Carla Di Christina Longo
Program Facilitator
Department of Elementary Education and Reading
Department of Elementary Education and Reading
Last night we had dinner with the mayor of Torremaggiore, several members of the international Buffalo/Torremaggiore partnership committee, and several teachers. A seven course meal that bagan at 9:00 and ended at midnight. The food was oustanding, but as always, too much for us to finish. Throughout dinner the committee members made several speeches all related to the importance of continuing to build the partnership between the two cities. They also commented several times about how happy they were that we are here in their city, and that the children have been going home and telling their parents about all the activities the American teachers have been doing with them. I feel the teacher candidates have really made an impact here, and they will leave with memories that will last a lifetime.
1 Comment
The student candidates have been working in the school for five days and have become extremely familiar with the routines, and know many of the children by name. For the past few days they have entered the building and gone directly to the classes where they would like to continue teaching or observe. They are finding creative ways in which to teach English to the students or introduce American literature.
Anna, our student teacher, has been very busy teaching a fifth grade unit on the solar system, which was written completely in English. It's amazing how much the children are able to comprehend, and anything they don't, our liaison teacher Filomena, is there to help. Taylor and Ashley, our art majors, collaborated with Anna and had the children create a mural of the solar system. It is proudly displayed in the hall. Amanda has been very busy teaching and doing research on her master's project. She has been able to freely move from grade to grade for her observations. Nicole and Elise have been spending their mornings in early childhood and then move to the older grades. Nicole taught a third grade class "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" on Wednesday and gave the teacher a copy of the finger play in both English and Italian. The teacher, Mirella, asked if we would return to her class on Friday so the children can sing it for us. They were wonderful and so very proud of their new song. Elise is looking forward to teaching her matching game to the second grade class tomorrow, which is Saturday. Yes, the children go to school Monday through Saturday, but their school day runs from 8:30 to 1:30. After several days of technical difficulties and computer glitches, I am finally able to blog.
We arrived in Rome on Tuesday, January 6th, a day and a half late, after missing our connecting flight in New York and being re-routed to Paris. We had a very nice dinner at the restaurant right next door to our hotel, some of us turned in early. Our Wednesday in Rome was spectacular and the girls were able to see quite a bit having only one day to tour. Taking advantage of the convenient tour system available in Rome, we were able to visit the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain (which is under construction) and see the Colosseum and Spanish Steps from the bus. We'll see the rest of the sights on our return. We left for Torremaggiore that evening, taking a late train to Foggia, where Maria and I were yelled at by a vey impatient conductor who told us our luggage was too large to be on the train. Thank goodness a very nice Italian gentleman came to our aid. Filomena, our IPDS liaison from San Giovanni Bosco School, greeted us at the train station in San Severo, where a large van was waiting to take us to Torremaggiore. We arrived to our B&B very late and had a little snack before going off to bed. On Thursday morning, January 8th, the children of our IPDS were waiting for our arrival and greeted us by singing both the Italian and American National Anthems in the school playground. They waved mini flags of both countries and were clearly extremely excited to see us. The children are adorable! We toured the school, were introduced to the teachers and had a bit of planning time. Our dinner at the B&B was absolutely delicious, and of course too much food. We then took a very nice walk around the town. Walking is a nightly routine here, commonly done by couples and close friends walking arm in arm. The men congregate in small groups and have conversations. We were accompanied by three teachers from the school, Fontana, Luciana and Gina. They offered to assist us in purchasing some clothes for two of the girls whose luggage was lost. They spoke no English so I finally got the nerve to use the little bit of Italian that I know. They said I did "molto buona" (very good); I was a bit proud. With only 15,000 residents in Torremaggiore, everyone knows the Americans are here visiting. The people here are so friendly, everyone said "caio" (hello) as we walked past. We spent the morning of Friday, January 9th, planning at the school with Filomina. Our planning discussions included the students' time in the classroom and a reading night at a library/caffe. Knowing that we are here, and wanting to improve their English, many of the residents expressed an interest in hearing us speak. We have planned an afternoon of read alouds for the children, where the Buffalo State students will read one of the multi lingual books they brought along, and an evening of adult readings, where the students have chosen a passage from either a favorite author or the lyrics from a song from a well known artist. This will take place on Wednesday. We had dinner at the B&B and in the evening went to San Savero to listen to some live Jazz at a local caffe. We received a warm welcome from the owner of the caffe, he even introduced us before the performance began. The band was wonderful. Bright and early Saturday morning, we boarded a large van and left for an overnight trip to Pompeii, Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi and Positano. It's absolutely amazing how much we were able to see in such a short period of time. The historical aspect of Pompeii was spectacular and the |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |