|
|
The Art of SpontaneitySometimes, being a teacher means you need to be ready for anything...even if that means teaching vocabulary to a class of 40 students who cannot understand English. Going in to the classroom, I had no idea what to expect. Was I going to observe for a couple days to get a general feel for the classroom before I teach? Was I expected to jump right in on the first day? It seems that a general theme since being in Italy is that Italians are full of ambition. So naturally, I was expected to jump right in with a lesson. Rebeca, the music major I was paired with, lead a welcome song that I participated in. We started with a beat and had the students pat their legs to get a feel for the beat. Then we sang the first part of the song in Italian so they understood the context of the song. Then we sang the song in English to show them what it sounded like in our language. Rebeca had them slow down and say the English slowly so that they could understand the pronunciation. We also had them introduce themselves in English ("My name is...."). Having everyone repeat the same phrase seemed to help them learn the English phrase. By the end they were able to say it without our help. It seems music really does have a positive effect on how children learn a different language. Then we switched roles and I started a small literacy lesson with the students. I read the book we created "Getting Around New York City" and the students ha da blast at looking at the pictures and learning about New York City. I had the teacher read each page in Italian and after every page I would read the English version slowly so the students could point to the english word while looking at the Italian word below. According to research on translanguaging I had done prior to this trip, students are more likely to learn a second language by being able to have both languages next to each other so they can read the sentences side by side to help them understand the second language (in this case English) better. On my blog, it seems like the lesson went smoothly, but let me tell you, there was much planning and communication between myself and the teachers at San Giovanni Bosco that needed to commence before I began the lesson. For the most part, I was on my own. The teachers only new limited English so I had to use a lot of nonverbal language and the limited Italian I knew at the time to show them what I wanted to do (Leggo: I read, Tu leggi: you read). While reading the book the students had many questions they wanted to ask me about the pictures. One picture in particular had them curious as to what Times Square actually was to Americans. After a bit of thought I told them it was a grande piazza (big plaza) and the students seemed to understand. The students were in awe of the pictures. They wanted to keep the book to look at it after lesson. Fortunately, I had paper copies of the book in black and white for them to follow along. At the end of my stay in Torremaggiore I plan on letting them keep a hard copy of the book for their classroom and the paper copies for themselves. Overall, the lesson went better than expected. Coming into a situation with no expectations and a go-with-the-flow personality helped tremendously. After the lesson I was able to reflect on my teaching and couldn't help but be proud of myself. After going through everything in my head, what I summed up my first experience teaching in a foreign country was this: If you can teach a lesson with limited verbal communication and rely mostly on nonverbal communication, then you truly are an amazing teacher. A Typical Day at San Giovanni BoscoAfter implementing the lesson, both music and literacy based, we had time to observe the students for the rest of the day. I was placed specifically with first grade children so I got to see a typical day for the students. Students at San Giovanni Bosco go to school from 8:20am-1:20pm Monday through Saturday. Students begin their school day by receiving reading, spelling, and reading comprehension instruction. Schools in Italy seem to focus on neatness of writing while learning how to write and spell. This lasts for about 1 hour. After, the teachers rotate to a different classroom to teach the subject they specialize in to a different grade and/or class. Below, you can see that the students use notebooks with grid paper to help them learn how to have neat penmanship while writing. The teachers take this very seriously and will even have the students correct their work if the writing is not neat enough. Italian Letter SoundsThe students also learned letter sounds during this first period of instruction. Interestingly, the letter sounds are different than the ones I teach to students in America. For example, Italian students learn a letter sound "GLI" (nee-lee) which is not found in British English or American English. Some examples of the word found in Italian include: conigli (rabbit), maglia (jersey), and moglie (wife). Additionally, the letter sound "GLI" is the most difficult sound to pronounce for a non-native speaker. Above you can find other examples of letter sounds the students learn while i primary school. MatematicaNext, I observed matematica (math). The students are currently learning prima (before) and dopo (after). The teacher is helping them understand this concept by using a number line. Again, penmanship is highly valued during instruction so the students must make sure they write neatly in their notebooks at all times. Since they leave at 1:20pm the students do not receive a lunch and ar expected to have lunch with their families during riposo (rest) which takes place between 2pm and 5pm. Between these hours everything shuts down in the town (busses, markets, stores, businesses...etc) and everyone goes home to spend time with their families. Therefore, during the school day, the children only have a "break" after their first 3 classes (around 11:30) in which they can eat a snack they packed from home. This break lasts for about 15 minutes. The students also receive physical education. It is unclear at this time how often the students receive physical education, however, I will update my blog when I know the answer. The students have a small gym in which they are taught instruction by a teacher. Below is a video sample of first grade students in a physical education class. After Physical Education, the students receive Scienza (Science), Storia (History), and Inglese (English) instruction. Unfortunately, I was not able to observe these classes today because our group had to leave the building for a different activity planned by the school. However, more information about these subjects will be added to the blog within the coming days. After the students finish school the bell rings and the students are escorted by their teacher to the outside piazza (plaza) area where the parents can pick up their children. Busses are available through the school but are not necessary because most families live in the town.
