There are those experiences that are truly once in a lifetime. Those experiences in time and space that call for you to pause and take note of the moment. This particular night was one I will never forget! Christine and I were invited to the home of a fellow Gabo teacher for a special glimpse of the planet Mars. This evening was unique because the red planet was incredibly visible to the naked eye. Several other educators shared their telescope and love for astrology with the group. Their knowledge of the planets, the moon and constellations was incredible! The view of the moon was out of this world. We could see the craters in amazing detail. Our guide could name each crater and canyon on the moon. Not only that, we were able to see Saturn and her rings. WOW! When you bring together the heavens, good friends, delicious food and COLOMBIA you get a night that will go down as one of the best of my lifetime.
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I count myself as fortunate to come from a school district that has an abundance of resources designed to enrich our students. This happens because we have a community that supports our schools through a variety of ways. The teachers and students at my school want for nothing. At several points during our school visits in Colombia I noticed the absence of resources. That's not to say the resources aren't there, I just didn't see them being utilized in the classroom. There were very few textbooks, computers, wifi, libraries. Again, I say this not to be critical. In fact, I admire the educators in Colombia for their creativity and ability to take lesson planning to another level! Having the opportunity to observe early childhood education through high school lead me to the conclusion that the schools I observed in Colombia are doing something right. The students are artistic, intelligent, articulate, tolerant, kind, motivated, respectful and full of pride. What each school did have was an abundance of optimism, students of good character, enthusiastic teachers and space/time for kids to be kids.
I walked away wondering if all of the stuff we have might be getting in our way. Perhaps we should pull out the old toolbox, dust off our tools and get back to basics. When planning our school visits in Cartago, our host teachers arranged for me to teach a lesson in a 6th grade class. I decided on a global art lesson and hoped to incorporate Oklahoma culture. Earlier in the summer Ms. Marcie Levy and I made dreamcatchers with our global learning academy summer school class. The dreamcatchers turned out to be a hit! What a better way to share Oklahoma with the students in Cartago, so I thought. After a visit to a local artisan market in Bogotá, I discovered dreamcatchers had already made their way to Colombia. In fact, they were everywhere! Monica, the students' teacher, had already bought all the materials for her more than 40 students. Dreamcatchers would go on as planned.
Monica's class of 6th graders are part of the afternoon turn at Gabo. She had already anticipated the time and effort it would take for 40+ kids to work their way through each step of making a dreamcatcher. Monica precut the center of the paper plates and assigned each student to bring a bag of plastic beads. When I arrived to start the lesson, the temperature in the classroom was SO VERY HOT (no air conditioning in the schools). There were fans attached to the walls; however, they provided little relief from the humidity and heat. Looking at the faces of those excited kids soon made me forget about how hot I was. We had so much fun making our dreamcatchers that we actually stayed beyond the bell to finish and to take pictures. There may have been dreamcatchers all over Colombia, but not a single one as spectacular as those made by 6th graders at Gabo! One thing I noticed in schools from Bogotá to Cartago is students have so much autonomy! Each school we visited had time within the schedule for students to have an extended break. During this time students could be found playing, running, grabbing a snack at the school canteen, working in small groups and just hanging out being kids. There was something different about his recess time...teacher presence was minimal. I mention this not to be critical, but in admiration. In Colombia, students are taught and graded on social skills and character. It would seem that students are trusted to do the right thing. Perhaps this freedom of moment and absence of constant teacher supervision gives students the opportunity to solve their own problems and to take care of each other. This level of independence was also observed at Gabo. During an afternoon of classroom observations we noticed students in the large courtyard area. They were working in small groups with no teacher in sight. When I asked why the students were not in class I discovered they were working outside due to the heat. I walked over to a group of giggly girls to ask what they were working on. To my surprise, they were actually working. They were focused on a biodiversity group project. Not a single cell phone was out!
Obviously, student safety is top priority in any school. I just wonder if we are over-supervising our kids. Are we not allowing our kids the freedom to be trusted to do the right thing? Are we giving our students the opportunity to resolve conflict? Are we doing enough to encourage our students to take care of each other? Throughout our week at Gabo we learned so much about the regions of Colombia. Each class of high school students were divided into regional groups. Angelica tasked the students with coming up with a creative way to share Colombia with us. Boy, did they deliver! Each class focused on a region. Each region was organized by food, dance, music, landforms, climate and culture. We stuffed ourselves on delicious foods from each region! It was inspiring to see what these gifted students could accomplish when left alone to work together. Each presentation was completely student centered. Angelica, their teacher, was equally impressed with the attention to detail as each group moved us through the stations of their region. It was moving and refreshing to see patriotism in this form. Pride poured from each student. It wasn't the "in-your-face", "we are better than you" type of patriotism. It was the pure joy of sharing that made these presentations so special. This love of country was echoed throughout our time in Colombia.
Life in another country is always full of surprises. One such surprise came in the form of we've invited all the English teachers in Cartago to a conference you girls are giving. So, what's a teacher to do? We quickly moved into planning mode. Days before we had visited Casa del Virrey (Viceory's House) with three very special high schools students. Casa Virrey was constructed at the end of the 18th century for Don José de Espeleta, a viceroy of Spain. He never made it to Cartago. The house was declared a national monument and it serves as a conservatory. It is a gem of a building equipped with an auditorium where we would give our conference.
