Monday, March 25, 2013

Cultural Diversity Setting - Rural Public School

During my trip in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico, I had the opportunity to observe schools, students, and teachers in three different schools in Mexico: a lower income city school, a higher income city school, and a rural school.  Below is my description of the Rural School.

Rural Public School:
  • Colorful classrooms
  • No uniforms here
  • 11 classrooms, about 2 per grade 
  • 250 students in the whole school
  • Recently got a small bus
    • Most students live in small ranches outside of or near town
    • Some live in town
    • If the bus doesn't work, students cannot come to school
  • English teacher teaches in both English and Spanish and she switches very well between the two
  • Workbooks and notebooks
    • Not all of the students had the workbooks, not sure if they don't have them or if they just forgot them
    • The workbooks seem a bit better workbook than the other schools
  • Lots of repetition used
  • Students clean up their own classrooms
  • Students do not have an address because they live in the country and everyone knows where everyone else lives
  • English teacher brings supplies with her from classroom to classroom
  • Have a paraprofessional
    • Two special needs students in class
    • Full inclusion
  • One break from 10:30-11 am
    • Have a place where students can buy snacks but no lunchroom
  • 5th Grade Classroom
    • Teaching full lessons
      • Review
      • Reteach as needed
      • Vocabulary (Prepositions)
      • Instructions and Activity 
        • Open for Creativity
        • Creating a house on paper in groups
    • Common to move tables and desks around
    • In their second year of English program
    • Have a lot of technology
      • Have pretty much everything they need
      • Teacher fights for supplies for her students
    • Sunshine workbooks
    • Teacher provides colored pencils and markers
    • One of the students' notebook said "perfectly imperfect" on the front
      • I really liked that :) 
  • 6th Grade Classroom
    • Working on greetings and invitations
    • Used large poster paper
    • One Group's
      • To the right

    WebQuest

         WebQuest is a resource on www.zunal.com where you can create an account, then create a personalized quest for your students to follow along.  You can also have free access to hundreds of other WebQuests that you can use in the classroom.
         I created a WebQuest through my Social Studies Methods class.  A part of it is picture to the right.  If you want full access to it, follow the link below.
    http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=189221
    I give you permission to use this WebQuest in your classroom and feel free to leave me comments on how to make my WebQuest better.
         Thank you,
    Olivia

    Cultural Diversity Setting - Higher Income City School

    During my trip in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico, I had the opportunity to observe schools, students, and teachers in three different schools in Mexico: a lower income city school, a higher income city school, and a rural school.  Below is my description of the Higher Income City School.

    Higher Income City School:
    • More resources
    • 500 Students
    • Stairs at this school (not the others)
    • Teachers come from far away to teach
    • Have a janitor
    • Nicer Buildings
    • No Jungle Gyms
    • Very Colorful/Well Painted
    • Have a lunchroom (only one of the three schools I visited)
      • 4 lunch periods (40 minutes each)
      • 30 minute recess
      • Parents pay a small fee (10 Pesos)
        • no lunch help programs because lunch is so cheap
      • Nutritious meals they would typically eat at home
      • Teachers eat with the students
      • School has a chef and a trained nutritionist   
    • Students not monitored during recess/break times
      • The school gets gated in
      • More student responsibility
    • No clocks in typical classrooms
    • Typical to brush teeth after eating lunch
    • Attendance consequences based on teacher (they set the tone)
    • Special Education
      • Principal fights for the rights of special needs students or nothing gets done
      • USA 1974, Mexico 1994: Special education came to schools
      • Before 1994, special education students had their own institution
      • This school has a special needs classroom (RARE)
        • Student inclusion
        • Special education then classroom overall with a paraprofessional
        • Therapy (have a social worker and therapist, etc. come to the school once a week)
        • The classroom just has a computer and printer (technology wise)
      • Paraprofessional
        • Have one who works with 20 students
        • Gifted and Special needs
        • Unusual to have because usually if you have special needs in Mexico, "you are screwed" (quote from one of the teachers)
      • School is successful because everyone is involved, community effort (parents, students, teachers, etc.)
    • 2nd grade classroom
      • Energetic
      • Loud Classroom
      • Students say, "Teacher, Teacher!"
      • Have to take toilet paper to the bathroom
      • Let's students go to the bathroom one at a time so they do not play outside
      • Teamwork for experiment
        • Instructions assignment
        • Collaborating on a project
        • Great Hands-on work
        • Present when done then do the experiment
      • Move desks a lot (in all classes)
      • Erik (teacher) is a graphic designer but they needed English teachers so he took the opportunity
        • He likes being a teacher
    • Hard to find a good public school (1st school)
    • Mexico is more advanced than other Latin American countries in education
      • Mimic USA, USA Resources
      • Proximity to USA
    • Supposed to be district wide where you register your kids but doesn't have to be
      • Open Enrollment
    • 5th Grade
      • Regular teacher didn't show up so they are sitting outside reading (Abnormal)
      • English teacher not going to teach her lesson because she doesn't want to disturb them
      • She says they are hard to work with
    • 1st Grade Classroom
      • Very energetic and loud
      • Students like to stand up and move 
      • Door on both sides of classroom
      • Partial explicit language instruction
      • Teaches mainly in English but some Spanish
      • More structure and classroom management here
        • Hands raised
        • Calls on students
        • 1-2-3 Be Quiet
        • Waits till they are quiet to start
      • Students have cubbies
      • Tells the students "very good"
      • Students love to use markers but they bleed through the paper so they use crayons and colored pencils
      • Workbook
        • Classify animals as zoo, sea, or home
        • Teacher Eric doesn't like the workbook
        • Workbook is pretty but not super functional
        • Zoo: What animals live in the zoo?
        • Sea: What animals live in the sea?, etc.
        • Have students draw animals that can swim, fly, etc.
      • 25 students in class
        • All Mexican/Spanish
    • Hard to teacher English because they are learning Spanish basics at the same time
    • Very consistent teacher (Erik)
    • Students more responsive to English than other school
    • This area/state is happier than other states in Mexico and Europeans
    • One teacher per room (same class all year)
    • Lesson
      • Review
      • Introduce Activity
      • Hand out supplies
      • Workbook page
      • Notebook Activity
      • Assist Students
      • Clean-up and Discussion
      • End
    • No tenure, you can't get fired
      • huge lawsuit with teachers union if you get fired
    • Public School
      • Work for the System
    • Private School
      • Work for them
    • Teachers don't call in sick for a long period of time, the office sends a substitute, but if it is only for 2-3 days, you just manage
    • A student didn't go to school from August to January, then came back and there was no problem
    • More male than female teachers
    • Some adults/teachers wear dress pants, etc. and some wear jeans, etc.
    • School split into 1-3rd grade and 4-6th grade to help little kids not get hurt
      • 2 breaks
      • 1st - 1-3rd grade
      • 2nd - 4-6th grade
    • Workbooks are free to students
    • Can send bad students to the principal but can suspend them, etc.
    • They are trying to get kids to read more
      • Currently read 2-3 books a year
      • Compared to the USA trying to get kids to read 100 books per year
    • Not enough administration
      • Education reform passes recently
      • Principals for salary not having background
    • Trying to follow USA model
    • Daycare not common in Mexico
    • Teachers yelled a lot
    • Books of student projects
      • Contest, won 1st place at the national level
      • Won materials for the school
      • Now competing Internationally
      • Won awards for making changes
    • Pilot English Program
      • New but going well
      • Making it permanent
      • Full day program (currently the only one)
    • School done at 1 pm but activities till 4 pm (music, dance, homework, etc.)
      • Teachers stay till 4 pm

    Mexico Trip - Day Seven

    March 13, 2013
    Hello Everyone!!