Overall, school in Italy has many similarities and differences. It was fascinating to observe a typical school day in Torremaggiore to get a different perspective on how school works in a foreign country.
5 Comments
our stay in Torremaggiore, Italy. The moment we got to the piazza where the scuola is located, the entire student body and faculty came out into the piazza and cheered for us as we entered the school grounds. The kids cheered as we walked through the gate and put on a show where they sang songs in English and Italian for us. They were all holding pom-poms made with American colors and Italian colors. After they sang for us we got to walk around and say hi to everyone in the crowed. Even the parents and other members of the town were there! The students take English class once a week from first grade until fifth grade at the school so some of the students tried to practice their English by talking to us. Some of the students knew how to say “Hello” “My name is…” and “What is your name?’ It was exciting to speak to them and try to understand what they were telling us. I could make out some of the words in Italian but sometimes I needed one of the English teachers to translate. We toured the school for the last portion of the day. The teachers provided snacks for us in the presidente (principle) office. Only a few teachers new how to speak some English which was very helpful when touring the school. Trying to speak Italian to the kids and to the teachers is very mentally exhausting. I had to think a lot about what I was going to say because it does not come naturally to me like English. Even the English teachers seemed tired after a while too. I’m going to have to impara l’italiano while I’m here! After touring the school, we were able to have the rest of the day to ourselves. It was about noon at this time and in small towns like Torremaggiore, all business, churches, schools, and other facilities close down at 1pm for what the towns people call “Riposo” which means rest (more about that on a different day). We had about 1 hour to walk around the town and visit local shops to buy food and snacks if we needed. The B&B Cavous does not serve us lunch as we are on our own for the middle of the day. I grabbed some snacks from the super mercato to tide me over until dinner because I know dinner is a big deal for Italians. A Note on Special Education in ItalyI asked a lot of questions about special education and what supports students with disabilities are able to receive at the school. For the most part, the teachers said they have one teacher who provides support for “students with difficulties” as they described it. I want to believe this is their version of a resource room teacher. However, they do not have a proper diagnosis and labeling process for students with disabilities both physically and mentally which was concerning. According to some articles I looked up online later on, having a system that is able to diagnose and label children is very progressive for a country. Italy does not seem to be at that level yet. Some countries might even have a labeling and diagnosing process but do not have supports and/or a plan to implement the supports in the classroom. Overall, it seems like countries like The United States and Canada seem to be more progressive when it comes to Special Education. Overall, the day went by so fast and the students seem excited and ready to see what we have in store for them. Tomorrow will be our first day observing the first-grade classroom I have been placed in for the next 10 days. I am delighted and hopeful to see what is in store for me for the next 2 weeks while staying in the town.