The conference was attended by the Secretary of Education, school principals, teachers and more fancy people. Before we started, we awarded Angelica and Gabo's principal a beautiful certificate of appreciation issued by IREX. Annie kicked off the presentations with teaching early literacy skills through children's books and manipulative. She walked the group through a guided lesson and shared examples of some of her favorite authors. The lesson included forming word families with Wikki Sticks. Annie gave sets of Wikki Sticks out to the group to take back to their classrooms. All teachers love a freebie! My presentation focused on the structure of the educational system in Oklahoma. In addition, I gave an overview of Truman Primary School, including the video tour my 2nd graders made! Later in the presentation I shifted the focus to globalizing classrooms. I shared the water as a global issue project we worked on last semester at MOSAICOS. Perhaps the most powerful moment of the conference came at the end as we opened up the session for Q&A. We fielded questions about technology in the classroom, class size, resources and teacher strikes in the USA. This unique opportunity for cross-cultural exchange was a highlight for me. Through these conversations something became very clear. Teachers are teachers, no matter where in the world they teacher. We all get up each morning with the same goals. We want our students to love learning. We pour our hearts and souls into every day and every student. We celebrate our students. We cry for our students. We worry about our students. Our work doesn't end when the last bell sounds. Teachers are teachers! July 25, 2018 marked a unique day in our international field experience. A national teacher strike was set to take place throughout Colombia. As an educator in Oklahoma, I am overly familiar with what it means to cancel school and leave your classroom in order to fight for a better future. In fact, I might be highly sensitive to such a practice in democracy. My initial instinct was to run to the frontline in solidarity with the teachers of Colombia. However, instructions from the United States Department of State indicate we were to not go near the strike. We were instructed to stay away from our schools and to practice extreme caution. Our safety was top priority. I had to find the right way to show my support. The morning of the strike I sent a message to the Truman Primary School walkout group asking for positive thoughts for my teacher friends in Colombia. Many messages of support were sent my way. Kimberly Schooler, a 4th grade teacher at Truman Elementary, send a video expressing her support. Truman Primary School's kindergarten team sent a warm video message encouraging Cartago's teachers to stay strong. Days later I learned that the teachers of Colombia and the teachers of Oklahoma had many of the same demands: adequate funding and wages equal to the work performed (to name a few). In the end, teachers are teachers. We are willing to fight for quality public education in all corners of the world. Annie and I arrived at the Institución Educativa Gabo bright and early Monday morning. Gabo has so many students that that the day is divided into to "turns." The morning turns starts at 6:30 am with one group of students. The afternoon turn is a different group of students. Gabo is surrounded by high walls and one closely guarded entrance. We were met at the gate by a gentleman who knew each child by name and kept the students and staff safe throughout the day. Our arrival created quite a buzz! The students were shy at first. They would quickly warm up and we became fast friends with so many of them. Upon our arrival, all students and staff gathered in the courtyard for a welcome ceremony that would set the tone for a great week at Gabo! Students quickly assembled in the courtyard area of Gabo school. There were so many kids! In fact, most classes had more than 40 students (and we complain about class size)! Annie and I were whisked away to a special table draped in white. We were joined by the Secretary of Education, the Bilingual Coordinator and other fancy people. Two students outfitted in traditional dress poured cups of delicious Colombian coffee and the ceremony kicked off with a speech by a member of the senior class. After the ceremony we were interviewed by the local t.v. station. #localcelebrities After a very eloquent introduction by a member of the 2018 senior class, Annie and I each gave PowerPoint presentations detailing our lives in the United States. The students were shocked when I gave my presentation in Spanish! This most amazing welcome ceremony would be repeated in varying forms throughout our time at each of Gabo's branches. Each time we were welcomed with enthusiasm, love and pride. We often joked that we hoped our home schools would welcome us back in similar fashion.
Bright and early this morning our cohort was sent out to several communities in Colombia. We are exploring Cartagena, Armenia, Bucaramanga and Cartago. Annie and I arrived in Cartago after a very short 30 minute flight from Bogotá. The contrast between the two cities was felt immediately. We went from 60 degree weather to upper 90s with humidity that rivals the humidity in Oklahoma. Our sweet host teacher, Angelica, and her husband drove for another half hour from Pereira to Cartago. We checked in at our hotel...HOUSTON ,WE HAVE A PROBLEM. I am not a finicky traveler (or so I thought); however, the hotel was not going to be a place of relaxation for the next eight days. Annie and I decided to find another hotel. I am happy to report that we are comfortable in our new hotel.
Angelica and her husband, Mario, invited us to a quaint restaurant for lunch. The building itself wasn't very old . However, the owner designed it with pieces of antiques, doors, windows and decorations from very old buildings in the city. We enjoyed coconut lemonade (I'll try to find the recipe) and traditional Colombian dishes. The early morning, the headache of airports and the heat were quickly catching up with us. A shower (c0ld) and a nap followed. We rejoined Angelica, Mario and their adorable son for a tour-by-car of the city and later joined the locals at Parque Lineal for evening that turned into one of the most incredible moments of my life. It is so hot in Cartago that everyone pulls chairs out onto the porch or goes to the Parque Linares to enjoy the somewhat cooler weather of the evening. The park was full of families, children, and friends. The park is lined with ancient, wise trees draped in Spanish moss. There are playgrounds, chairs for sitting, little tables and every type of food vendor you can imagine. Tons of coffee. We found a spot to sit and enjoy the company when a man approached our group. He is a dear friend of Angelica and Mario. His name is Luis Carlos Franco. He is a walking history textbook. The richness of his storytelling is something I will never forget. His love for his little community came from deep within his soul. He is proud of Cartago. He is proud of Colombia. We spoke about everything from politics, tourism, landscapes, coffee and modern technology. I hung on every word. My hope is to record an interview with him for this blog. Best.day.ever! |
AuthorI am a professional educator, lifelong learner, and global citizen with a passion for travel! Archives
September 2018
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