Blog 13: Post Travel

This study abroad trip to Costa Rica gave me something that I could never get just sitting in the college classroom. It gave me confidence. It gave me confidence in myself and in my future teaching. The reason I say that it gave me confidence in myself is because I normally do not step outside my comfort zone and I found a way to do this almost everyday I was in Costa Rica. One of my goals of the trip was to step outside my comfort zone and I can say proudly that I did accomplish my goal. Living with people who were strangers to me and they also spoke another language really scared me, but it turned out to be an amazing experience. I got to meet two wonderful families who cared for me as if I was one of their own children. Trying to speak to them in a language other than my native language was out of my comfort zone, but after a couple days I felt comfortable and tried my hardest to make it work. When it didn’t work we found other means of communication such as hand gestures, pictures, or we used our resources such as the Spanish English dictionary.

In addition to gaining confidence within myself, I gained confidence as a future teacher. Another goal that I had for this trip was to learn what it is like to be in the shoes of my ELL students and learn strategies to help them in my future classroom. Living with my tico families, going to CPI, going to the elementary schools, and just living day to day in Costa Rica really helped me understand what it would be like to be in the shoes of my ELL students. Throughout my study abroad trip I learned strategies that I used myself and also strategies that my peers learned from our own experiences that I can use with my future students.

I learned not to make things easier for my ELL students, such as do not use their native language to help them because in the long run that will not help them. When I lived with my first tico family my papa tico spoke very good English so if I did not know how to say what I wanted to say in Spanish then I would say it in English. In my second tico family my parents did not speak barely any English, which forced me to use my Spanish and so my Spanish got better. I will not try and make it easier for my students or push them to do their best because they will learn more in the long run if they really try and need to use their English.

More strategies that I learned were to use pictures to help my students understand concepts or the language better, use resources (Spanish to English or English to Spanish dictionaries), use games, and use hand gestures. These are many things that helped me learn and speak Spanish when I was Costa Rica. Other things I learned on this trip from my own experiences were to let my future students work through things and not just correct them right away. I also learned that I need to make sure my students truly understand what I am teaching them and they are not just saying they understand so we can move on. I caught myself saying yes (si) to many things people were saying to me because I actually did not understand what they were saying, but I did not want them to know that. I also learned that I need to make sure my classroom is a comfortable environment because that makes my students feel comfortable and able to learn. I felt comfortable in my second tico home so I was not afraid to attempt to use my Spanish and be wrong or make a mistake. Their hospitality was great and we built amazing relationship and trust and that is something I know I need in my classroom with my future students.

In my future classroom, I am going to incorporate all the cultures of my students because I want them to know that their culture is important to me and the other students in the classroom too. I want my ELL students to teach the other students some words, topics, and things about their culture so that they understand that we all are different, but we are all also so similar. Whenever my tico parents would ask me how to say something in English it made me feel good that I could actually teach them something that I know, instead of my solely learning what they know. I want my ELL students to have the feeling in my classroom too.

My advice that I have for people considering this study abroad experience in the future is to be willing to step out of their comfort zone and just know that there are going to be times that are going to be stressful and hard, but they need to just make the most of it because the end result is absolutely amazing. I want them to try and speak as much Spanish as they can even if they are not very good because I know I was not the best. They need to take tons and tons of pictures and just take in everything Costa Rica has to offer. Be willing to create deep relationships with strangers have a ton of fun with the kids teaching in the schools.

My overall experience was great and I am so proud of everything I did and all the things that I learned. I am so eager to have ELL students in my future classroom so I can truly help them and feel confident doing it because I know what it is like to be in their shoes. I feel so proud to have all the strategies I now know up my sleeve to help them because this is so beneficial for my ELL students and for me. 

Blog 12: Service project at the farm 6/05/13

The service project to the LifeMonteVerde farm was an experience that made me feel like I can make a difference even if it’s on a small scale. The farmer at the LifeMonteVerde farm talked to us about sustainability and how his farm is sustainable, but in order for the world to change each farm needs to do their part. The farmer explained to us that this farm, earth, and everything is not “mine” it is “ours” and together little by little we can make it better.