Today we leave Roma and head to Torremaggiore. We took a charter bus that was driven by Giovanni. He was a super sweet guy that could speak a little English but got his point across when we had to tell us what to do. Italians are very nice. Our trip up to the town was beautifully lined with mountains, valleys, and vineyards. Our was about 4 hours. I slept for most of it but had a chance to glimpse at the mountains during the last our of the ride. The Bed and Breakfast (B&B Cavour) that we are staying at his very delightful. Our room is so much more spacious that it was in Roma. I think that might be due to being in the city and all the building being on top of each other. I'm used to that whenever I travel to NYC or Toronto and stay in a hotel. This room is more spacious with a balcony, flat screen T.V and Dressers and Closets to put our clothes in. The view from our balcony is very authentic, beautiful view of the town. The wifi is not very good from our room but when I come downstairs to the study area I seem to have very good connection. Guess I will spending most of my time blogging from the "breakfast area" downstairs. Since our group is so big they cannot serve us in the "breakfast area so we have to go next door (building directly to the left of the building) to eat all of our meals. Usually, people would eat breakfast in here because Italians do not have big breakfasts to begin with. I thought I would have trouble with that because I love breakfast but it has been easy for me to only have a light breakfast during the day. I find myself having my biggest meal during dinner time (3-4 course meals usually at restaurants) and having a semi-light dinner late. The dinner we had was really authentic. In Roma we had decent italian food but nothing is better than a family dinner in a small Italian town. We had 4 courses this evening. The courses are a bit smaller than usual only because it was the first night. The chef assured us tomorrow will be "fancier" (whatever that means!) However, every single item on the pictures below was fresh and either from the families garden or from the fresh fruit market around the corner. Everything tasted very wholesome and authentic. Italians like to sit down and have a long dinner so we sat down in the dining hall for about an hour and a half. I had to remember to tell myself to slow down and not eat as fast and enjoy what I am eating. Below are the pictures of what I ate: On a more exciting note, one of my roommates was wearing a Buffalo Bills sweatshirt while we were touring the Colesseo yesterday, posted it on twitter, and found out that she was featured in a tweet by WGRZ today before the game. We plan on representing Buffalo and streaming it in one of our rooms tonight at 7pm (1pm in Buffalo) to watch the game. Hopefully we can bring some Italian luck to the Bills and they can make it to the next round! In bocce al lupo Bills!! Tomorrow starts our first day in the classroom and I am excited to observe and see the similarities and differences between and American elementary school and an Italian elementary school. Thats all for todays post, until tomorrow, Ciao!
Google maps is a girls best friend. Today is my last day in Rome before I move on to the bella cittiana of Torramagorrie. We all decided to get as much done as possible on our last day so we got up early again to go straight to the Colosseo. I was super eccitato to tour the Colosseo because it was my #1 must see while in Roma. We spent a little extra Euro to skip the lines and have a tour guide for both the Colesseo and the Foro Romano. The Form Romano was HUGE. We could have spent all day here if we wanted to. There was so much history and architecture the tour guide could have went on for hours just on one section of this gigantic forum in the middle of the city. We also climbed to the top of Palatine Hill which is one of the famous 7 hills of Rome. This was the hill Julius Caesar's Palace was located and many other famous imperial figures. After spending a majority of the morning at the Colesseo and the Fort Romana I decided to split off from the group and go explore more of the monuments around Rome. Some of the different places I saw included the Capitol Building of Italy, The Curia of Pompey where Julius Caesar was assassinated, The Pantheon and Piazza Venezia. As the suns as going down I was finally starting to work up an appetite. I asked the tour guide from the Fort Romana where the best pizza place in Roma was... she showed me on the map this small place called Campo De Fiori. I took me a while to figure out where I was in relation to where the ristorante is located. Learning how to use landmarks to determine where you are and where you came from really helped me figure out where I was going. It also helped me find my way back either. Eventually I figured out that it was close to The Pantheon so I decided to try and find this special place on earth. On my way there I stumbled upon a flea market in Piazza Capo Di Ferro. Vendors were selling fresh fruit, vegetables, pasta, and other miscellaneous items. I found a stand where a guy was squeezing fresh fruit to make juice and decided to buy some juice with a mixture of different fruits (oranges, pomegranates, and Grapefruit). The juice costed 4 Euro and was absolutely delicious. It was so delicious that on my way back from the Pizza Ristorante I got another juice to drink on my walk back to the bus station. It was so interesting seeing everyone barter and trade for goods in the piazza. I'm so happy I was lucky enough to find it! Learning how to read a map, let alone in italian was very interesting and definitely an experience! Also using words I have recently learned to help communicate my wants and needs came in handy on many occasions. Roma overall has been such an eye opening experience. At first, when I came to Roma I was very afraid of venturing out on my own but after learning my way around, studying the map, and figuring out where the main termini is for transportation needs was located, I wasn't afraid anymore. I felt confident enough in my abilities that I could find my way to a location I wanted to go and find my way back to my hotel. All by myself. I know this may seem daunting to some people but if you were to go back and time and tell me to navigate a city in a foreign country with only a google maps (pre downloaded because I don't have data) I think I would cry. Being on my own and not having anyone hold my hand to do anything was very good for me. It helped me feel proud of myself and more confident in my abilities. Sadly, this is my last day in Rome. Tomorrow we will be leaving around 10am for Torremaggiore, Italy. I am excited to finally slow myself down from fast paced city life and finally settle in and really take in the small town life on the east coast of Italy.
