Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Even though we are in a different country, we are still celebrating Thanksgiving just as we would at home! Our students celebrated at school today with a Thanksgiving brunch including all kinds of Dominican breakfast foods. (I have officially come to the conclusion that I do not like plantains, I think I’ve tried them in every form now.) I also taught government for the first time today, and I think that it went well! School is closed for the rest of the week for the holiday.

After school 4 of us student teachers stopped by a local colmado to hang out and discuss our weekend plans. Our professor even stopped by to chat. On our walk back home we stopped by the grocery store to pick up a turkey so that it could start thawing for our big feast tomorrow. I don’t know how much turkeys cost in the states, but 2500 pesos seemed like a lot! That’s almost $60! But we are trying to feed about 15 people. In addition to a delicious turkey, we are planning to make green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and more! I am so excited!

We are also planning to stick with our other various Thanksgiving day traditions such as running the Turkey Trot (not me, I don’t run) and eating Lucky Charms while watching the Macy’s Parade (that’s my plan).

Tonight we are going to see a Dominican ballet, which should be very interesting. I hear that it is not like a ballet we would go to in the U.S., so I’m not really sure what to expect.

A Productive Tuesday

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but on Tuesdays we only have three class periods with students. During the rest of the day I worked on making the lessons for government class next week. I will be teaching the chapter about political parties in the U.S. government. As a history major, I’m not qualified to teach government in the U.S., and have not taken a government class since I was in high school. But I’m excited to give it a try, I definitely learned a lot about political parties today while making the lessons, I did not know they could be so complicated! I am even having my coordinator come in to observe my government lesson on Monday.

A lot of my students were talking about Thanksgiving today and asking if I celebrate it. It seems that a lot of my students here celebrate it, but there are some people who do not. We also had a discussion about egg nog because a few students had never tried it and wanted to know what it was. But how do you explain the taste of egg nog? That and all of the Christmas decorations around town (and hearing about snow days back at home!) are getting me excited to be home for the holidays.

Week 3!

We are halfway through our Santo Domingo student teaching experience! =

Today I taught U.S. History again. We are still talking about World War I and I am having a great time with it. My favorite time period is from about 1900-1950. The world wars are a fun topic to teach because students find it very interesting and sometimes have stories to add if their grandparents or other relatives were around during the war. One of my favorite things to do while teaching about the wars is to analyze propaganda, it is a great way to see how people felt during the war, and how their government wanted them to feel. I will finish up the WWI unit after Thanksgiving.

In 8th grade Geography the students had a food day! They have just finished learning all about the North and South American continents so each student brought a dish from a different country. We had cheeseburgers and fries from the U.S., empanadas from Argentina, banana bread from Guatemala, nachos from Mexico and so much more! It was delicious. I thought it was funny that the student who brought nachos brought chips, salsa, and queso dip that were all Tostitos brand, and chili that was from Wendy’s. I would have thought they would have some delicious homemade nacho stuff down here, but they brought exactly what I would make at home in Michigan. Not that I’m complaining, I love Tostitos!

The 8th graders enjoying their feast!

Yummy!

Another random cultural observation is that Spanish is exhausting! George and I discussed this over the weekend while we were watching Semi Pro in Spanish on TV in our hotel. He thought the movie was just hilarious gibberish because he didn’t understand a word of it. To me it was almost stressful to watch because I was trying to keep up with what they were saying. This is how I feel everyday, because I understand Spanish except when they are speaking too fast, which is almost always. By the end of the day my brain is fried. I really hope that feeling means that my brain is learning more Spanish, like the way your muscles burn after a good work out. Reading in Spanish is so much easier for me, I think because I’m a visual learner, and because I can read at my own pace. I am so glad that I had really good high school and college Spanish teachers, because I would rather be struggling to understand than to have no idea what is being said at all. So a big thank you to Mrs. Chahbazi, Mrs. Cavric, and Mrs. Vernon for teaching me everything I know about this language!

Greek Food Day and Heading to Punta Cana = Perfect End to the Week!

How is it already the end of our second week of school in Santo Domingo? Time is really flying.

To finish up the unit on Greek History, we had a Greek food day in 9th grade. They brought all kinds of delicious things such as hummus and pita, vanilla ice cream, Greek Salad, cinnamon apples, orange juice, Greek grilled cheese, and a variety of feta cheese items, and a few desserts. It was so yummy! I loved the Greek grilled cheese and the cinnamon apples with vanilla ice cream. The food day reminded me of when we had food days in my high school Spanish classes. I think that food days are a great way to celebrate the end of a unit and to explore other cultures. It is important to try new foods, which is something I have done a lot while I’ve been here! Another interesting part of the school day was that everyone was called out of class to to courtyard where the flag  ceremony takes place. They announced that the U.S. flag was flying at half mast in respect for John F. Kennedy, whose assassination was 50 years ago today. I wondered if schools in the U.S. did anything to commemorate this event?