         Today is the day that we went to the second school for my Cultural Diversity Practicum.  The second school is the Upper Income City School.  We started the day with breakfast near our beautiful hotel and then hopped in the van to head to the school.  
         This school had more resources, slightly nicer buildings, and a lunchroom.  The other two schools we visited did not have a full lunchroom, just a snack area during break time.  This school seemed more organized than the lower income but the teachers didn't seem to care as much because the higher grades English teacher didn't teach her 5th grade lesson because the regular classroom teacher didn't show up and she told us that the kids are hard to work with.  It was strange for me that she said that because I didn't think a teacher could do that.  The children just sat outside and busied themselves.  It seemed counterproductive to why they were at school.  For more notes on this school, look at my Cultural Diversity Setting Post.
         After the school session, we headed in the van to El Triunfo, a small and beautiful mining town.  They have a really nice pizza place up in the hill called Caffe El Triunfo.  The pizza was probably the best pizza of my entire life.  Plus the place was beautiful.  We took a tour around town after eating our pizza and we walked by the famous smoke tower.  This tower was designed to send smoke from the ovens upwards into the air instead of outwards, polluting the town.  The person who designed this tower is the same person who designed the Eiffel Tower, which is pretty awesome.  I climbed into the tower and looked upwards into the sky.  It was kind of intimidating but super amazing at the same time.  As we walked around the town, we also stopped by the English cemetery. This cemetery, at the time is was built, was separately from the Chinese cemetery because the English/British believed that they were better than the Chinese and built their cemetery on higher ground than the Chinese cemetery.  Each of the graves at the British/English cemetery were built above ground, with around 30 bodies stacked in each tomb. Visiting El Triunfo was such a interesting town to visit and I would really like to go back one day and visit the Chinese cemetery and further explore the town.  They have a museum and city hall that I would really like to see as well. 
         When we came back from El Triunfo, we went to Garrett's Host Family's House for dinner.  Garrett is a Valley City State University Exchange Student currently studying in Baja California Sur, Mexico.  His host family cooked us a feast of Mexican food and we ate on a patio on the roof of their house.  It was really beautiful.  There was a student there from the local college, UABCS, who is interested in being an exchange student at Valley City State University.  She was really nice and I invited her to come stay with me in Fargo for a couple days while she attends Valley City State University.  I hope she takes me up on the offer because I would like to get to know her better and see how her exchange student experience is going.  
         After we finished up dinner, we headed back to the hotel and I had a wonderful sleep after a long and wonderful day.
         Thank you,
    Olivia Brownson

    Schedule Overview
    • Breakfast
    • School (Upper Income City School)
      • See notes in Cultural Diversity Setting Post
    • Tour of El Triunfo
      • Beautiful mining town
      • Tower in the town designed by the same guy who designed the Eiffle Tower
    • Dinner at Garrett's Host Family's House
      • Garrett is a Valley City State University Exchange Student living in Mexico currently
      • Met a wonderful firl interested in being an exchange student from Mexico (UABSC) to Valley City State University
    • Sleep

