20 June, Thursday
So, it has been a week since I returned to the US from Ecuador. I miss it so much; I miss going to USA Academy every weekday and seeing the bright young faces of every individual student. I miss helping them with their (English) work and interacting with them. I really wish I had more time so that I could have gotten to know them better, but even in the three weeks I was there, I grew so attached to them. I also wished I would have hugged the students goodbye--a group hug would have been sufficient, honestly.
I miss having a purpose everyday... However, I do have a summer job as a writing tutor for an English class in a summer program at NAU; I work with first-generation students who have just graduated high school and are entering their first year of college, helping them with their writing. Although it is nice working with students who are of an older age, I really do miss working with student between the ages of eleven and eighteen; I just have more fun with them. I also miss the environment. The teachers and other faculty were all really kind to me and incredibly helpful and supportive; they also allowed me opportunities to teach and learn, giving me constructive criticism so that I can improve. The students were not only the main reason I was there, their personalities and enthusiasm also are part of the reason I wanted to stay and why I am so sad that I had to leave. Don't get me wrong, I like these students at NAU, but I just really miss the students from USA Academy. I was closer to the students in Ecuador because I was actually their teacher and interacting with them every day; here at NAU, I'm just a TA that helps with homework--I don't lead discussion or give lessons. I also might miss USA Academy students more because I saw them for multiple hours in a day for three weeks; these college students just aren't them.
Below, I will provide a Fieldwork Summary hat details my experience:
Fieldwork Summary
Introduction
My internship was working as a
student teacher in the secondary levels of Academia USA in Quito, Ecuador. The
school has just implemented a program that enforces that 40% of the classes are
taught in English. So, in addition to their English as a foreign language
class, other subjects are taught in English to encourage bilingualism and
create more opportunities for the students. My responsibilities in this
position included: serving as English Teaching Assistant to the English teacher
in Ecuadorian classrooms, interacting with students on a daily basis, and
helping with English-related administration and teaching. I assisted the
English teachers in the classroom and helped with the students and with lesson
planning as much as my skills and capabilities allowed me. I was placed with
Teacher Moises (English Level II), Teacher Suany (English Level I), and Teacher
Angela (Science, History, Business & Management taught in English). I
worked hands-on with the students and with the teachers and other faculty of
the school, helping whenever I could. I also substituted for teachers, teaching
their lessons when they had other duties or tasks to complete.
I lived in an apartment with a host
family; the apartment was close to the Academia USA (only a 7-minute bus-ride
and a short walk away). I ate lunch at the school—for only $3—and breakfast and
lunch were provided by my host mother. The busses only cost 25 cents, so that
was nice and convenient; I would walk 30 minutes home. My host mother always
answered my questions about the city and where to go; she was very supportive
and helpful. Latinoamerica schools organized my transportation from/to the
airport, my living placement, and my student teaching internship placement;
other than their help with these, they were not really involved in my
internship.
Intent & Outcomes
Going into this internship, I
expected my position to be a way for me to gain experience in a classroom where
the students’ first languages are not English. I am in the accelerated
BA-English—MA-TESL program, so I am taking courses on how to help and teach
students English as a second language (ESL). Although this environment may be
different because I will be in another country, it will be more difficult and
therefore more beneficial to me. I hope to apply the skills that I sharpen and
acquire from this internship in my future classroom(s), whether as and ELA
(English Language Arts) teacher or as an ESL teacher. I do not plan to teach
English abroad as a career, but I will use what I learn from the field of
teaching English abroad in teaching English to non-native English speakers (if
that is the job I will be doing). I decided to apply to the BA-MA program
because I want to be able to help and inspire as many students as I can; the
job of a teacher is to teach the change she wants to see in the world. This
experience will definitely aid me in achieving my goal to be the best
teacher/guide/mentor/support my students need.
I think
that this experience met, and exceeded, my expectations. Yes, I gained experience
in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language), however, it wasn’t difficult. The
students knew enough English to communicate with me and ask for help, and I
know Spanish, so I could help them in Spanish if they couldn’t express what
they wanted to say in English. The teachers gave me various opportunities to
teach their classrooms, with their supervision, so I practiced the skills I
have learned in my education courses. While teaching and observing the
teachings of my host teachers, I acquired more skills to practice in my limited
time there; I will also be taking these skills and applying them to my future
teaching practicums and student-teaching placement. The teachers were great
models to observe and learn from; they are great teachers and I am so glad I was
able to meet them and learn from them. Although they were not as passionate
about teaching and education as I am, they do care for and about their students
and their academic success.
