Influence of Specific Observations and Experiences

     Overall, this cultural diversity practicum expanded my experiences with diversity and provided me with experiences that correlate with my academic and personal understanding of diversity.  Throughout this whole experience, both inside and outside of the school environment, I was in a completely new culture.  I absorbed countless amounts of information and learned just as many things about myself, Mexican culture, and teaching in Mexican elementary schools.
     Specifically, there are a number of experiences I would like to highlight.  Firstly,  the fact that I had the opportunity to observe at three different schools of varying locations and socioeconomic statuses allowed me the opportunity to directly compare and contrast the three schools through their supplies, facilities, and quality of teaching.  I found that the higher income city school had the best facilities and provided their students with nutritional meals, which correlates with their higher socioeconomic status.  I found that the personal supplies the students had was pretty standard across the board.  Most students had a pencil, notebook, and workbook.  The rest was variable.  Overall, I found the rural school to have the highest quality of teaching.  Of all the teachers we observed, she was the most passionate and dedicated to her job and never said anything negative about her students.  She fought to get her students basic materials and cares deeply about providing education to her students.  I did not see this with the other teachers.  Some of them seemed to be there just for the paycheck and some seemed burnt out and had negative opinions of their students.  It was hard to watch some of the teachers, particularly one of the teachers who, when the regular teacher never showed up for work, decided to let her students have an extended recess and not teach them because she didn't feel like it and they were hard to deal with.  I found this really disappointing.  Through seeing these different schools, I got a significant picture of the diversity in Mexican schools in supplies, facilities, and quality of education/teaching.
     As for my disposition toward the students I observed, it was nice to see when students were excited to learn.  I found this the most at the rural school because of Ericka Flores, a passionate teacher who was able to engage her students and get us involved in the activities   I was able to help one of her classes write a party invitation and sat on a panel in another class to ask and answer questions.  It was wonderful and they were definitely my favorite students to interact with.  The students even came up to us during break time and asked us how to pronounce their names in English.  Overall, I had really pleasant experiences with the children and it was wonderful to get to know some of them.
     The things I learned are countless and I will be constantly using what I learned in my future classes and classroom.  Overall, one of the biggest things I learned is how to be okay with being outside of my comfort zone for a significant amount of time.  This will help me be significantly more comfortable in future experiences where I have to go with the flow in a classroom or have an unexpected experience.  Learning that skill is invaluable.
     Thank you,

    Olivia Brownson