June 4, 2014

To see pictures, click on this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gcr4z38twgf53i1/AADLqelnTedP9TFySW8yjjgEa

Today started out with an observation at a private school.  This school was different than other private schools because it is based on American schools.  It is a bilingual school that has students from 3 months old to 6th grade.  You can see pictures of it in the folder "Private American School" (link above).  The classes that we observed all worked on projects.  Their desks were arranged in groups and the students worked collaboratively.  At the end of their "unit" the give a presentation on what they learned.  The 6th graders had a very unique presentation.  There were 8 groups.  Each group had a part of a room to decorate.  Two rooms were divided into fourths.  The students decorated the doorway of each room and the area where they would present.  The areas were decorated from top to bottom.  Every space was covered.  They had posters up that they had designed with information regarding their topic.  Each group presented their topic.  The rest of the school came through to hear the presentations.  It was incredible to see the work that they had done.

In another classroom, 4th grade, the students were also presenting the projects.  Each student had to do a power point or video presentation to the rest of the class.  Their projects were all about taking care of the earth--water conservation, cleaning up the parks, planting trees, etc.  There were 5 of us, plus our professor, plus 2 administrators in the classroom watching the students.  I was really impressed with the fact that they did such an excellent job and didn't seem nervous at all.

A third class was also working on their projects.  These were 3rd graders.  Their unit had been on civilizations.  Each student had a notebook that they wrote down information that they found as well as pictures that they had drawn.  They collaborated in their groups and had to design a new country.  They had to determine all aspects of the country and draw a poster representing those facts.  Next week the groups will come together in pairs and discuss how their two countries would or could integrate.  It was wonderful seeing them work together!

After lunch we met with another professor for a time of reflection on our thoughts about the two schools.  I was  all prepared to reflect, what I wasn't prepared for was that we would be reflecting in Spanish!  The professor didn't speak any English!  It was so frustrating having all these thoughts in my head and not being able to say what I wanted.  I could only discuss in short sentences with my limited vocabulary.  Then we found out about the final presentation that we have to do--in Spanish!  The professor had several resources for us to use but they were in Spanish.  This will definitely be an interesting presentation!!!!

Dinner time was another opportunity to work on my Spanish.  My host mother and I had dinner and discussed the days events.  I talked to her about the paper I am working on regarding infants and bilingualism.  It had to be hysterical for her to listen to me explain about the brain, the research regarding learning 2 languages, and how infants begin speaking!  We conversed for 1 1/2 hours!  It was a great experience!!  She is a very patient lady!  :-)

It's time for bed.  Tomorrow is the observation at a special needs school.  Buenos noches!