So many delicious treats!

Last night a few of us went to the Agora Mall near our apartment. When we walked in we noticed all of the Christmas decorations and music. We followed our ears to the source of the music, and they were having a little Christmas concert! People were standing on platforms in the giant Christmas tree singing Christmas songs in Spanish! We all looked around for the Santa display because we want to get our picture taken with a Dominican Santa Claus! Do they have mall Santas here?

The mall looks so pretty!

Today after school I am headed to a resort in Punta Cana for the weekend. I am looking forward to a nice relaxing time on the beach, and indulging in some delicious all-you-can eat buffets. It will be interesting to compare being in a resort/tourist area to life here in the city of Santo Domingo.

Another Busy Day

I feel like I accomplished quite a bit today.

At school I continued teaching the French Revolution, and finished up the chapter on U.S. Imperialism. I also observed the 10th grade biology class. I wanted to see how science classes might be different in the Dominican Republic. They were learning about cell growth and division and the teacher showed a very interesting video that did a good job of explaining the topic. I enjoyed the class and hope to visit again. We did not have the 12th graders today because they were on a field trip to a local university. I asked my teacher about universities here and she said that students do not have to apply and be accepted or rejected to universities, they simply pay and go!

Probably the most interesting part of the day was 9th grade. The students are giving presentations on the Greek Gods. They each have to pretend to be a certain god or goddess, in costume, and explain their lives to the class. I could tell that the students put a lot of thought into their presentations. I will post pictures tomorrow after all students have presented!

After school I created a whole new resume for myself, added some items to my electronic teaching portfolio (which is already done, thankfully), worked on lesson plans, figured out some details of my weekend trip to Punta Cana, and even had time to read a little bit of the Hunger Games. I also had a very nice conversation with Adela, one of the ladies we are staying with. It was a good way to practice my Spanish. She would type in Spanish and I would read it then answer in Spanish. I have trouble understanding when they talk here because it is so much faster, and a little different than I am used to from high school Spanish classes, but I can read it pretty well.

Well tomorrow should be another busy day and breakfast is bright and early, so buenos noches!

Teaching 8th Grade Geography and My First University Coordinator Observation

Tuesdays are shorter days in my classroom because we only have students for 3 of the 7 class periods. It gives plenty of time for things such as lesson planning and grading. Today I taught the U.S. History class as we continued learning about U.S. Imperialism. I also taught the 8th grade Geography class for the very first time. My CMU professor came to observe my teaching for this lesson.

In geography the students are currently giving presentations on the different countries in the Americas. I interrupted their presentations today with a lesson on the geography of Michigan. I showed them how to use a KWL chart and we reviewed the 5 themes of geography while learning about the state I live in. They seemed very interested in the lesson, and had some wonderful questions, which made me very happy! I love it when students get involved with a lesson because they are genuinely curious about the topic. The students were very well behaved as well. They had so many questions that the lesson went right up until the bell rang, even though I had a few more things that we could have done in class. Both my coordinating teacher and my CMU professor both liked the lesson and provided some very helpful feedback.

 

I have noticed that I teach much differently here than I did back in Michigan, and I think there are a couple of reasons for it. Typically, I stand and move around the room more while lecturing, but here I feel like I am a little more tied to the desk because of the set up of the desk/computer/projector. Since I taught in my Michigan classroom for a much longer period of time, I felt more like the class was mine and I created almost everything on my own. Being here for a shorter amount of time makes me feel like the classroom will never become “mine.” I am okay with this because I expected things to be different, but I had gotten used to being the only teacher in the classroom and using my own materials. I guess I just felt more in control and prepared for my classes in Michigan.

Week Two in Saint Thomas School

Today we taught 6 classes in my classroom. Mondays are our longest days because we have the 11th grade class twice, which is quite strange to me. Some grades we teach 6 times a week, others only 4 times. School schedules are much more consistent in the U.S. Other than that it was a pretty typical school day. Tomorrow is my first observation from my CMU coordinator while in Santo Domingo. I will be teaching an 8th grade geography lesson about Michigan.