As a future teacher this truly inspired me because I want to make a difference in every child’s live, but I know this is impossible so I need to make a difference in the students that I have and then from there it can expand. Those students that I make a difference with could then go out and change other people’s lives in their future careers or daily lives. For example, I can ensure that my students are reading on grade level or higher and they might go home and teach their parents or siblings that do not know how to read. This effect keeps going and I know I did make a difference.

The other thing that the farm made me think about as a future teacher was making sure that my students learn about nature and the environment in my classroom. The farmer said that children today do not go outside nearly as much as they used to because parents are scared their child will get hurt or taken and also because children would rather sit inside and play video games than go outside to play. In my classroom I will try to incorporate teaching my students about nature and the environment in my lessons. For example, recycling or why spiders are good for the Earth and not just scary. I also want to have many of my lessons outside and give them hands on learning with nature. Along with that I want to start a garden with my students or I do not have the resources to do that I want to plant some plants in my classroom. Growing things with my students gives them responsibility and gives them a better chance to respect and understand why nature and our environment are so important.

Blog 11: The tourist attraction I liked best in Costa Rica 6/03/13

The tourist attraction that I liked best in Costa Rica was the Arenal Springs Hotel and Spa. First we went to a spot to see the Arenal Volcano from a fantastic view and then took a hike before going to the hotel for the hot springs. At the hotel I saw eight springs, some were cold and some were hot, but I also saw a beautiful scenery and hotel. When I was there I finally felt like I was in Costa Rica. I say this because my idea of Costa Rica before thing about going on this study abroad trip was that it was a place with great scenery, nature, and relaxing at a marvelous hotel with pools. I felt like a typical American at this tourist attraction because I finally got to relax, lay out by the pool, and enjoy the great hotel. I realized I was representing the typical American culture because I was relaxing, on my phone, and laying out by the pool. The rest of this trip had made me realize that the typical American would come to Costa Rica for all those wonderful things and that is what they would expect, but as for my I got to experience so much more. I am happy that I got to have that weekend at the hotel because I did really want to experience the typical vacation oasis in Costa Rica, but I am even more happy that I got more than just that on this study abroad trip. Instead of staying a five star hotel every day for three and half weeks, I got to live with two tico families and see first hand how people in Costa Rica act and live. I got to interact with their language and their culture first hand and appreciate our similarities and differences.

Blog 10: Cloud Forest School observation 6/04/13

My visit to the Cloud Forest School showed me that there are similarities between the tico culture and my own but at the same time there are differences and the Cloud Forest School is one of them. In the United States we do not have a certain school that is solely dedicated to teaching children from preschool all the way to high school in another language (that I know of). In the United States we have elementary, secondary, and high schools that have class for students to learn Spanish and they are usually an hour or less each day or once a week. Our culture is not as passionate as the tico culture to have our children learn to speak another language fluently. At the Cloud Forest School the children are taught English in every class starting in preschool and there is one class for Spanish. I think this is wonderful because these students are so fluent in English by the time they graduate high school along with their own language. I was surprised by the fact that the students start so young, but I guess it makes sense because the younger they start learning the more they will retain and learn. If there was a school that only taught in Spanish and then had one English class a day I would want to send my children there because they would be bilingual by the time they entered college, and if they needed more work with anything in English I could also help teach them!

As a future teacher I want to incorporate other languages in my classroom and it does not have to be just Spanish. As I was walking touring the Cloud Forest School I was thinking of ways I could do this and I came up with the idea of having posters in my classroom on how to to say “may I use the restroom, thank you, you are welcome, have a great day, or how are you” in different languages on the walls of my classroom so my students can use another language more often than just in the hour or so Spanish class. Being here in Costa Rica has made me realize that if someone does not constantly use what they learn, especially when learning another language, then they will not remember it as much as they would if they were applying what they used all the time. 

