MOLLY
Elementary Education &
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) |
MOLLY
Elementary Education &
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) |
The shelves in front of the desk I sit at to write these blog posts are now empty, no longer decorated with tiny twinkle lights and photos of family and friends from back home. A full open bag sits next to me, with souvenirs, new items of clothing and memories practically spilling over the top. I take a sip of some local Chianti vino that one of my student’s mothers, who I’ve never even had a conversation with, gifted to me on my last day at school yesterday. Yesterday was my last day of student teaching. Today is my last day in Italy. Sigh. It’s hard to describe the feeling. The feeling that tears could burst out at any moment. The feeling that everything and everyone you look at will be the last time you see that thing or person for who knows how long. The feeling that this moment, being in this place and time, is only temporary, and will never happen in the exact same way again. The feeling of immense gratitude and heart-aching love. If only you could see the last photo I took with the kids. If only you could read their heartfelt notes to say goodbye. If only you could see the joy and silliness that radiates from those little beings. If only you could see the pure, genuine, happiness beaming across my face. If only you could feel how heartwarming this experience was for me. Today I depart Italy as a more confident teacher, a more thoughtful listener, and a more open-minded individual. I also leave Italy as a passionate advocate for the quality of education I was fortunate enough to take part in over the past eight weeks. Every child deserves the respect, support, freedom, and high expectations that I witnessed at the International School of Siena. That, and the view of the sun shining on top of Siena’s gorgeous medieval skyline, I will try to never forget. Ciao, for now, Italy. If your scenery, vino, and caffè aren’t enough to motivate me to return, you bet I’ll be back for your nonnas (grandmothers), bambinos (babies) and cani (dogs)!
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An item that I originally brought as a gift for my class has turned into quite a fun behavioral management tool. Benji, our beloved bengal mascot from Buff State, has had a blast in Siena so far. He quietly watches over the students, paying special attention to those who are working extra hard. When he notices someone who has done exceptional work, either because they were extra focused, creative, self-motivated, etc., he offers to sit at their desk with them. The student who has Benji can then bring him wherever they go - to music, gym, etc. - and even home with them! Benji has had the pleasure of sitting with four students so far. The first student took really detailed notes during a lesson, the second asked very thoughtful questions on our field trip, the third was a typically outspoken student who was being especially focused lately, and today Benji is with a student who has done a remarkable job keeping her portfolio organized on her own. Benji has been living it up in Siena. This past week he even went to the beach!! (I’m definitely jealous). He also has already informed me that he will not be returning to Buffalo, and I can’t say I blame him. Students practically BEG for a chance to sit with Benji, so he has a lot more watching over to do after I’m gone! :) I’m writing this on an awkward, but much needed, midweek day off. Today is Italian Labor Day, and it has been a long-awaited day for Sarah and I to catch up on school work. Not to mention, it is our first week back from Spring break, so having a hump-day holiday is a huge blessing. It’s currently raining and thundering outside, which Italians seem to despise. I, however, have always enjoyed thunderstorms, and feel that the weather perfectly matches my mood at the moment - not sad and dreary, as one might expect, but rather calm and refreshed. I had the pleasure of spending most of the Easter holiday with my two best friends from home, who came to visit after doing a Eurotrip of their own, but before meeting them, I spent one day in the picturesque and artsy city of Perugia. You could walk from one end of the city to the other in less than 20 minutes, and at every edge there was a spectacular view of the surrounding rolling hills and valleys. Perugia reminded me of Siena in that it had fantastic ornate buildings at every turn with a gorgeous countryside, but it had its own unique charm with the winding narrow streets and street art (featured in the photos below). After a lovely day of walking around and sightseeing, I hopped on the train and met my BFF’s in Florence. Remembering the first few moments of our reunion in the train station still brings a smile to my face. I love that I got to share a piece of Italy with them. After a wine-filled adventure in Florence, we headed to Cologne (Köln), Germany. It was the first time in Germany for all three of us! Needless to say, our five days in Köln involved a perfectly appropriate overconsumption of beer and schnitzel. I am now convinced that Germans can do no wrong when it comes to food. We even went to the nearest cafe closest to our AirBnb for breakfast one day, and