Post travel thoughts

Sitting in the Chicago airport and I'm already trying to remember every aspect of my trip so nothing is ever forgotten. After reviewing some of my goals I feel like this trip was very successful. We were able to work with a variety of English learners, including different settings (socioeconomic status, urban, rural), type of school, and skill level. My Spanish vocabulary expanded, I had a refresher on verb conjugation and I increased sentence structure skills. By this I mean I learned as many “sight words” as possible so even if they are simple sentences they make sense and have all the parts they need.

Over the last three weeks I believe that the most significant experience for me was visiting La Carpio and Life Monteverde the sustainable farm . Our experience at La Carpio really stuck with me because we were able to do a community service project, even if it was simple, and work with the students to see how their school was ran. Helping the people that lived there as much as possible was important to me because I think it is important for others to give back especially when they are offered more opportunities or options in life. The students there were so open and friendly even with huge language barriers we were able to play and use the Spanish we had to communicate and practice colors and numbers. I think what Gail and Fatina were doing there was absolutely amazing.

      The sustainable farm was so important to me because I think it is critical to preserve the Earth we have so future generations have a comfortable, healthy, safe place to live. I also think it is so import for schools to do their part on recycling. The cloud forest did an incredible job of this, going as far as using old juice containers to grow trees and plants to reduce the amount of plastic used. I fully plan of starting or enhancing the recycling program at my schools.

Co-Teaching English body parts using a cooperative learning game

Working with the students in the different schools was such a rewarding experience as well, getting real life hands on practice with ESL students was priceless. It was really helpful to show them that we were second language learners as well because it automatically built that connection, it made both parties feel more comfortable with trying to speak and take more risks during the lessons. I was also able to try different teaching methods to find what worked the best. The most successful ones were drawing things out, using gestures/acting or even pointing. Once I figured out what word or phrase they wanted or needed to say I would say it in English and have them repeat it word for word. These things will be good to use in my classroom as well as saying some words or phrases. I also learned that I will let minor mistakes go in the very beginning. For example, in Spanish if a word is said with an “a” ending verses an “o” its not going to ruin the sentence 99% of the time and if I nit-pick every single mistake the student is just going to get frustrated and I wouldn’t want them to feel defeated or shut down.

      For those of you considering studying away, I would absolutely recommend it. Spending the three weeks in Costa Rica has broadened my views. I have seen, heard, and felt things that I would never be able to in the United States, I just wish the photos I took there could capture the whole moment instead of just little snap shots here and there. I now know what it is like to live in a country where I do not speak the native language, be immersed in trying to learn that new language as well as improving my people, networking, and situational handling skills. My time in Costa Rica was short but jam packed with activities. May 16^th we were 13 strangers, and now we have endless stories, jokes and we have made some friendships that I can absolutely see lasting. As a group we have faced fears, became a part of new families, opened up to each other, gotten to know our selves, and been completely out of our comfort zones. This trip has been worth every penny, stressful moment, and even hours waiting in the airport.

Enjoying Manuel Antonio with new friends. 

Spanish Language Learning

Now that Spanish class is over, I am really proud of what we all accomplished. I find it almost humorous how different types of situations can really show off what we have learned. At home with my momma Tica I could put together paragraphs, of course they and a few mistakes, but the need to communicate makes the brain work in ways that really surprise me. I enjoyed having the crutch of my Tico brothers there to translate when needed because it was easier but really getting to use what we worked so hard in class on was a great feeling. I’m so afraid of moving home and “don’t use it you lose it” setting in. I don’t want my skills to backtrack. I have already asked a friend of mine to practice with me, I’m going to rope my brothers into using Spanish when I’m around since Kyle is fluent and my grandmother has talked about us taking a Spanish class at the local community college together.

