The best fundraiser

Today I got the opportunity to go visit a local school during what I'm told is their biggest fundraiser of the year.  This is an international school for children of missionaries, government and embassy workers, etc who are living long-term in Argentina.  So naturally, there are many different countries and cultures represented at this school, and every year they hold an international day.

When I was invited I was picturing something along the lines of a few booths set up in a gym or maybe a courtyard if it was nice out, with some food and entertainment here or there.  But what the event ended up being was this huge international fair in the courtyard of the school (it was a beautiful day).  Booths selling cultural food and sometimes products were created by so many different countries, from India to the UK, Brazil to Kuwait, Mexico to Canada, and everywhere in between.  The food stands each had amazing food, and there was a parade at the beginning where all the countries were announced as the students and their families did a lap holding flags, wearing their nations colors, and some wearing traditional dress.

There was also really unique entertainment throughout the afternoon as well.  The school band played which totally brought out my inner band nerd, songs were sung in various languages by students, there were Korean hip hop dancers, a man played bagpipes, little Indian girls danced...we never knew what to expect next.

I honestly don't know much about this school, but if the school as a whole is half as well done as this event then the students are very lucky.  You could tell that the community they've created cares about the students, and while every culture is obviously proud of their background, it's apparent that they all successfully merge into one whole student body without lines drawn in the sand.

Make class worthwhile

I am generally one of those students who always does homework, studies like crazy, pays attention, and doesn't skip class unless I'm pretty sick/it's one of those awful days when the alarm clock doesn't go off.  But today I broke one of my personal unwritten rules and skipped my class, and I don't feel bad for two reasons: 1, because it's a non-mandatory recuperation class for a day the instructor didn't show up.  And 2, I decided that it would be a better use of my time to instead work on my final essays/projects/presentations.  Based on the class this instructor gave yesterday (where he spent 45 minutes talking to himself before leaving the room as we took a 20 question quiz that meant nothing), I knew that going today would have been a waste of my time.  And then I wondered what he would say if he knew that's the reason I wasn't there today.

Over the course of the last 3 months I've spent at this Argentine university, this instructor has indirectly taught me a lot about what kind of teacher I don't want to be (there are other posts coming on those topics...) and now I get to add one more lesson to the list: making students feel like they should be there.

First let me begin by saying that I have no illusions.  I want to teach middle school Spanish, and I know that my students won't be bounding into my room every single day with a huge smile, excited to begin that day's class with attentive eagerness.  Of course I would love for it to be that way, but I know things happen.  Students have bad days, they get cranky, or it's beautiful outside and they'd rather be out playing soccer instead of listening to me talk about verbs.  But I never want a student to feel that being in my class is a waste of their time.  Ever.  To me that's one of the biggest slaps in the face a teacher can get.

I want my classes to be worthwhile.  Even on the days that I don't have games or songs or any of that other "fun" stuff planned, I want the students to feel like they're learning, or at least like they should be there.  It just amazes me how comfortable this instructor is with not only wasting our time, but really his own as well.

Let's get started!

As I was furiously scribbling a note to myself about a game I could use when I teach (in the middle of my Estudios Culturales class no less), I realized how slightly ridiculous I was being since I knew the chances of me finding the note again/remembering it was there/seeing it again were pretty slim.  During my sophomore field experience last year I started a giant binder of worksheets, game templates, and lesson ideas that I was accumulating throughout the course of the ten or so weeks I was in the school.  The ideas and lessons in that binder are all safely together and organized.  However, I am currently studying abroad in Argentina and did not lug the heavy, 3 inch binder with me.  Which means any idea I may have/material I find here get scribbled into a notebook or shoved in my textbook where they may or may not even make it back to the apartment.  And then it hit me: lots of teachers have blogs, I'm planning on having a teaching blog eventually, so why not start now?  I could write down ideas, lessons, what I'm learning in my classes, anything.

Also, I'm one of those people who gets ideas at random times where I either have no one to share them with, nowhere to write them down, or or some other situation that causes me to inevitably either forget it completely or have a half baked idea that won't work because I couldn't work through it.  But I think having a blog to share my thoughts and hopefully get some feedback will be fantastic.  And who knows, maybe I'll learn something that someone else needs to learn, too.

I have no idea how many people, if any, will read this blog.  It's just one of those things that hit me and I decided I needed to start right now.  But I definitely think it's worth a try, even if all it does is help me remember lessons I've learned and mistakes I've made.

I have no idea how consistent my posting will be, especially while I'm still studying abroad.  But I have a really good feeling about this and will try to make it great.