Action Plan Project

             Action is needed to share my experiences from Student Teaching Abroad in Brazil. We were required to keep up a blog while overseas. I would like to use this to share with others about my time in Brazil and all I have learned. My blog is very special to me, which is why I want to share it. I can’t wait to share it for years to come!

I got really into writing my blog during this trip. I found it a great way to reflect and debrief daily about all the things I learned during the trip! I have documented just about everything I experienced on my blog. For this reason, I would like to use my blog to share with people about the journey I have taken. My blog has an “About Me” section for those who read it who don’t know me. It also has music so people can learn a little bit more about me! The front-page collage is of people who are special to me. There is also a section talking about the purpose of our trip. The bulk of the blog is about all we have seen, heard, learned, and done on this trip. It talks of our adventures, our struggles, our laughs, our “mess-ups” and our learning moments. It also has a list of the 10 strategies I will use in my future classroom. Maybe the strategies can be helpful or can spur ideas for other teachers as well! I think my blog is a good tool for sharing my experience because it’s real. It has thought provoking ideas and opportunities for people to learn.

            I will show the blog to others by sharing pictures, showing videos, reading out, important learning points, telling stories, and elaborating on certain ideas. I plan on sharing it with my family, friends, my NCSU classmates, my Swift Creek students back in Raleigh, and anyone who is interested in participating in this program for years to come. Listeners will have the opportunity to ask questions during this time as well! I want people to feel engaged during my presentation. I think sharing my blog represents my teaching style.

This plan is realistic and obtainable because everyone with Internet can access it at any time, at his or her convenience! Also, people can read it by themselves and get as little or as much out of it as they want! They can just follow the pictures I’ve posted, or go in depth by reading what I’ve written.

            My hope for sharing my blog is that it will challenge people. I hope it challenges people to travel, to step outside of their comfort zones, and to experience life in a totally different way. This experience has been life changing. If I can inspire someone to do what I have thankfully been inspired by others to do, then it will all be worth it!

10 Strategies

§  Home visits

o   I would like to meet students and their families, right where they are. In order to relate to our students, we have to know them. Children are reared differently. Family dynamics are different. Doing a home visit would give me first hand experience with the families I will be working with. This sets the tone of humility and respect from teacher to parent and student and vice-versa. It would make everyone feel more comfortable and more receptive to learning. I saw this in Brazil when we met an incredible professor named Andre. He knew each of his students personally. I wrote in a blog that he is one of those people you would see in an inspirational teaching movie. I will strive to be like him in this way when I become a teacher.

§  Visual posters of information in different languages

o   Some people may argue that we shouldn’t have information hanging up in other languages because students need to learn the language of the culture. I found out that this is not a good practice on this trip. When I was trying to learn Portuguese, I never learned from someone telling me to try harder or guess. It was always when someone helped me. Some may say that the student should look up the information in a dictionary then. I did learn how to look up information in a dictionary, but it took a really long time. After I found out what we were talking about, I was lost again. I sat in multiple classrooms during this trip where teachers did not try to help me understand. I finally understood what it was like to be a student from another culture. Because of this, I have a special heart for those children. I want to give them as much support as I can, because it’s the only way they will learn.

§  Greetings in other cultures

o   From spending over a month in a different country, I now understand the purpose and relevance of learning greetings from other cultures. You can go a long way in another culture by knowing how to greet someone. It makes you approachable and friendly! People are more inclined to help you if you are polite! (It’s what has gotten us around town!) I would love to do this in my classroom in the morning. We will do one greeting a week! For example, the first week, we will greet each other according to United States English culture. We will shake hands or hug and say, “Good morning!” The next week, we will greet each other according to the Brazilian culture. We will give a kiss on the cheek and say, “Bom dia!” I started giving my students a handshake back in the U.S. every morning, but I never thought about teaching students greetings from other cultures until a friend mentioned how cool that would be on this trip. It was so powerful with just a handshake so I can’t imagine what it would be like if we learned greetings from all over the world!

§  Learning through song

o   Think about your favorite song from the 90’s. Now sing it in your head! You probably haven’t heard it in at least 5 years, but you probably know most or all of the words! I want to use song as a teaching method in my classroom, because it’s so effective! You just proved it by singing the song. For subjects like language, social studies, or writing, this could help students remember information better. When preparing to come to Brazil, our Portuguese teacher taught us many songs in Portuguese. They helped us tremendously. We still sing the songs, and we’ve even taught them to our new Brazilian friends! However, this doesn’t work for every subject, like math, because we want to make sure that students are learning conceptually.

§  Classroom management

o   I have seen classrooms where students are out of control. I have also seen some classrooms where students have nothing but respect for others. Classroom management plays a huge part in this. Learning is not going to happen unless effective classroom management is in place. One aspect that makes classroom management effective is freedom. When students feel free, they are more inclined to behave. This means building relationships with students. This means allowing students to create rules for the classroom. This means letting kids be kids. We saw this in a school here in Brazil. The students were allowed to be kids, yet were the most respectful kids we had seen.

§  Learning should be fun

o   No one likes to sit and listen to someone talk for hours! When students have the opportunity to have fun while learning, they will be more engaged. Fun activities get students hooked- even college students! I saw this first hand in Portuguese class. We did fun activities every day. Whether it was playing matching games, translating music, or trying to figure out the meaning of idioms in Portuguese, we always had fun! I learned more those days than when we had to sit and listen to instruction for an extended period of time. I want to integrate fun activities into my future classroom, because after all, learning should be fun!

§  Positive reinforcement works

o   This idea always trips me up. Sometimes I think that students should want to learn just for the sake of learning. Other times I think, but how did I get to the place of wanting to learn on my own? How did someone instill in me this love of learning? I believe it was through positive reinforcement. For example, today in class, I was a little tired. I didn’t really want to participate! Then, my friend said to me, “Let’s keep score!” So, we started giving each other points whenever we got something correct in class. Instant motivation- it even works with people my age! I want to give my students positive reinforcement in the classroom, whether it’s for good behavior or good effort. I would like to have a chart hanging up with points for students to see how they are doing to motivate them even more! Students can then have the opportunity to receive a reward for good behavior or effort!

§  Let the students “lead”

o   If a student has a question or comment that could be beneficial to learning, but isn’t necessarily exactly on topic… GO WITH IT! This will keep students interested and inspire a love of learning. I saw this in our Portuguese class. When we asked a question, our teacher went with it! We learned so much that she hadn’t planned, because of her willingness and positive attitude. We became active learners.

§  Different cultures of learning

o   Students should know differences in learning across the world. Math is done differently in different cultures. For example, division is done differently in Brazil than in the U.S. Also, some cultures only teach about the “victors” of history. I want to teach my students about the “vanquished” as well. Students need to see all sides of history.

§  Technology

o   Technology can play a major role in learning, if used appropriately. I have seen good examples while I’ve been here that I would like to use in my future classroom. We’ve watched relevant videos about content. We’ve heard music playing on a stereo. We’ve used a projector to see information that teachers need to display. There hasn’t been as much technology as we are used to back in Raleigh, however. Therefore, I’m excited to incorporate what I already know about technology with the new ideas I’ve learned here.