Thinking back to class the things that worked for me the best was just having a conversation, our teacher was absolutely wonderful and we were given at least an hour to talk about whatever we wanted- as long as it was Spanish. She would give us the words we needed to say when we didn’t have the necessary vocabulary and ask us a lot of questions. I think this was most helpful to me because we talked about things we cared about. Mostly focusing on families, pets, relationships, friends, favorite shows and food. Simple thing yes but our teacher would remember and use those facts later and we were able to learn more about each other and build our connections as a group. It was always comforting to talk about these things because we knew them so well and it made us miss home less. The one thing that didn’t work for me was the drilling or long repetition of grammar rules. These skills are necessary but they are so much more effective, learning wise, when there is context and real life examples. Being in this Spanish class for 60 hours in 3 weeks have absolutely burned those teaching methods into my brain. If nothing else that alone will be utilized the most with my future ESL students.  

One last night in Monteverde..

June 6th, 2014

Holy Moly! This is my last night with my host family. I didn’t think it was possible for leaving to not feel real, because knowing I was coming here 3 weeks ago didn’t “hit” me until I had to walk away from my parents at airport security and I thought by the time today rolled around I would be anxious to return to the United Sates. This has been such a whirlwind of a trip part of me feels like we just got here and another part feels like I’ve been here for ages. I haven’t be able to figure out how a strangers home feels safe and almost comforting, probably because its one of the few “normal”, schedule ran places we have experienced.

My new host family has been so wonderful and welcoming. My Tico parents did not speak much English however they always found a way to communicate with me whether it was speaking really slowly so I could translate word for word, writing it out, finding small simple words that I might be better with. My momma Tica always made sure I had what I needed and knew my school schedule. My Tico brothers were so nice, they were always willing to help me with homework, help me translate and showed me things they were working on so I was as involved as possible with the family and the conversations. Sadly, I didn’t get to see my Tica sister much because of her work schedule but when I did she always made sure to say “Hi, how are you?” at the very least.

             Being here and attempting to immerse myself in the culture has been something that I will never forget. I have learned so much about what I’m capable of, ways to deal with different types of situations (especially those out of my comfort zone), how I view education, resources, as well as learning English as a second language, and the struggles/successes of taking a foreign language myself. 

It is weird how many similarities Tico families have with American families. There are gender roles, teenagers who spend too much time on their cell phones, neighbors babysitting or borrowing a cup of milk. Yet the surroundings are so different. The building material for home is basically polar opposite for the homes I have seen in my neighborhood. I drive to do my errands and only see paved roads, homes, business with bright lights on the sign and here we walked almost everywhere on roads that were rock and dirt, tiny stores and homes with bars on the window, and stray dogs on every corner. Side note, I’m really going to miss the fact that Pedro (small black lab mix) meets us every morning without fail.

I love that we were able to build connections with students, continue to network with teachers from all walks of life. We were even told about opportunities to return here and continue to teach and try to make a difference for those who don’t have quiet as many resources or opportunities as we do back in the States. I fully plan on continuing to keep in touch with the people I’ve met here including Kris, from the cloud forest school, my second host family, and of course the other wonderful MSU student that I probably would of never met if we didn’t come on this trip together.

As ready as I am to see my family, dogs and friends, be in my bed and take an American shower, oh and eat American food. I really don’t want to leave this place. Everything is so beautiful, and knowing I may never make it back here is saddening. Currently, I can look out from school and watch the sunset looking down on a mountain that aside from a few homes is just miles of rainforest.







If you can’t tell by now my emotions and thoughts are kind of all over the place, I always feel like I have so much to say and running through my mind but I can’t get it all on paper. I couldn’t thank my parents enough for supporting me to come on the journey, and my Grandma, Christina and Greg for the verbal support and encouragement throughout and those of you who messaged me to see how this trip was going.

Doing More With Less

May 4th, 2014 

Today Life Monteverde was simply fantastic. Life Monte Verde is a fully self-sustainable coffee farm, and they make doing look so simple. Upon arrival we got to try some of their coffee and look around. Of course, I went straight to the goats and it just fueled my drive (mild obsession?) about owning one when I can. There was also a bunch of chickens, 3 pigs (one of which is pregnant) and a calf. Our guide, Geremo, told us that they have goats instead of cows because they take up less space, can eat a variety of foods (which is also a challenge because they want to eat everything), they consume less water compared to cows, and produce less methane. The milk they get from the goats is sent to the cheese factory and it is also healthier/ easier to digest for you.