Here are some other various observations I have made about Dominican culture:

• Though we all work in schools where the families are quite wealthy, there is a lot of poverty near where we live and teach. Every time we visit the convenience store there are little boys asking to shine our shoes for money. We saw one of the little boys pull his backpack out of a McDonald’s trash bin where he had been keeping it safe. (Not in the actual garbage, but inside the door of the cabinet thing the garbage bin is in.) It was so sad, and very eye-opening. There are also two Haitian women who beg us whenever we walk down our street. It is crazy to see such wealth and poverty so close together.
• When we walk down the street, men sometimes make comments or hiss at us. Men do not do that at home, so I think it is simply because we are fair-skinned, light haired, and clearly not from around here. We are all glad that there is one male student on the trip.
• We have also gotten special treatment at some places. For example, we went on a banana boat ride at Boca Chica and the boat driver got out the nice life jackets for us because we are white. It seemed so strange that he just came right out and said that he only uses the nice life jackets for the white people. You would never say something like that in the U.S! We have heard many different comments about race that are quite surprising.

Oh and the soccer tournament is still going on! We haven’t stayed to watch, but we see a little bit as we are leaving the school each afternoon. They sell Papa Johns pizza, snow cones, and popcorn, and it is televised, so I guess it is a pretty big deal! Go Falcons!

First full weekend in the Dominican

The weekend is just flying by! We have been having so much fun.

On Friday night Winston (he is the son of one of the ladies we are staying with) took us out with some of his friends. We happened to meet a guy who attended Western Michigan University while we were out, which was a funny coincidence because it is Central Western Weekend. He said that he felt obligated to hate us because our schools are rivals, but he taught us how to dance anyway. Salsa dancing seems so easy, but most of us struggled with it. I should have taken lessons before coming here!

On Saturday we went to the beach at Boca Chica. The water was beautiful and the perfect temperature. We played in the water, walked on the beach, and did a little shopping.

This is 5 of us with Estelle (one of the ladies we live with, in the blue) and Bernadette (the director of the international school, in the pink).

We also went on a banana boat ride, which was a blast!

Later on Saturday we went to dinner at Pizzarelli (a pizza place on our street) and then had a movie night. We watched the Great Gatsby with Spanish subtitles.

Today we just went to our professor’s hotel to work on lesson plans and then stopped by the mall for lunch. Now it’s time to relax and prepare for another week of school.

Day 3 in the classroom in the DR

Today we had all 5 grades (8-12) in my classroom again. It looks like I will be taking over the 11th grade U.S. History class first. I have given the lecture the past two days. I am a little bummed out because today we finished the section on progressivism, which is a topic that I have a whole unit planned out for from my History methods class. I would have liked to test out my plans in a real classroom. But we are also moving into my favorite era, the 1920s, so I am very excited about that! Most of the other classes are still doing presentations, but I will get to teach a full week of government on my own. (It should be interesting, I haven’t taken government since I was in high school since I’m only a history major, not social studies.)

The students act so much different than in the U.S. They are just loud and rambunctious all day long! Sometimes I wonder how they learn at all, but they seem to be doing well. It is a much different classroom atmosphere than I am used to, but it is a different culture!

I have a few things to do tonight to prepare for the next couple days of school, such as find a video clip about president Woodrow Wilson, and an activity to review progressivism. I am also making a lesson on Michigan geography for my 8th graders.

Day Two!

Today my teacher only had 3 class periods – 11th, 12th, and 8th grades. I taught the 11th grade class about the Progressive Era in the United States. I think that it went well, the students had some great questions and seemed interested in the topic. The 12th graders gave presentations on government. The 8th graders have a test later this week so they worked on reviewing information on geography in North and South America. I’m looking forward to teaching more in the 10th and 11th grade classes, since the other classes will be doing presentations for most of my time here.

Some other observations from my second day of school:

-They do not speak English or Spanish, they speak Spanglish. Everything is a mixture of the two. For example they might say: Canada is bigger than the U.S. pero less people y cities. My teacher explained that they just use whichever word comes to mind first whether it is Spanish or English. I am glad I already know some Spanish!

-I learned that the majority of my students come from very wealthy families. They all have iPhones and macbooks.

-The teachers described Saint Thomas as kind of a soccer boot camp. Soccer is a huge deal.

-My students are all part of facebook groups where they can communicate with the teacher. She posts all of their assignments and powerpoints so that they can access them from home. I would love to be able to do this in my classroom at home, but everyone there is so afraid of using technology such as facebook as part of school.

 

Overall, I think today went very well. After school we had another delicious dinner, went swimming, and a few of us went out for a snack at a local restaurant.