    Tuesday, March 12, 2013

    Mexico Trip - Day One

    March 7, 2013

         It's hard to believe that I am actually in Mexico.  I still can't fully wrap my brain around it.  It's all a bit surreal.
         The day started with Justin Stankey (best boyfriend ever) dropping my off at the Fargo airport at 5am.  The airport was small and fairly easy to navigate.  I sat in the lobby for a while and then I called Dina and found the group.  Those who had large bags checked them and then we headed upstairs for security.  While we were waiting in line, I was reminded that I should have all of my liquids and medicine in a bag so I had to do that quickly while trying to move in the line.  I am sure it was a very amusing sight for those in line around me.  Then I got to security and placed all of my stuff on the conveyor belt to be scanned, took off my shoes, etc.  Then it was time for the metal detector.  Metal detectors make me nervous and this one looked more high-tech than the ones I had seen before.  You got in it, put your feet where the feet marks were on the ground, held your arms up in the air, and this thing swung halfway around you and back.  It felt like I was in a sci-fi movie all of a sudden.  I wish I had gotten a picture of it but I don't think security would have liked that too much. Then I grabbed my stuff and was through security and could breath a little bit easier.
    Once everyone was through security, we found our gate and sat down to wait for our turn to be called to get on the plane.  Some of our group got breakfast from a cafe in the airport.  I had a clif bar from my bag, some water from the water fountain and went to the bathroom.  Then we got called to board the plan.  They announced that it was a smaller plane (two seats on each side) and that if we had larger carry-on bags we would need to attach a tag to our bags and they would store them somewhere else on the plane.  I thought that was interesting and something I had never seen before.  (luckily, all of our bags made it safely to Denver - our connecting flight location).
         The plane was small and a little cramped like they said but not bad.  The seats leaned back a little and that was nice.  After we took off, I slept until it was time to land, dozing on and off.  It was nice to have that time to rest because it was like 6-7am and I hadn't slept much yet.
    We landed in Denver, Colorado for our connecting flight.  The Colorado airport was much different than the Fargo one.  It was so large that they could fit a whole mall inside, and with the amount of stores I saw it looked like they did.  The airport was very bright and we had a gate at one end of the airport where we landed and had to walk to the other side of the airport to catch our connecting flight to Los Cabos, Mexico.  Even though the walk was long from one end of the airport to the other, I enjoyed it because it gave me a chance to stretch my legs a bit and I got to ride on the moving floor strips!  I love those moving walking conveyor belts!  They make me feel like I am flying!
         Then we arrived at the gate (B18 - Cabo San Lucas).  We sat down and waited to be able to board the plane.  While we were waiting, some of the girls noticed and pointed out a couple of little birds flying around inside their airport.  They must have flown in somehow.  lol. What was amusing was that they didn't seem to bother the employees at all and one employee was even whistling at the birds like this was a normal and common occurrence.
          Then we were able to get onto the plane to Mexico.  This plane was normal sized (three seats on each side) so we could just take our carry-on bags with us to put in the overhead compartments. I got lucky with a window seat (except for I think I accidentally took Kayleen's spot but she didn't mind).  During the flight I dozed on and off again but when I was awake I was taking photos of the views outside the window.  I saw some really neat landmarks while we were over the water, like some red and white lines that looked like coral reefs.  It was really amazing to see.
         After it seemed like we had been over the water for a while, you could suddenly see the land, the coast of Mexico.  It was like nothing else I have seen outside of a plane before because when you fly over the USA, most of the land in developed or chunked into areas of farmland but Mexico was different.  You could see areas where a city or town had developed and the occasional farm land blocked out but much of it was just amazingly beautiful wilderness.  There were mountains and hills and plateaus like I have only ever seen out of a textbook or Google images and they do not do it justice.  The photos don't convey the sheer size of the mountains and land.
