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I have had this blog post started since the day after we flew into Buffalo. I have never procrastinated so badly on an assignment that I have cared so dearly about. It has been hard for me to sit down and write one final blog post reflecting on this amazing trip. I became accustomed to writing my blog posts sitting at my desk in the room I stayed in while in Chile, looking out the window seeing the Andes Mountains, usually paired with a gorgeous sunset being reflected on the peeks. Being home and trying to write this blog post in my room or some other place in my own home, is not the way I wish to be writing my final reflections of this trip. I have had plenty of time to reflect on my time and recap for everyone all of the amazing things I was able to do while in Santiago, Chile. There are many things I have taken away from this trip that have helped me grow into a more educated professional and individual in society.
When I first decided to become a teacher, I encountered many negative phrases and opinions of education that make it hard to remain encouraged about my future career. When you hear the following daily, “Don’t get burned out” “You aren’t going to make ANY money” “All you have to do is babysit and play with kids all day” “If you can’t do, then teach”, it becomes difficult to block out the negative and stay positive. Throughout this trip, the time I spent inwardly reflecting, either through my blog posts or just quiet time I had, gave me the opportunity to re-center my focus any time I felt run down, discouraged, or fed up. As there are more demands to come in my future, I am glad this trip has given me the opportunity to learn to live a balanced life with a healthy mindset. Personally, I have always been interested in the differences of the cultures our world is made up of. I do not want to live with the stereotypical or surface level information I could gain from Google or a book. After being immersed in the culture of Chile, I do not think there is any other way I would want to learn of another’s culture, except through first hand experience. The differences that are represented amongst the populations of this world usually scare people into never educating themselves on the riches that we can encounter. In the present world we live in, there are many people who choose to live by following the saying “ignorance is bliss”, but that also usually comes with fear, anxiety, and worry of what the rest of the world holds. I am excited to continue to travel God’s beautiful world and discover the beautiful people that come with it. The greatest most important thing I learned about myself on this trip is I am absolutely, 100%, no doubt in my mind, positively sure that God intended me to be a teacher. I never felt more energized or refueled than I did after going to a field placement while in Santiago. I plan to continue to travel, to teach, and grow my understanding of the world I am a part of until I can’t anymore. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone that supported me through this trip. Anyone that supported me monetarily, emotionally, spiritually, and any other way you can think of, you are the reason my trip was such a success. I hope everyone is prepared to hear me talk about Chile for the rest of my life because there is no way I can not share such an amazing experience. For the last time, God bless! Katie Welch
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Our flight takes off in eight and a half hours and I am absolutely not ready to leave this place. I feel like a child who is throwing a temper tantrum saying “I don’t want to leave yet!” (insert tears here because there have definitely been tears already). I am excited to see my family and friends at home, but it would be much better if they could all just come here so I wouldn’t have to leave. No other place has never felt so much like home. The following things I am going to miss more than I knew possible:
The following things I may not miss as much as those listed above:
There is a very clear difference between the two lists that I have made. One far outweighs the other and I don’t think it is hard for anyone to tell that this trip has been the BEST experience I could have asked for. The next adventure awaits!
Te extrañare y te amo Chile! I will miss you and I love you Chile! Last Thursday our entire group from Buffalo State College observed at a public school named Colegia Diferencial Amapolas. This school specifically helps children with physical disabilities and the majority of the student population uses wheelchairs and walkers throughout the day. There were many systems in place that were used at the school to help the children communicate and function throughout the school day. One of those systems included a color system that marked the wheelchairs of the students with red, green, or white. These colors would tell the teacher or adult how independent the student was when moving their wheelchair. The goal of this system is to instill independence in the children who are able to control their wheelchairs. This system also helps the students take initiative and ask for help or communicate their needs and wants to others verbally if they need help moving their wheelchair. Another system that was put in place by the school was a set of movements to help students communicate if they are not able to speak verbally. Some of these movements included the students turning their head to the left if they are trying to say “yes” or turning their head to the right if they are trying to say “no”. Having such systems in place continue to prepare students to function and communicate in society. The classroom I observed had a group of 6 students and all of them were in wheelchairs. The severity of the disabilities of these children also effected their muscle use to communicate verbally. Even through the noises and excited movements the children exhibited, I was able to understand the joy these students felt being at school and working with a guest in their classroom. The teachers of the classroom I was in created a sensory rich environment with different sounds, music, lights, and physical objects for the students to touch. This created a very stimulating environment for the students and helped keep the students engaged in the content being taught. A student with out a disability would typically not be able to handle such a large amount of stimulation, but the students in the class I observed were very mature in the way they handled the amount of stimulation present. While we were there, the three teachers in the room put on a performance of a children’s story. They acted out the story and used props and sounds to help convey the message of the story for the students. The teachers dressed up, used the lights in the class, used music and sounds, and had props for the students to touch while they were telling the story. The best part about this amazing lesson was that the teachers were not aware they were going to have visitors to watch their lesson. Whether they were being observed or not, the teachers created a lesson that could be used as a model for any teacher working with students with disabilities. I have never experienced a school, in Chile or in Estados Unidos, that has been so accommodating for the individual needs of each student. The most surprising part of this school to me was their ability to accommodate the majority of the students’ needs as a public school, with minimal funding.