I had one of the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever consumed. While it hurt a little to go our separate ways, the hurt went away once I realized I will be back in Buffalo just TWO SHORT WEEKS from tomorrow! Can you believe it?! Because I certainly can’t. Something that I realized upon my return to Siena was that, despite the beautiful places I travelled to over break, nothing beats gorgeousness of Siena. No Perugian street art, Tuscan wine tour, or German river cruise could beat an afternoon sitting in the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Perhaps I’m biased, or blinded by the beauty of a city that has brought so much joy and perspective to my life, but I think Siena is the best. :) After studying abroad for a semester in Galway, Ireland during my undergrad, I thought I would never find a city and country I loved more. I’ve now travelled to over 10 countries since then, and I’ve seen a lot of places that have blown my mind and captivated my eyes. Shhh! Don’t tell the Irish! But I think I found another city and country that has captured my heart. During our eight week placement, Sarah and I are fortunate enough to experience, from start to finish, what the International Baccalaureate (IB) refers to as a “Unit of Inquiry” (UOI). During the school year, the students complete six units that are each six weeks long, where they explore a given topic that relates to one of the six IB “Knowledge Transdisciplinary Themes” - Who We Are, Where We Are in Place and Time, How We Express Ourselves, How the World Works, How We Organize Ourselves, or Sharing the Planet. Within the UOI, there is also a focus on a particular “Learner Profile Attribute” - Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-Minded, Caring, Risk-Takers, Balanced, or Reflective. This specific unit is not treated a standalone subject, but rather, it is embedded within every aspect of the child’s education - mathematics, English, Italian, science, social studies, music, dance, and even gym! I recognize that all this terminology might seem complex to an outside reader, and I can empathize. I am only beginning to get a grasp of what an IB education is all about! However, when looked at in the context of my class’s current UOI, this approach to learning becomes much clearer and easier to digest. Personally, I have found the inquiry and concept-based learning process to be an incredibly meaningful, engaging and enjoyable experience for both the teachers and the students. My class’ UOI, in its broadest terms, is about beliefs. Our “central idea” is that, “people behave and express themselves differently based on their beliefs.” Our "Knowledge Transdisciplinary Theme" is “How we express ourselves,” and our "Learner profile attribute" is "Open-Mindedness." Over the six weeks, the students will inquire about the ways in which human beings discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, values and beliefs - both religious and non-religious. Now three weeks into the unit, the students have spent time “tuning in” and “finding out” about stereotypes, values and various religious beliefs around the world. During week one, students completed a pre-assessment, where they created a mind map to show their prior knowledge of beliefs. After that, the students participated in a “provocation,” which is done at the start of every unit to spark the students’ interest and lead them into the central idea and theme of the unit. For all the American teachers out there reading this, imagine it as one BIG anticipatory set that lasts a week! During this provocation period, the students were put in groups and given various photos of headless men dressed in different clothing and settings. One was wearing a white tank with tattoos all over his arms. Another was wearing a tuxedo on a red carpet. A third was wearing a plaid button-down with two police officers at his sides. The students wrote any words on the photos that came to mind in describing this person. What do you think they do for a living? How would you describe their personality? It turned out that all of these photos were of the same man - David Beckham! Judging from his headless appearance, some students thought he was anything from a criminal to a movie star. After this discussion, the students watched a video of him visiting a family in South America, where he paid off their bills for 10 years, wrote them a check for one-hundred thousand dollars, as well as gave them brand new iPhones. Some of the girls in class were in tears! As you can probably guess, the whole purpose behind this activity was to demonstrate that you shouldn’t always judge a person by how they look. From there, we had the students guess the topic of the unit (beliefs), as well as which "Learner Profile Attribute" they thought we were going to focus on (open-mindedness). See how it all ties together? This is a lesson I would LOVE to teach to future classes of mine! Although, I might include some photos of women, as some of the students complained about their underrepresentation in this activity. ;) Another provocation that the students did was, for homework, they had to write down the things they valued the most in their lives - family, friends, nature, sports, etc. When they brought them into class, we handed out