         Once we landed, we got to exit the plane outside with a large flight of stairs pushed up to the plane.  That was totally different that how I have normally exited a plane with the hallway gate thing pushed up so you aren't really going outside.  I liked this way much more because it 1) meant that the weather was nice enough to do so and 2) it was much more fun. :)
         When we landed in San Jose (part of Los Cabos - three different cities, Cabos, San Jose, and San Lucas), the weather was slightly overcast and around 79 degrees.  It was gorgeous and warm, so much better than the weather in Fargo, ND. 
         We went into the airport and completed the customs process with no issues and hopped in a roughly 12-passenger van with our tour guides/Conalep school representatives.  We were driven around San Jose, the part where people actually live, and it was interesting to see the way people lived.  The homes were built close together, very open (no glass on the windows, etc.) and people had clotheslines string with clothes on them.  The roads were mainly dirt and very curvy.
         After that we drove into San Lucas (Cabos) to find a place to stop for lunch.  The further we drove into San Lucas, the nicer it got and the more "USA looking" it got.  You could tell right away that we were entering the more touristy part of Cabos.  (I heard Skyfall by Adele on the radio).  We ended up stopping for lunch at a typical "middle" class seafood restaurant.  It was nerve racking trying to find something on the menu I could eat but I ended up getting a grilled chicken breast with rice and tortillas (corn-based).  I also ordered a Naranja (orange juice) drink.  It was made of orange juice and mineral water (orangeade).  (Anthony Dutton ordered for me in Spanish) I really enjoyed my meal and I became more relaxed as the meal went on.  Our leader, Dina, ordered a Horchata water drink and I tried a sip and really liked it.  I am going to have to order my own sometime soon.   Everyone has been nice and accommodating  making sure we feel comfortable.  I really appreciate that.
         When we finished at the restaurant, we began our drive to La Paz, Mexico.  Halfway there we stopped in Todos Santos to change money (dollars to pesos - about 12 pesos to the dollar).  I exchanged $40 (USA) into pesos.  The exchange rate was 12.29.
         After the bank, we stopped at some homemade candy vendors to try some native to Mexico candy.  Everything was so colorful and I had no idea what anything was.  I ended up buying (completing the transaction all by myself :D ) two varieties of a milk plus alcohol gummy candies to bring back home for Justin and I to try.  I hope they let me take them back to the USA.  While at the candy store, I noticed a jar of homemade local honey.  Anthony Dutton, one our our trip leaders, said we will stop back at these stores on the way back and I plan to buy a jar of that honey for Justin, since he loves honey.
         From there we traveled to La Paz, and our hotel (Seven Crown - Malecon).  The hotel and the area is beautiful.  It is definitely a more touristy part of Mexico but it is beautiful.  The water and beaches are literally across the street from out hotel.  Out room is 501 on the fifth floor.  I am rooming with Angela and Kayleen. They are really nice and so is our room.  I get a bed all to myself, we have a mini-desk, a TV, and a fancy shower.  When we arrived there was a fruit basket on the table.  It was beautiful and I ate a delicious pear from it.  Our bags were brought up to our room for use (excellent customer service).  on our floor is a sky bar and a jacuzzi with an outdoor lounge looking over the city.
         After settling in, I put on some shorts and sat on the edge of the jacuzzi and dipped my feet/legs in.  The water was a bit cool but refreshing.
         After that, I had a headache so I took some Excedrin and a nap around 8pm.  I woke up and we got ready for dinner.  We ate dinner as a group at the restaurant on the fourth floor of the hotel.  I tried more new foods.  I had chicken Milanese on a bed of spinach and Gorgonzola sauce.  It came with pasta and some delicious bread.  I really enjoyed the pasta and bread (as well as the free chips).  To drink, I tried Bailey's on the rocks and loved it (new favorite).  I ended up having two glasses of that.  It had a slightly bitter taste followed up by a delicious caramel/milky aftertaste.
         We talked a lot during dinner, met Jose Alfredo (a representative to assist us on our practicum and overall trip), and got our international phones to communicate with each other.
         Now I am back in my hotel room, getting ready for bed, and writing down my thoughts.  I am tired and excited for tomorrow!  We get to go whale watching!