The first thing I said to my professor after visiting the school was “I would love to work in a place just like that”. One week later, I am collaborating with my professors and the professors of Universidad Mayor to come back and do research or complete my Master’s degree in a school just like the one I described or that exact school. The details are far from being discussed and it may not actually happen, but it is amazing how quickly relationships and professional connections can form, no matter where you go. It has always been a dream of mine to travel around the world and I began fulfilling that dream by coming to Chile. Another dream of mine is to teach internationally in another country. Now, I am one step closer to achieving that dream of mine right here in Chile. There has been an abundance of activities we have been involved in since arriving to Santiago, but the main reason I am here is to grow as a professional preparing to be a future educator. Before arriving in Santiago, the professors of Buffalo State College and Universidad Mayor collaborated together to plan field placements in public, subsidized or charter, and private schools for our group to attend. All of the professors worked hard to collaborate with schools of diverse orientations so that we all could experience the atmosphere of as many different schools as possible. Overall, I was able to visit five different schools since arriving in Santiago two weeks ago. I have had the opportunity to observe and teach in public, subsidized (charter), and private schools here. I am so grateful and thankful to all of the hard working people involved in planning this trip. Without their hard work, I wouldn’t be able to have such a broad range of experiences in Chilean schools. The things I have learned about preparing for hands on experiences in the professional world, just as anyone else that has prepared for the professional world has learned:
Every school I went into I had to have lessons prepared for a broad range of grade levels and academic levels. When ever we went to a school, we would teach during the students’ English class or their foreign language period, if the opportunity presented itself. So, we had to be prepared to accommodate for a broad range of language abilities as well. No matter how much time I spent planning for how the lesson would go or how the students would react or respond, nothing came close to the experiences I had. Every single second I spent in the classrooms here in Chile has been full of rich learning experiences that have benefited me professionally AND personally. My expectations were far exceeded every single time. Can you really ask for anything more? I have learned far too much to write in one blog post, but there are some school visits in particular that have stood out to me. I was a part of the first group to attend the first school visitation at the public school, Colegio Maestra Elsa Santibañez. Our group was unsure if we would just be observing in the classroom or if we would be teaching, so we came prepared for anything. As soon as we walked into the school you could hear the children playing and we automatically knew we were arriving during their mandatory recess time. I was extremely nervous as to how I would communicate with the students because we had only just begun our Spanish classes at ECELA. There was no stopping the excitement of the students or myself during those first twenty minutes of introductions in their courtyard. Although the student and I were both talking to each other, it was in both English and Spanish, all jumbled together. Did we both understand completely what the other was saying? No. Did it stop the beginning of a relationship from forming? No. When I have my own classroom, I will have English Language Learners as part of the student population. A language barrier does not have to be something scary or intimidating for me as the teacher. It can be an exciting challenge that the student and I can face together as co-learners. Another school I was able to attend was a subsidized school named Colegio Lorenzo Sazie. Our group visited two classes that day, one was 12th grade and the other was 1st grade. In the 1st grade classroom we observed, there were 38 students and one teacher. When we walked in, we could barely stand in the front of the classroom to introduce ourselves because there were so many desks for all of the students. Although there was very little physical space in the classroom, it did not prevent the teacher from engaging the students when teaching the new vocabulary with body motions. If you can imagine a room full of 38, 1st graders standing behind their desks “Choo-chooing” like a train, you can imagine how adorable it was to watch and participate. I moved to the back of the class very quickly to avoid distracting the students and I noticed a little boy sitting in the corner plugging his ears. I asked him to return to his seat, but he was not having it, so I sat down with him. I started doing the motions with him for the vocabulary words they were learning of different toys. Eventually he stood up and moved back to his seat, so I thought he was doing it to get away from me. Two minutes later he was standing at my side again pulling me with him so we could go to his seat together. I spent the rest of the class working with this student, Rafael. He continued the entire lesson with his ears plugged and spoke very softly, but we were able to complete his worksheet of cutting out the pictures of the new toys they learned and gluing them to the chart that was handed out. From what I observed, he had issues with any sensory related stimulation and was most likely on the autistic spectrum. His teacher approached me and told me she was surprised and happy that Rafael was able to work so well with me because he usually doesn’t interact with his teacher or the other students. I was willing to work with Rafael on what he was comfortable with, not what the teacher or his other classmates were comfortable with. It is understandable that when you have 38 students in your classroom you can not provide the one-on-one attention I was able to give to Rafael. It was still so encouraging and rewarding to see a student push themselves outside of their comfort zone because they trusted I would help them, not hinder them. I can write more, but I will share more experiences in a Part II blog post. Of these two significantly short interactions, I learned so much from the children and the other professionals. This very lengthy recap and reflection only covers about and hour of my experiences here in Santiago. So, imagine how much more I have been able to learn and experience here in these past two weeks.
It is painful to consider that I only have one more week in this place that has so quickly begun to feel like home. Chile has definitely stolen my heart and I plan to continue to experience everything this country has to offer in the time I have remaining in this beautiful place. God Bless, Katie Welch |
AuthorI am currently a student at Buffalo State College working towards achieving my undergraduate’s degree in Exceptional Education with a concentration in English. I am extremely passionate about working with children and I believe it is my God given talent to teach. I grew up in the Buffalo Public School system and I dream about teaching in inner city schools with 1st graders. I am currently a teacher's aid at Edukid's Child Care Center in Buffalo and I am very grateful for the experience I am getting working with the children there. In my free time I enjoy playing my clarinet in the Buffalo Niagara Concert Band and dancing, specifically ballet. ArchivesCategories |