Then I picked up a tree, a very young still had the roots wrapped in plastic, but still a tree. We were told we were going to plant them in between fields to help with the reforestation efforts as well as having the trees double as a wind break to help protect the crops and produce shade. This was my favorite part. I think it may even be my favorite part of the trip so far, aside from visiting the schools. We learned that planting those 3 trees (per person) “made up” for the large carbon footprint we made by flying down to Costa Rica from the United States. We needed to plant 1.5 trees to cover one way so it worked out perfectly. This just made me feel so warm and fuzzy to know we actually did something that is going to help the planet for years to come. After we got to relax by a Guava tree that had a bunch of swings tied to the branches. When we walked back we stopped at the pigpen and he showed us this plastic tank that looked similar to a big balloon. We were informed that tank was full of methane gas. You guessed it- from the pigs. Their waste was filtered into a tube full of water then the eventually once there was no oxygen the methane gas was trapped. They used this gas to burn/cook. He said that a family could store enough gas to cook 3 meals a day with only 3 pigs. I was surprised to see that they went that far to reuse as much as possible. The gas is bad for the ozone so what they can’t use they burn instead of just releasing it because CO2 is not quite as bad for the air.

Seeing all of the things they did and used to help protect and promote the environment was so eye opening. I recycled at home but it just made me feel like there were so many other things I could do. I’ve just been thinking about ways to increase my own sustainable living habits. I know my brother has rain barrels used to water his plants, and I wish I had the space for compost pile to use as fertilizer but those things will have to wait until I have my own yard and home. The older I get the more important things like recycling are becoming to me; I just need to find the correct outlet. Seeing this farm was pretty grounding as a lot of this trip has been for me because things are just simpler here, you can do more with less it seems like.

Really, if you think about it throwing paper in plastic in the trash is no harder or more importantly easier than throwing it in a recycling bin. I just don’t understand why people don’t recycle or care about the world that they are leaving for their future children and grand children. I will absolutely promote recycling in my class room and tie it into lesson for students to learn why it is important, easy ways to make a difference around school and their house, as well as how their families can get involved at home if they wish (and I really hope they do). I think it would be very educational and fun to set up an ant hill when learning about soil, and talk about how they help with mixing it up and moving clay from deep in the ground to the surface. I know my mind is going to go back to this trip, time and time again, especially when I’m talking or teaching about sustainability. I feel so lucky to be a (very small) apart of their efforts here and to be able to bring back these ideas and feelings of inspiration to the United States.

Costa Rican vs United States Schools

Thus far we have seen 2 schools, these schools were very different to the school in to United States however the students were very similar. Our first school Calle Herandez had multiple classrooms, including a English room, Special Education room and they were building another room so the English teacher wouldn’t have to share the room she was currently in. The second school in San Luis was much smaller, one large room divided into two groups, one group for 1-3^rd grade and another for 4-6^th grade. There was a small kindergarten room off to the side. Both schools had a principal office, area for the student to play outside and cafeteria. I noticed when the children were playing there was essentially zero supervision. This blew my mind because in the United State that would never happen. The San Luis school had been approved to be apart of a government program that gave them a set of small DELL laptops and a projector with internet access. This blew my mind, I was so happy to see that the 20 or so students in this very rural area were being given technology to utilized in the classroom. At Calle Hernandez school had one-classroom computers but they also had CD’s that were used to listen to the ABC’s in English and sing along with. It is typical for in the US classroom that I have seen to have computers or laptops and SMARTboards or CD’s/movies.

Even with the different environment and resources/supplies the student were essentially the same. Through our time there we learned that keeping the students, especially the younger ones moving, is a good thing. Giving clear directions and review the topic before moving on is necessary for Costa Rican schools and US schools. The student also respond better when you get to know them and they feel more comfortable talking with you, I’ve noticed that if I tell or show the student (or adults) that I’m working on Spanish but struggling or asking questions they are more willing to try to speak English around me because we can relate in that manner.

