This School is cool!!

Ms. Baker's 5th grade classroom

I love this ASV! This is a creative and inspiring school.  Although it is a very liberal school, the children are very intelligent and advanced compared to American schools.  The children are allowed to get up and out of the classroom as they please. After lunch (long lunch/outside time), they can do whatever they want.  Some go outside, study, or go visit with other teachers. It seems like these students’ way of thinking is much different than American students. They are very positive and confident in their abilities.  During a bus conversation with Malory, I expressed to her that I don't know what life would be like with everyone being so confident and sure of themselves. Malory and I are the total opposite (quiet and reserved) so it was kind of out of our understanding. I know these traits are important but not everyone that I know is confident and a sure of themselves 100%of the time.  I do see these traits in Spanish adults that I’ve seen around. They are confident and preoccupied with themselves.

In ASV, students are eager to answer questions and strive for the best at all times.  For example, in my class, Ms Baker asks who wants to do their presentation first and about half of the class raised their hands. Also, when she is lecturing and has a question they all raise their hand right away and sometimes they even yell out the answer (she does not like it when they do this). But it amazes me that they are so confident in themselves that they always have and want to give an answer.

These students are very advanced.  While conducting my reading groups, I noticed that the reading level is higher than it is in a 5th grade classroom in the U. S.  As I listened to my student's read, I said to myself "I think they read better than I do".  I also had the chance to listen to some if their presentations. Ms. Baker assigned them a presentation on their favorite artist to teach to the class for computer lab class.  They had to research their artist and use examples of their work on a PowerPoint or poster. The presentations were great.  They used special effects, different kinds of fonts, and videos to teach about their favorite artist. These children are worldly.  They are exposed to many different types of arts and they also travel all over the world. One of the students, Guillermo, told me he was visiting Italy, Greece, and Turkey this summer.  Another student said she was going to Mexico for the summer to visit some ruins. It is great to hear all of their life stories. Can't wait to hear some more!!

Como se dice TIRED en Español??

Wow, I am so tired. For next years group make sure we tell them that they will need to be in great physical shape in order to take this trip. We have been doing a lot of walking since we arrived in Spain. This combines with the late nights is making me so tired. I really need to get back into good running shape. I am just not used to doing this much walking back home. But now I see how spoiled us American residents are. We have AC in our buildings and can not handle a little bit of heat. We have large, gas guzzling trucks and cars that take us anywhere we want to go and at any time.  I believe that the US needs to learn some lessons from this country. I have not seen one large trucks in any the Spain towns we have visited.  I see everyone walking, riding the metro, or taking the bus and some people driving small cars. But these are not large engine cars.  The cars that I see around here are small engine cars, 4 or 6 cylinders, I'm guessing.  They are small compact cars and not sedans, and also some small smart cars too.   Well, one day I hope that is our small town of Bryan/College Station has some, if not all of the same transportation services that Spain offers.

And it feels like ... Home!

It is our fourth day here is Spain and it seems like we arrived here so long ago. I think that's a good thing because I am enjoying my time here. I really do miss my husband Jason, but I am thankful for the new technology, my iPhone, and my iPad. Thanks to them, I get to see his lovely face at least two times a day. Home... I am loving this country it reminds me of Mexico, where I was born. The people, beautiful weather (warm in the day and cool at night) familiar spanish signage, buildings, and some of the food. As I look around I see my grandfathers, uncles, and my mothers face in them. My granddad died a couple of years ago and it makes me miss him so much more. Although their Spanish language sounds different, most words still sound like the way My family and I speak. I love this place so much that on our second morning here I already wanted to move here without even going out and touring the city. Ok, enough about this wonderful place. I want to send a shout out the the wonderful Dr. Eidson for putting this trip together. Even though we have had some hiccups along the way she has handled them so well. THANK YOU!! I am also enjoying getting to know all the great people on this trip. I think by the end of this trip I will go home with many more friends than what I came in with. Everyone is so different, in ages and personalities. All of us will be doing the same thing at the end of our college career, dealing with children, but some of us have different majors. I am glad to have met Alejandra a fellow bilingual major. She is currently earning her masters degree and will be starting her first year of teaching in August. When I start my first year of teaching I will be glad to be able to go to her for advise. Paris was great! I will cherish this great photo that our resident photographer Asia took. There were some major construction happening so we were not able to climb to the top. We did getting to take a boat tour and saw the main parts of the city of Paris. I really enjoyed Notre Dame, it was just magnificent! Well, all the architecture in Paris was also magnificent. You have to see it to believe it and I will post pictures as soon as I figure it out.