All for now, will write again once I get to Costa Rica. 9 days!