specific colored paper to each student that was secretly supposed to represent what country they were from (blue for Italy, orange for Belgium, brown for China, etc.). The students had to write their values on this piece of paper, and cut them out and place them on the wall. After that, the students organized the values by similarity. Ultimately, they could see that, although we have many different nationalities in the class, we all have values in common. Not to toot my own horn or anything (but TOOT TOOT!), this lesson was mostly my idea, and it turned out better than I had imagined. I am already blown away by what these students have accomplished so far in this unit. I originally intended to write more about the “tuning in” process, where the students learned about various beliefs and religions around the world, but considering how long this post is already, I think I’ll save it for another post. Stay tuned for more inquiry magic! Today Sarah and I brought a taste of home to our Italian hosts - some good ol’ fashioned mac ‘n cheese! While Sarah and I didn’t have all the same ingredients available to make her mom’s famous recipe, we made do with some classic American cheese, white cheddar and parmesan, topped with breadcrumbs and bacon. We were a bit nervous for their reaction, but to our surprise, it ended up being a huge hit! Sarah’s host grandmother, Gloria, had a particularly priceless reaction. She kept going back for more to dip her bread into all the cheesy goodness. She even licked the spoon, and would have licked the tray had Sarah's host mom, Cinzia, let her! Perhaps my favorite part about traveling is having the opportunity for cultural exchange. Especially when living with a host family, you gain this insider perspective of a culture, and the chance to share yours as well. I'll never forget that time we turned Nonna into a mac 'n cheese addict. Perhaps I’ve hit the jackpot with my Italian host family, but I have interacted with so many generous and loving Italians so far in my experience that at this point I am convinced that Italians are just naturally loving as a people. This blog post was initially intended to be a “day in the life” post, where I essentially jot down the details of my daily routine. Five paragraphs in, I realized that I had spent the entire time rambling on about all the nice things my Italian mom does for me on a regular basis. While I’ve only been here two weeks, I’ve come to realize that this may just be an inherent part of Italian culture. The food, vino, and love never seems to stop! On top of my heartwarming host family, I’m very fortunate in that I essentially have a mini apartment to myself within my host mom’s apartment, including a small kitchen, sitting area, bed and desk. This place would make for an adorable AirBnb! Every night, my host mom kindly prepares coffee and leaves it in a thermos in my room. The coffee - or caffè as the Italians call it - is seriously out of this world. I feel so spoiled with the coffee here that I don’t know how I’ll ever get myself to drink anything else. I would not be surprised if an espresso maker ends up in my suitcase on the way home. My host mom’s thermos is also so nice that it keeps the coffee warm well into the next morning.
I also have a private bathroom to myself on my side of the apartment, which makes getting ready in the morning really easy. I finish out my morning routine while sipping my delicious caffè, and I usually end up putting breakfast food into my school bag to eat on the way. My host mom generously leaves a bowl of fruit in my room fully stocked at all times, along with cupboards full of bread, croissants, crackers, toast, biscuits, cookies, chocolate, etc. My fridge also has a range of yogurts, deli meats and cheeses as well. Needless to say, I have way more than I will ever need as far as breakfast options are concerned. I feel a bit guilty at times for how much I am given by my host mom, as I have always been a very independent person and have lived on my own since I was 18 years old, even in foreign countries. That being said, my host mom lives alone, with the exception of her 30-year-old daughter’s dog, Brenda, that comes to stay with us regularly (which I am NEVER mad about!). While her English is rather minimal, and much of our conversations rely on Google translate, she has told me that she intends to treat me as her daughter while I’m living here. Although I do not feel deserving, I am incredibly grateful for all that my host mom has done for me thus far to make me feel comfortable, supported and welcome. I can only hope to express my gratitude while I’m here, and fulfill my role in the household (when she lets me!). Maybe one day I’ll repay the favor by inviting an exchange student of my own into the comforts of my home. I have officially completed my first whole week at the International School of Siena! As I continue to get to know the students and how things operate in my classroom, I find myself struck by how meaningful the learning content is. Whether it be a homework assignment, math activity, or assessment, every lesson has been individualized and thoughtfully planned so that it addresses the language and subject-area goals, meets the students’ varying needs, and all the while engages and genuinely interests them.