(This post is from Jan 5th 2018. The wifi was down that day and I did not post this until the following day.) I stopped at the Trevi Fountain again (but this time at night), The Spanish steps and stumbled upon the U.S. Embassy. I couldn’t go inside because it was closed but it was cool to see the outside. I decided to venture out on my own in the Citta di Roma. At first I thought it would be hard (it still was but not in the way one would think). The bus pass we got only runs until 6pm so I needed to figure out another way around the city. But I managed to buy a subway pass and use the map I found at an information center to navigate my way around the city. Even though seeing those sites again at night was awesome, that was not the most influential and important part of the experience. Let me just first start by saying: Thank god for Google Translate. I found myself at the terminal ready to take the subway and wander around the city. I knew where I wanted to go but I didn’t know how to get a pass or what metro line to take. Some stuff I figured out because of common sense, but other stuff I had to ask people. Problem is, some people don’t understand English. I had to type in google translate what I wanted to say to people and try my best to sound it out. Sometimes I literally just showed them my phone because I got frustrated. I learned very quickly how to say aiuto which means help. I ended up eventually figuring out how to get a ticket from the machine and which metro line to take. After that I was golden. Once I got on the subway I couldn’t help but think of all my students I work with at The Summit Center. We are always teaching them key words and phrases to say in order for them to communicate what they want. Sometimes the students get frustrated which cause behaviors like hitting or kicking or screaming. Now I think I finally understand why. When I felt frustrated because no one could understand me in the subway I noticed myself getting tense. Now, this only lasted about 10 minutes before I finally got my point across but can you imagine doing that every day??? That seems very exhausting. That’s what my students at The Summit Center have to battle with. Being in their shoes has helped me learn sympathy for them. It really puts things into perspective when us are thrown in a situation in which you have limited communication skills. Very eye opening! Tomorrow is our last day in the Citta Di Roma and I have a feeling it will be filled with more adventures! Until next time, vedere piu tardi!!
(This post is from Jan 5th 2018. The wifi was down that day and I did not post this until the following day.) Today our group decided to go to Vatican City. However, what we didn’t realize was that tomorrow is The Epiphany which is a special Roman Catholic holiday so it was packed. Also, a lot of stuff was closing early so we needed to get there veloce! We came to the consensus that we would buy a 2-day bus pass which takes you to bus stops near many of the special sites around Roma. The cost was only 30 Euro with a student discount and we can use it for 48 hours…not a bad deal in my opinion! Once we got to the Vatican our first order of business was the Sistine Chapel. That was closing at 1pm today due to the holiday tomorrow. The Sistine chapel was BEAUTIFUL featuring famous painting like The Creation of Adam painted by Michelangelo. Unfortunately, the security would not allow people to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel so I do not have any pictures to show.Mi Dispiace! After the Sistine Chapel, we made our way to Saint Peter’s Square which was way bigger than I ever could have imagined. We ended up deciding to go into the The Baslicia di San Peietro despite the grande line! We waited about 2 hours to get into the Basilica di San Peietro. Let me tell you, it was worth it. Once we were done with Vatican City we headed back to have dinner. By this time, it was getting late so we decided to get off the bus stop near the Colosseum because it was very beautifully lit up at night. After Dinner, we headed back to the hotel and rest up for the night. It was only about 7pm at the time and I was still itching for an adventure. This is where it gets interesting… (see next post above)
Jetlag is horrible. Getting off the plane in Rome had me super excited and motivated to explore. When I first left New York to embark on this journey I was nervous and had mixed feelings about this whole thing. Now that I'm here I am IN LOVE. I didn't even need to begin exploring to take it all in and notice slight differences between how Rome works verses other cities I have been too in America. We took a shuttle to the hotel and kept looking at all the signs on the highways. You know what I realized? There are NO speed limits in Italy! How strange??? That wasn't the first thing I found strange when riding the shuttle bus... I also noticed people wearing winter coats and scarves even though it was 60 degrees out (I wore a light jacket and a t-shirt and was sweating!). Another thing I found strange is was the fact that nobody stops for the ambulances when their sirens are on??? I can't believe that’s not a law in Europe. I tried a "Italian version of an ice cream