Today we added a third type of school in the mix, we visited a private school that was in the cloud forest and served grades prek-11^th. I absolutely loved this place. Some of the differences that were very obvious were that they had HUGE motivations to recycle and promote sustainability. The US tries to promote recycling of paper, which is good but this just proved that so much more is possible. They had organic places that they used the food scraps in the garden, plastic, and paper. This school also had two greenhouses with a third on the way so they promote reforestation. I’ve seen some schools with gardens but I thought this was just so awesome. Another large difference was class size, here each class had 12-17 students and anything over 18 and the class gets a volunteer. Those students who needed financial assistance can earn scholarships however that requires them to do about 72 volunteer hours.  Throughout all of our schools one thing was clear the students learn the same. They all have different needs even within one room, every student has a preferred learning style and building relationships and connections with them is a necessity.

            Teaching has been different, for myself at least. I have this habit of comparing every situation I’m in to my previous kindergartners and second graders. Here in Costa Rica those experiences only go so far. There was minimal classroom strategies used in some of the schools, the students would listen to their teacher but they just wanted to play with us. I didn’t see any clip charts, goals listed, class points or anything that would seem normal in the States. The private school was by far the closest to the Unites States schools because they had so many American teachers and ideas. 

Second Language Learning

Well we have just kicked off week 3 of Spanish class. We are only one class in but I can tell I’m going to like this teacher the best.  I say this because as soon as we were in the classroom she talked to us, just talked. We got to know each other and discussed our families, pets, school, jobs, friends, relationships- pretty much where ever the conversation lead us. It felt comfortable and we were having fun while learning instead of getting vocabulary word after vocabulary word thrown at us. That reminded me of many of our (MSU) class discussions about learning environment, relationships and how connections matter.

We have talked a lot in during reflection time as a group about Halliday’s 7 functions of language and language learning, as well as what a student needs to be successful. It is still difficult for me to pin point, which stage I am at, because I feel as if my skills are so situational and they depend on who I’m talking with. For example, at home when my mama tica speaks to me I have to break down what she says word by word and find a way to reply because she does not speak English (we’ve actually gotten pretty good at this), then in Spanish class I feel safe trying to use new vocabulary because I know she will help me with what I’m trying to say but once we leave class and its just MSU students I have zero desire to speak any Spanish because I know I don’t have to, and by the end of the day my brain is usually pretty wiped out.  With all of those things playing a part I would say that I’m some where in between Regulatory and Personal since my vocabulary and confidence is not high enough to rank myself as representational. This has really given me a first hand experience for working with my ESL students, during my internship in Springfield I had 6 students who were getting pulled out for language services. I had no training or idea really on how to help them aside from pictures, pointing, or pairing them with someone. One little boy, Seth, who was Asian and almost nonverbal in class, you could tell he wanted to answer and typically thought he knew the correct answer because he would try so hard to tell However we never knew what he was saying. Even with these language barriers he still managed to communicate and play with the other students and respond to what we wanted him to do. If I could go back to that classroom, I would try to learn at least a few common phrases in his first language so we could build a better connection and make him feel more comfortable. I tried really hard to not just repeat the same thing over Andover when talking to him because I’m aware that if he doesn’t understand the word or phrase the third time he is not going to understand it the sixth time. Some students in our group have had experiences when their teacher would just speak slower and louder at them and it was obvious that it only lead to frustration for both the student and the teacher. That saddens me because it just makes the whole learning process stop and then that dread sets in and no one even wants to go to class.

The amount of Spanish classes we have gone too over these past 2 weeks have been filled with a range of emotions but we have learned so much. For us the overwhelming feeling can end in 4 days, for my (future) ESL student they will have to deal with similar emotions month after month, or even year after year. Being immersed in another language will give me the memories and skills be to a better teacher for my students, for that I am thankful.

Practicing English (numbers) with Carlos and Melanie

A typical day in Spanish class.

You can find me in San Luis... primary school

Ayer (yesterday) we visited the escuela altos de San Luis. This is a one-room schoolhouse, serving grades k through 6th. Yes you read it right…all of those grades in one place. There is about 23 students in this school. We met the principal, Angel, who is also the main teacher (he has 1 volunteer teacher and one regular classroom volunteer). The room is split into two. One side for the 1^st through 3^rd graders, here they practice reading, math, writing but no English. The other side is grade 4-6^th, here they have computer class and English class once a week. Tai, who has no training on how to teach, teaches both these. The volunteer, Jennifer, use to teach in a title 1 school in the states so she has education background.  Kindergarten has a small room off to the side but we did not meet the teacher or students because, the teacher is a part of the strike (more on that later.)