Blog 9: Spanish as a second language

I have realized that my experiences with my tico family represent Halliday’s 7 functions of language. The first function is instrumental and this is when I try to use my Spanish to express my needs to my family. First I need to find out where my bedroom and bathroom are. Then I need to know how to use the shower. I also need to know when my momma tica can do my laundry. I use the regulatory function of language to tell them things I need to do. These include when I needed to leave, what time dinner and breakfast is, and when I am getting home. Then the last functions are interactional and personal and these evolved better after I took several of my Spanish classes; I learned how to interact with my family more and get to know them on a more personal level these two weeks more than my first week with my tico family. It is hard to reach ** and ** because I am not fluent enough in Spanish yet. I did not realize until this trip that language has different functions. I have never heard of Halliday’s 7 functions of language, but as we were discussing in class about what each function means I started to connect the functions to my experiences with my tico family right away, which is great because I have experienced these functions first hand and it makes them more meaningful to me. 

As a future teacher I can truly understand what it is like to by in the shoes of my ELL students. If I have ELL students in my classroom that just arrived in the United States and are learning English for the first time I will be able to empathize with them because I was in their exact same shoes in Costa Rica. I will understand that they first need to just express their needs in English, then express things they need to do, and from there they will be able to learn more English to move into the other functions of language. I see now that learning will be difficult for my students if they are still learning the language. If my students are not yet fluent in English then how are they supposed to learn new concepts if they do not even know a lot of English words to help them understand the new material? 

Blog 8: Spanish as a second language

On this trip I have learned how it is to be in the shoes of my EEL students, along with how learning works. I realized that I could not have really understood how learning works without going on this trip. If someone were to ask me what learning was when I was sitting in one of my college courses last semester I would have said learning is fun, but my study abroad trip has shown me otherwise. Through learning Spanish and how to communicate with my tico families I have experienced that learning is hard. I have discovered that learning works by using what you know and expanding on that little by little. I don’t think true learning can happen until a person can link it to something else that they already know. I also think learning happens when someone feels comfortable in an environment. I thought I felt comfortable in my first home stay because they spoke English well, but I realized in my second home stay that felt more comfortable because they speak all Spanish and very little English. In my first home I tried to use my Spanish, but if I wasn’t for sure that what I was saying was right then I would just say it in English. I did this because I did not want to be wrong speaking in Spanish because they were good at speaking English. In my second home I am using my Spanish more and feel okay to mess up and make mistakes, which is enhancing my learning. I have learned that learning happens over time and I am using some things I know to learn more. 

As a future teacher I will help my students by building off their prior knowledge, make sure they are comfortable enough to make mistakes in my classroom because a lot of learning comes from making mistakes. I am glad I got to really understand what learning is because if I never came on this trip I would never known what I do now because this can’t be taught in a classroom.

            

Blog 7: How I am feeling the second week 5/30/13

This blog is about how I have been feeling lately. The first half of this trip was extremely exciting and new. I loved Heredia, my tico family, CPI, my Spanish teacher, the elementary schools, and all the fun things we did during the week and on the weekends. This week my mood has kind of shifted gears when I got my new family, CPI, and new Spanish teacher. I am feeling frustrated because the CPI school here in Mt. Verde is not letting us get on the internet because there are so many people at the school trying to connect with the wi fi and my home stay also does not have wi fi. I know I came to Costa Rica to immerse myself in the culture and gain an experience of a lifetime, which does not mean I always needs internet, but I just am frustrated that I have to go searching for places with wi fi to talk to my family and to do my homework. I also am tired and getting worn down from all the things we have to do each day, especially from the four hours of Spanish we have during the week. By the time I am done with Spanish class I am just so drained and then I come back to my tico family’s house and try to communicate with them in Spanish, which is even more exhausting.

As a future teacher I have realized that my ELL students may not seem like they are working as hard or as much sometimes because they are just tired and have to work even harder than the other students. I realized that they will be constantly trying to talk in English and after awhile it is hard to do that because it is not as easy as talking in their native language. I know that my students will always want to do their best and always try hard, but some days it might be harder for them to reach their full potential, which means I need to work with them and be understanding. I feel like this is the most meaningful thing that I learned this trip. I learned that learning another language is very difficult because learning the language is one thing, but applying it is even harder. It takes lots of effort and is not as easy as speaking my native language, which is what I would like to do most of the time, but luckily I only have to do this for three weeks unlike my future students because they have to do it all the time.

Even though I have felt this way the last two days, I woke up this morning feeling back to my normal self and that makes me very happy. Today I was excited for the day and the rest of the trip. The thing I realized was that I will get internet sometimes and that will be good enough because I am here to experience all of Costa Rica and I only get this chance once so I can’t let it pass me by.

Blog 6: Second Tico family 6/3/13

My second tico family did not turn out like a planed, but it turned out better than I could have asked for. I was told the day before we met our second families that I had to switch with my professor because of internet access. At first I kind of frustrated because I do not deal with change very well and I was told this information only a day in advance. I was not angry with anyone, I was just freaked out a little because I already had an idea of the family I was going to be staying with and also got them gifts that were specifically for the members in my original family. After meeting my new family I realized they are absolutely wonderful. I am so happy that both my tico families turned out to be so great. I was nervous at first because they only spoke Spanish to me when they picked me up at the dentist and it was dark and rainy. Once I got settled at their house I felt better because they spoke slow enough for me to understand and made sure I understood what they meant after they said something to me. They are always making sure I was okay and they knew exactly when I needed breakfast, when to leave, and when I needed dinner. They also wanted to know about my day and how I am doing each day, which meant a lot to me. At this point with my Spanish I could actually ask them how their day was back to them and show I was concerned about them too. My tico family is very happy all the time, which makes me happy and want to be around them more than my other tico family. I like how I can make jokes with this family and even dance and sing around the house with them. We also always play with the two year old, Alina, who is adorable and loves to play. I find it strange that she does not speak any words though. It makes me wonder if she has a speech problem because she understands almost all the things the parents say to her.

Blog 5: La Carpio 5/24/13

 Today we went to La Carpio and it was something I have never experienced first had before, but I had an idea of what it was going to look like before we arrived. We walked through the streets of La Carpio with our abeluea to go door to door and teach the people living in La Carpio about the concept of recycling. This was the first time many of the people in La Carpio heard of the term recycling, which meant we had to explain that they needed to separate their organic waste from the rest of their trash. We also told them they only needed to put their trash on the streets on Mondays and Thursdays. Our abeula’s name was Mollyia, and she was a great person with such a happy personality. During our walk, I realized that these people were all born into poverty and that poverty is not a choice. I feel extremely lucky to have been born into a middle class family in the United States because I know I have a great life and am very fortunate.

As a future teacher, I think education is key to leaving poverty; because of Gail, the woman who started the Humanitarian Foundation, many women are being educated on how to live better lives. Gail helps La Carpio by teaching women how to escape drugs and abusive situations, gain an education, and help them escape poverty. It was great to see how the people of La Carpio are trying so hard to improve their city and the people in it. I got to see young children perform a dance that represented the story of La Carpio, which was a really neat to experience. This dance class helps children of La Carpio get involved with something and keeps them off the streets and out of trouble. This is one reason that motivates me even more to be a teacher because I can help with after school programs that students are interested to participate in such as sports, dance, and many more different clubs.            

One thing I want to teach my students since the La Carpio experience that I might not have thought about teaching them before is to value that they have the opportunity to get very good education and others may not be as lucky as them. The hard part about doing that is that I can tell my students all I want, but they really won’t understand or appreciate what they have until they see or experience something like I did in La Carpio. To fix that problem I could show them the pictures I took when we visited La Carpio and explain to them some of the conditions that children their age have to deal with. When I was in elementary school/around my future students’ age I did not appreciate what I had, but when I got older I soon realized how blessed I am to have a great education and family around me, but seeing La Carpio made me even more thankful for what I have.  

Blog 4: First host family experience 5/25/13

My first host family experience was great! I felt very comfortable in their house because I was able to communicate well with the family. The family spoke Spanish to me, but when I had trouble talking or understanding the father would help me because he was good at speaking English. The mother was not as good as the father with English, but we were able to communicate because we could trade off between the English and Spanish we knew. 

The first night I was extremely nervous, but as soon as I got in the car I felt better because I met both of the daughters who are ages 2 and 6. Then the father said a couple things in English, which made me feel even more at ease. Once we got to the house I was welcomed by my Mama Tica and given a delicious dinner. After dinner we tried to get to know each other and watch the big Heredia and Cartage futbol game, which my papa tica and I bonded over since I have played soccer most of my life.   