Detailed Analysis of the Experience
This experience was an incredible
opportunity for me to practice teaching. Since the classrooms I was in were
taught in English, I could practice ESL/EFL teaching and teaching in a “normal” classroom. Although I did not practice
teaching in a literature classroom, it was still a very good environment for me
to refine my current skills and acquire new skills. I improved my confidence in
the classroom and my skills in classroom management, public speaking,
discipline, lesson planning, time management, cooperation with other teachers,
and asking for help when needed. I also
learned new skills like getting comfortable with (good) discomfort and improvising
and handling pressure in the classroom,. When I would substitute for the
teachers is when I would get the best practice in both my current and new
skills; I was alone with the students (of different grade levels—even
kindergarten), allowing me to really only rely on myself and my teacher
intuition. Those classes went well, so I think I am a decent teacher with a
good, effective, polished skillset—however, there is always room for
improvement and refinement through practice.
My internship was to work with
secondary level students, however, there was one day where I was forced to
teach kindergarten. And I say “forced” because when I try to decline, the
director of the English department of the school told me that I needed to do it; out of fear of saying
“no” again and fear of disappointing, I did it (even though this was an unpaid
internship and there would not really be consequences for me if I declined
again). I do not have anything against children, I just did not feel
comfortable handling a classroom of 4-year-olds since I do not have the
training for that. Regardless of my lack of training, I was forced to
substitute for this class (in Ecuador, upcoming teachers in college have to do
practicum/student teaching in all the grade levels). In this experience, I had
to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable—which I have learned in the
past, but never in my professional teaching setting. I want my classroom to be
an environment where students feel safe, so naturally, I should feel safe and
comfortable as well; however, I cannot get too comfortable because I need to my
uncomfortable at times—especially when trying new things in the class to make
the students have the best learning experiences. Although I will probably never
be in another primary school classroom, this was a valuable experience with a
worthwhile lesson (but only valuable enough to teach for one day rather than
the rest of the week the school wanted me to do it; I had emailed the principal
saying that I need to be in secondary level because that is what I need to
experience for my studies in secondary education, which he took well by finding
another substitute for the kindergarten teacher).
This school worked on a homeroom
block schedule where the teachers move around rather than the students—which I
know there are schools in the U.S. that work this way, however, I have not
experienced it before. However, I did notice that the students have a higher
amount of respect for authority and are more well-mannered here in Ecuador (and
Latin America) than in the United States. The students stand up whenever
another teacher enters the classroom to show respect and do not sit down unless
the teacher says so; they also always greet when they enter a room and say
goodbye when they leave. This school also focuses so much on teaching English
as a second language rather than a foreign language so that the students are
more well-rounded, which schools in the U.S. do not do because the U.S. (as a
whole) thinks that English is the only language people need and that learning
another language/culture is not necessary—which I totally disagree with this
idea of English-is-best, by the way. However, because English is the
world/business language, it does influence non-Western countries to adopt
English in their culture—whether it be for tourism, business, academic, or
anything else.
Recommendations & Suggestions
I would definitely recommend this
experience to other students. The school I worked in, Academia USA, was amazing
with kid faculty and staff. However, I think that only (English) education
majors and/or students who have had teaching experience (education classes,
work, and practicum) should participate in this experience; background in
teaching is necessary to work with these students because one needs to know how
to manage a classroom, discipline, and create and execute lesson plans. Having
a formal background in English and grammar (college courses) is also necessary
to be able to help students learn the language and grammar—simply speaking
English because it was your first language is not enough because students need
to learn the “correct” standard English (grammar and mechanics). This
experience was great for me because I do have all this background. However, if
I did not take any formal English grammars classes, it would be difficult to
teach tense and modals and all that “fun” stuff to the students; you also do
not want unexperienced students to misinform the students while they are
learning English as a foreign (and second) language.
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