Upon arrival, the school just looked like a happy place. All of the walls are painted with murals, and everyone we met was smiling, children included. I was shocked by the fact that the older students had a projector, a group of small laptops and Internet access. We found out that the school had been approved to be apart of a government program to give them more resources since the school is so rural.  Aside from those technology touches the school was very simple. The rooms weren’t very visually stimulating. By that I mean there were no posters of anchor charts or decorations up. We also were able to see the cafeteria. One woman makes breakfast, lunch and a snack for the students everyday so their families only have to be worried about feeding them one meal. The government only give the school one dollar per student per day.. for 2.5 meals. The rest of the money comes from donations. This just doesn’t sit well with me. The school isn’t given enough resources or money to feed the kids, yet they are expected to because they may not have the means at home. Those students who don’t have the means at home clearly don’t have the extra means to help contribute to the fundraisers. It just seems like a never ending cycle,, thankfully they are making it work and those families who can help do. I just hope this continues.

            Us MSU students split into two groups, I went to work with two older students (4^th and 5^th grade). I was teaching them numbers in English. At first to see where they were in their learning I wrote some number down and had them read them to me, they were blowing through this so I had them count verbally. They went up to 90 before I told them they could stop. About this time we were given a stack of flash cards, the cards were number 1-18 and had a combination of words, the number, and an array of pictures. We played a matching game; I think this really benefited, Carlos, the younger student because he had to count the pictures to find the match. The young lady I was working with was a pro at this already. After 2 rounds of this we switched to “fly swatter”. During this game all the cards are in front of them, and I say a number and they race to “swat” it. The friendly competition really drove the students to stay focused and try their best. It was really nice to see the students having fun while they were learning, the young lady even started to catch her mistakes (she switched 8 and 18 a lot) before I could tell her to try again.

            The students were ready for a brain break and the little boy wanted to quiz me but he made me say all the numbers in Spanish. We did this for only a minute or two, I think he was a little disappointed that I was getting them correct. I did this because it helped strengthen our connection, had some laughs, and it showed them that I was learning another language just  like they were so they were less afraid to make mistake in front of me. I believe that relationships are important for any classroom, and the better the student knows and trusts the teacher the more willing they are to take risks and be themselves. Knowing we were coming back to this school I tried to pay a little more attention to this aspect because when we return on Thursday I want them to have a positive thought about learning from us, and really give it all they have for our short time together.  

            I can’t wait to return tomorrow...

The entrance to the classrooms

Jennifer working with the 4-6th graders

Donated playground

Projector for the older children

Our second day at San Luis was absolutely wonderful. Nate, myself, and Erika played a game with two groups of older students. During this game we showed all but one student a picture, a very UNrealistic picture. For example one was a huge hand with 9 eyes, a nose, mouth, and three legs. The student who could see the picture had to describe what to draw using English. This was so much fun, and overall very successful. I believe that is day was so successful because the students were engaged the whole time, talking, moving, drawing, laughing. The first picture was always the hardest on the students because they didn't expect such crazy pictures. We also drew a basic outline of a body and labeled different parts so the student would have a visual aid if they needed assistance. If I was able to do this again I would review more than what we did, we had the rattle off parts they knew verbally and explained why we had drawn the diagram on the board, which worked out okay but I think it would be better if we had them point to the part on their body when we or themselves said that part. This way we could do a better job assessing their prior knowledge. When all the student already had a turn to draw, we had them tell Erika and myself what to do, this reinforced the goal because they knew that we wouldn't response to the Spanish directions that were so temping to use for them. Based on our group discussion afterwards and personal experience, relationships came into play in a huge way because they were starting to get to know us and feel more comfortable taking risks, movement was much more engaging than sitting and listening for the younger students, and the fact that we were able to play games while they were learning was a fantastic bonus.