Their house was big compared to others in Heredia and I had my own bedroom and bathroom. My living conditions were much more lavish than I expected. I expected a small room and to share the bathroom with others, but my room was big and so was my bathroom. The house looked very modern and similar to a house I would see in the United States. The girls even had their own tree house outside with many toys. My Mama Tica took wonderful care of me because I always had a great breakfast and an even better dinner. My laundry was also done three times during the week that I stayed there. I felt very spoiled and I appreciated everything my family did for me. The two girls were adorable and I had the best times with them. We played hide and seek and a lot of hand clap games. The thing that surprised me the most was that the family loved to listen to music, but all the music they liked was in English. We watched many Bee Jees videos along with many Michael Jackson videos.  

Blog 3: Second teaching experience 5/23/13

At our second teaching experience at Calle Viquez Primary School I felt extremely comfortable teaching the students my English lesson because we planned it together as a group and we had already taught at the school before. I taught fourth graders about hygiene and opposites. I think my teaching went well because my students understood opposites and how to get ready in the morning when we all shared what we learned as a whole class. The students I worked with could tell me things that were short/tall, smooth/rough, thick/wide and dark/light. I also think the lesson went well because the students answered the questions I asked them and also participated when we walked around to find opposites around the school. The thing that did not work was when I asked them how they got ready in the morning and they just stared at me. Since that did not work I tried something new, which was that I drew pictures and explained to them the things I did to get ready in the morning. After I did that the students started to draw pictures similar to mine and also their own pictures that represented what they do in the morning to get ready. The thing I think worked the best for the students was when I used hand motions and pictures. They also liked the hands on objects in the bag that helped explained how to get ready in the morning.

Blog 2: First teaching experience in Spanish speaking school 5/21/13

Today we went to our first Spanish speaking school, Calle Viquez Primary, to teach fourth graders the parts of the body in English.  The school was located in an impoverished, rural area and there were many things that surprised me when I stepped inside the school. I expected the rooms to be small, but I did not expect the room to be separated into two rooms by a curtain. There was also no connection between the ceiling and the walls, which meant the classroom gets extremely hot during the afternoons.

Another thing that surprised me was the the students knew English way better than I thought they would. The student I was working with answered all my questions I had for him except he did not understand when I asked him what his favorite animal was. He kept saying he didn't understand. At that time the teacher came over and told me to keep asking what his favorite animal was and he still did not understand. After a couple more tries his teacher finally asked him in English what favorite animal was and he quickly answered with, "dog". That surprised me because he did not understand the question when I asked him, but he understood it when his teacher asked him. This showed me as a future teacher that sometimes students won't understand I teach the first time so I need to find a way for them to understand that works for them. In this situation my voice and the way I speak English did not work for that student, but the way his teacher spoke English and asked the question did. 

The next thing that surprised me was that when we were leaving I saw younger students brushing their teeth outside in large sinks. I was later told that these students are in and out of houses, been through different types of abuses, and even came from coffee fields in Nicaragua, which means they needed to be taught good hygiene.  This is something that as a future teacher I may or may not have to teach my students depending on the area in which I teach so I need to prepared to incorporate that into my teaching content.

The last thing that surprised me was that the students were very well behaved and the teacher never had to correct student behavior or raise her voice. I wish I would have had the opportunity to ask or see how she created such great classroom management, but there just wasn’t enough time. 

Blog 1: Pre Travel 5/17/13

I am going on this study away experience to Costa Rica in the hopes of gaining an experience that I could never get in a college classroom. I want to experience another culture and how they live their day to day lives, what their schools are like, and how their culture differs from my own. Up until a couple days ago I was super nervous and scared about going on this trip. This was because I have only been on a plane once in my life, I have never left the country before, and I am extremely nervous about living with a family that does not speak English as their first language and that I have never met before. Now today, as I am sitting in the Chicago airport, I am extremely excited and my nerves are slowly starting to fade. I am anxious to get to Costa Rica to immerse myself in all aspects of the culture such as the food, housing, transportation, entertainment, education, nature, and much more. I know there will be some things I will experiencing that are out of my comfort zone, but that is also why I am excited. I want to do things that might not be easy or comfortable for me because these are the things that will help me grow as a person and become a better teacher for my future students.