sandwich today and that was also strange. Even the Coke Zeros look different and taste different! I guess what I should make explicitly clear I mean strange but in a good way. Its so cool to find out new strange things in places you have never been before. It makes you think outside the box and makes you realize how different each part of the world really is. So many strange things I could go on and on about them all day. Let’s get to the good stuff. The sites. A small group and I decided to make our way to the Trevi Fountain for our first adventure. We decided that on our way if we see other things we wanted to do then we could stop and be spontaneous if we wanted to. We passed so many cool little shops on our way up to the fountain. When we got there, I think we all just stood there in complete awe for about 2 minutes because we couldn't believe how big and gorgeous the fountain is. We ran to the steps and all made one wish in the fountain. After spending a long time at the Fountain we kept walking and found this special gelato place that had a million different flavors to choose from (aka: heaven on earth) so we HAD to stop and get some. Then we made our way East and found ourselves encounter the Spanish Steps. Our natural instinct was to climb all the way to the top. Once we got there we stumbled upon the Church of Trinita Dei Monti. Naturally our instincts told us to head inside and boy were we NOT disappointed! The Church was BEAUTIFUL and that’s’ honestly and understatement because the walls are all so colorful and hand painted beautifully. We accidentally found the other half of our travel group when we came out of the Church so we all grouped together to embark on the second half of our journey. At this point is about 2pm (Rome time) so we decided to head home since we were far out from where we started. On our way back we came across the Fontana Del Tritone and the Terme Di Diocleziano (a giant fountain and a giant Basilica nonetheless). Both were amazing sites and the basilica was especially interesting because of the way that it was built. When I walked inside I noticed something on the floor that looked like a timeline at first. Then after observing this for a while and noticing the way that the windows and lights reflected onto the floor made me come to realize it was actually a solar meridian (in other words, it was a clock!). The building was designed in such a way so that they could keep track of the time throughout the year. After we came back to the hotel we rested for a while and talked about all the fun things we saw. We had originally booked a dinner at a nice restaurant earlier that day so we all got ready to go have yummy Italian food. Let me say, there is no such thing as BAD Italian food in Rome, Italy. Overall it was a very fun, exhausting, but full day in Rome. I can't wait to see what the next day will bring!
Word of advice when you're traveling with a group: Don't look at the group chat. As excited and eager as I may be to travel across the country for the first time, I can't help but feel nervous. Our group made a Facebook chat to stay connected and help each other get ready for this experience of a lifetime. Don't get me wrong, they have all been so supportive and helpful but sometimes worry and fear seems to somehow multiple when you travel with a group. I just keep telling myself that what I'm feeling is normal. I mean, it IS my first time going to Europe, right? I have a feeling that the moment I step off the plan in Rome, Italy I will be too distracted by all the new sights, sounds, and people to really worry about much. Good thing we have a late flight the day we leave because I have a feeling I won't be getting much sleep the night before! On the happier side of things, this is probably one of the greatest adventures I will have ever been on in my entire life. Sure I've traveled to places before but this will be so different because of all the little extra experiences that you normally wouldn't have to think about when you road trip across the United States. Being in another country has its own set of rules and wonders. This has always been such a big dream of mine so no matter how nervous I may be, I have to remember to be proud of myself for doing something so brave. I hope it's everything I have ever dreamed of it to be and I have a feeling it will be and so much more. Dogs can come too right?Side Note: I will say that one of the first things I'm going to do when I get to Rome is to get a world famous Italian Pizza for lunch. This is my mission.
|
AuthorI am a graduate student studying Exceptional Education at SUNY Buffalo State. I have a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education from Oakland University located in Rochester, MI. This is my first trip to Europe and I am grateful for having this opportunity to study abroad. I work full time at The Summit Center in Buffalo, NY as a teacher. I am very excited to learn about other countries perspectives on special education and students with disabilities. I am also eager to learn more about legislation and requirements that have been passed to help protect the rights of students with disabilities in the educational realm. ArchivesCategories |