    Mexico Trip - Day Six

    March 12, 2013
    Today is day six of our Cultural Diversity Practicum in Mexico.  We were in La Paz, Mexico today. The day started out with a wonderful breakfast in a very colorful restaurant.  I had hotcakes (pancakes) and some very fancy chocolate milk. It came in a very fancy glass that was huge and the chocolate milk was delicious!
    After breakfast, we all piled in the van to head for Conalep (a chain of National Mexican High Schools).  We were heading there for a ceremony where Valley City State University Professionals (Dina, Anthony Dutton, and Gary Thompson) and Conalep Professionals (Jose Alfredo and others) were to sign an agreement between the two schools so students from both schools can visit each other, do practicums, attend school, and student teach. :)
    I was expecting the ceremony to be one where we (Angela, Josie, Jessica, Kayleen, and I) sat in the audience and watched...that was not the case.  We were walked up to the front and center where there was a table (sort of like a table where a panel would sit to answer questions) with chairs for us to sit in.  There was even a nameplate with my name on it!!  I found out soon after that that the whole ceremony was for the signing and to welcome and honor us coming to Mexico and Conalep.  We were treated amazingly!
    The ceremony started with us sitting at the panel table where different people spoke about Valley City State University, Conalep, Mexico, and much more.  Most of the ceremony was in Spanish but some of the ceremony was translated into English for us by some Conalep students (Grecia, etc.).  After the initial program was over, we were taken to an area where we could play traditional Mexican games.  I got to throw darts at balloons on a spinning wheel, play Mexican Bingo, try to spin a top from a string, and try to catch a decorated piece of wood on a stick.  It was all really fun.
    After that, we were escorted to the front of the audience to sit in chairs and watch some cultural dances and music.  It was all so beautiful.  We got to see some traditional Mexican. Texan, and Hawaiian dances.  There was even a girl who sang a song.  She sang a version of "This is How You Remind Me" by Nickelback.  After some of the dances, Itsell (a girl attending Conalep) announced that we were supposed to come of to the stage and they were going to teach us some traditional dance moves!! It was initially very nerve racking but it was very fun and I learned some steps from Mexican and Texan traditional dances.  The high schoolers laughed at our attempts to dance and it was all really fun and funny.
    After the performances, we were escorted around the different student booths.  The students had created these amazing booths of information about different places in and around La Paz.  They were so creative, artistic, and amazing.  And I found out that they put all of it together within 2 weeks!  It was really impressive and I plan to write them a letter so they can know how much I appreciated it their hard work.
    Now I am back in the hotel on some down time.  In a couple hours we are going to go on a tour of La Paz, Mexico, see a museum, go shopping, and end at a place to learn salsa dancing.  It should be a really fun afternoon and evening.
    I was right, it was very a very fun evening but the plans changed a little bit.  Since we had some down time the museum was closed by the time we got up and moving so we are going to try and go to the museum on Thursday.  But we did end up going shopping, which was stressful and fun.  It was stressful because it is hard to compute how many pesos equal a dollar (12 pesos = 1 dollar) when the number on the tag is a lot of pesos lol.  But it was fun to see the different and similar styles of clothes that were in the stores.  Many stores had similar styles of clothes to what we have but the shoes were a bit different.  I have been told recently that Latina women pretty much all wear stilettos and really tall shoes and not that I am aware of that, I believe it is true from what I have seen.  It is impressive how well they can walk in such tall shoes.  There were many shoes in the stores that would be extremely hard for me to walk in but they make it look easy.
    While shopping, I ended up buying two gorgeous scarves from a store and a beautiful painting of the beach where we went snorkeling from a street artist (recommended by Dina).  The beach where we snorkeled was called Playa de Balandra (Balandra Beach).  It was very beautiful and I was so lucky to be able to have that wonderful experience.  It was very humbling and wonderful.
    After shopping, we dressed up at the hotel and headed to the restaurant for salsa dancing and lessons.  When we arrived, we sat and order some drinks.  I had a Bailey's on the rocks (delicious).  Then our instructors arrived.  They were an adorable couple that spoke both English and Spanish.  They taught us well and I had a lot of fun.  I even got a couple compliments from the instructors on how well I was doing with the moves. :D
    When the lesson was over, we paid for our drinks (Zuzuey insisted on paying for them) and headed over to another restaurant for a late dinner.  Many of us had tacos and Kayleen and I had quesadillas. I had a cheese one and she a pollo (chicken) one.  They were really good.  I also had an apple soda with my dinner and that was delicious.  It came in a tall glass bottle that I was not allowed to keep because they recycle the bottles and use them again, which I thought was pretty great.  The side of the bottles even say reusable (in Spanish) on them.  It was quite amusing.
    After eating, we left and went back to the hotel where I am sitting now, typing away on Kayleen's computer.  I am really grateful to her for letting me use her computer to type of my thoughts on each day of our trip.
    Well that is it for today, I am exhausted.  Talk to you all tomorrow,

    Olivia