On top of that, every subject - Math (or “Maths” as the adorably call it), Social Studies, Science and language - are all carefully aligned and linked to the Unity of Inquiry (UOI). Even the specials - gym, music, Italian (for both native and non-native speakers) - are all aligned with the UOI. It is mind blowing to witness the creative freedom and agency that both the teachers and the students have over curriculum planning. I can see how this culture of collaboration and inventiveness has had a positive impact on attitude and learning, both among the staff and the students. It is truly beautiful to be a part of. While I would consider myself a very creative person, I definitely find the autonomy at this school a bit intimidating, for up until now I have spent most of my student teaching experience learning to provide instruction with a more rigid and predetermined curriculum. Here, the planning is much more fluid, and leaves a lot of room for modification and adjustments according to the students’ needs. I am super excited for our upcoming UOI, which is about beliefs - both religious and non-religious. This week we will pre-assess the students on their knowledge of beliefs, and use that to begin exploring beliefs around the world and gathering their thoughts, questions, or “wonderings” as they call it in the International Baccalaureate (IB). Do I need to mention again how meaningful and engaging the learning content is?! In the upcoming weeks, I look forward to flexing my creative muscles and really going out of my comfort zone as a teacher. Currently, in my gorgeous Italian apartamento, the window is cracked open, with a gentle breeze flowing through the window. The sun has just begun to set, and nothing but natural light fills up the space around me. Birds chirp softly, a dog barks from a nearby garden. I stare out the window at a neighboring home, painted a golden shade of yellow. In the sliver of space between this home and our terrace, you can see the silhouette of Cypress trees and the outline of a hill in the distance. As I glance around the place I now call home, I cannot help but wonder whether our plane crashed on the way here and landed in Heaven. For the past five days, I have been overwhelmed with the beauty that surrounds me. Whether it be the medieval city architecture, the stunning Tuscany countryside, or simply the view out my bedroom window, I am constantly in awe. I have similar feelings about the school I am lucky enough to be student teaching at for the next eight weeks. The energy at the International School of Siena is unmistakable. The joy radiates from every student, teacher and staff member. They all just seem genuinely happy. When we asked a teacher why this place felt so joyful, she simply pointed to the window. The view alone is enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face. On our first day, we went on a tour of the school, and stopped in a few classrooms to see what they were working on. In a sixth grade Italian class, I witnessed a student describe that day’s lesson topic in fluent Italian, and also explain it in English immediately after. She spoke with such eloquence and confidence about how much better her current school experience is compared to her previous school, where she spent so much time sitting in a chair and barely had a voice. I could name countless examples of students at this school who spoke with such maturity that I often questioned whether they were elementary school students after all.
In just the two days I have spent here, I have met students from Hungary, Belgium, Russia, Spain, China and Finland. I have interacted with students who speak two, three, four or even five different languages. In describing the diversity of the students to our host mom on the way to school, she smiled and said, “The world is in your classroom.” It is absolutely beautiful to see. I honestly find myself feeling intimidated by these students. In many ways, they are smarter than I am! Being around students with such strong charisma, knowledge and confidence has made me wonder how many teachers underestimate their students. They are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. Here I am, sitting at the Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C., eagerly waiting for our flight to depart to Frankfurt. I wish I could say this has been an easy travel journey. What should have been a 3 hour layover in D.C. turned into an over 12 hour delay and ultimate cancellation of our connecting flight to Zurich. After being shuffled around the airport by frantic airline workers, we ended up being literally the last people on our Zurich flight to have our trip rerouted and set up in a hotel overnight. While it’s been an inconvenient and tiring start to our trip, we’ve had a lot of time to relax and reflect about our upcoming adventure in Siena. While not ideal, spending this much time in an airport has been fascinating. Here, time and place is absent. Everyone and everything is in transit. Excitement and anticipation lingers in the air. There’s a certain energy about traveling that brings about the worst and the best in people. You walk past loved ones with tears in their eyes as they say farewell for who knows how long. You can hear the stress in the voices of those making last-minute travel changes on the phone. You walk past people who are running, with sweat streaming down their faces as they rush to catch that flight home, that vacation, that business trip, or in our case, that connecting flight to start our student teaching experience in Siena, Italy! Despite our unforeseen delays and hiccups, Patty reminds Sarah and I that “You are always exactly where you are meant to be. Everything that happens to you makes you who you are.” While the first day and a half of our journey hasn’t been smooth, I am grateful for the people I have had to enjoy it with. Here’s to going with the flow and trusting that it all will work out.
Siena, here we come! -- “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” –Anthony Bourdain |
AuthorWhile studying abroad in Europe as an undergrad, I became infected with an ailment that makes one eternally propelled to discover and explore cultures other than their own. Many call it the "travel bug," and fortunately for me it is incurable. Archives
May 2019
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