Thursday, July 30th

Today was our last day at Madre Marcelena school.  I have to admit I have mixed emotions about leaving.  Although I am really excited to continue on my journey through South America, I am sad about leaving the children and the teachers with whom I have had the incredible opportunity to work with this week!  Such an magical school!  It is a school filled with energy, excitement, academic excellence, progressive education, love, compassion, and genuineness.

Today we were able to sit in on two classes in the morning.  The first class Jason and I went to was a 9th grade Social Studies class.  Today, as you can see in the picture below...they were discussing a brief recounting of the history of violence in Colombia.  The students had done research and were presenting their findings to the class.  I have to admit, I learned a lot about the confusing and combustable history of Colombia.  It is so confusing to sort out the guerillas, paramilitary forces, and the government forces.  There are so many factions within the factions that it is virtually impossible to tell who is who...and which side they are on.  Unfortunately that led to the senseless deaths of many innocent people.  The recent peace agreement is so important for just that reason! It is a chance to actually bring the people of Colombia together!  For those of you who will be in my classes next year...I will be bringing lots of stories and information so that you can understand this incredible country better and recognize the journey that it's inhabitants have traveled on throughout the years.

students presenting in class

Philosophy class

The discussion in philosophy was explosive! Umberto, the teacher, was discussing idealism, realism, Kant, Descartes...and so many other ideas.  At one point the question of the existence of God came up.  I have to admit, I was really surprised that in a Catholic school they would discuss whether or not God exited! But the girls loved it!  They were debating each other, offering evidence to support their arguments....and every single student was involved!  I didn't even really feel as if language was a barrier in this case...their was so much energy, passion and intellectualism that it transcended any and all language barriers!  Amazing!!!

After our morning classes, we were presented with our SURPRISE!!!  The students put on a show for us completely in English!  I was so touched by that gesture!  There were songs, dances, and a robotics performance!  It was fabulous!!!!  You can see in the pictures that follow!

opening remarks

a prayer to start the performance

second graders performed a song called, "that's me"

Video of the performance

Students enjoying the show!

She sang an Adele song!!!  All in English!

A traditional Caribbean dance!

We were all a bit surprised when the ripped their skirts off to show their shorts!  Sister Luz Marena was sitting right behind me and she was laughing and clapping!  (Not exactly how I pictured Catholic school! :))

Robotics presentation from the 11th graders

Before lunch we had a chance to speak with students in 11th and 8th grade.  These students were fairly proficient in the English language!  It was really a great conversation!  The girls spoke about what they loved about their school, what subjects they enjoyed the most, what they did in their spare time, and what they wanted to study at University.  They were all incredibly proud of their school!  They stressed that the most important aspect of their school was the values which it is based upon and the way that those values are entrenched in all of their classes!  All of them said that they love learning English!  They know that learning English will help them in future studies and careers.  From left to right....I'll tell you the course of study each girl would like to pursue.  Journalist, Medicine, Psychologist/Teacher, Industrial Engineer, Biology, Translator/International Business, and Industrial Engineer!  They are incredibly confident and passionate!  I am sure they will achieve all of their dreams!  We asked them what we should tell our students about Colombia...their response was...tell them that Colombia is really a beautiful country...and that they should always believe in themselves!  What valuable advice!  

At the end of our day, we met with most of the teachers and administrators that we had been working with.  We had a chance to share our thoughts and feelings about our experience together and share contact information to keep in touch!  It was bittersweet leaving...I really loved the people that I worked with...both adults and students!  This was an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life!  I can't wait to bring it to life in the classroom this coming school year!

Tomorrow I'm off to Quito!  I am so excited to begin the next phase of the journey!  Speak to you from Ecuador!

Wednesday, July 29th

Today at Madre Marcelena was a professional development day!  Sister Luz Marena had a very busy day!  Her day started at 6 a.m. with a meeting of the Board about the policy mandates from the Colombian Department of Education.  After that she had a meeting with parents to discuss the changes in the school...and then our program with the teachers began at 9:00 a.m.!

The purpose of her meeting with the faculty was to inform them of the mandated changes from the Department of Education.  As I've mentioned before, Colombia is pushing their bilingual program. Local governments were asked to each select 26 schools to be the first in the sequence to implement the policies.  Basically, the changes include 2 extra hours of school a day to be used for enriching and deepening understanding in various subject areas.  The teachers have the option of increasing their hours with extra pay....or keeping their current hours and the school will hire additional teachers to assume the extra hours.  Although it may seem simple...there are many issues that arise as a result. Since all students do not get lunch at school...this new policy would force the school to provide daily lunches for the students as they will be in school from 7-3...or later if older.  This not only entails the food programs that will have to be instituted, but as it stands, they don't have an adequate area for students to eat...so they will need to build an area for them.  The program will begin well before they are able to build the necessary infrastructure.  Some members of the faculty were accepting of the new policies...but others were understandably upset!  I kept thinking about what would happen if that meeting would have occurred at EHS.  The Sister handled the meeting quite well and was able to eloquently diffuse the anger arising from some of the teachers.  After that meeting, we facilitated a workshop with all of the faculty discussing global competence.

Agenda for our morning meeting with the faculty.

Jason and I starting our workshop!

Teachers busy working on their brainstorming!

When time was up we tried to take the posters away from the teachers...but they grabbed them back and kept adding information!  It was so wonderful to see everyone so invested and engaged!

After the brainstorming was done, a representative from each group got up and talked about the terms that they had included in their brainstorm...and why they included that information.

Jason, Katie and I listening to the teachers talk about their brainstorming!

When we were done discussing the brainstorming, we asked the teachers to work collaboratively in their groups to develop a working definition of Global Competence.  Each group read and translated their definition....and then we shared the GCC definition...and lo and behold...they were almost identical!

My partners....(from left to right...Patricia, Katie, and Jason)

Patricia discussing the GCC Matrix

At the end of the workshop, Katie posed the question asking how we could best support each other to enable our students to become globally competent.  It was an excellent discussion!  Many of the teachers participated...even Sister Luz Marena!  The teachers had an overwhelmingly humanistic perspective!  The needs of the student were always tantamount!  It was so incredible to have the opportunity to work collaboratively!  I felt as if we were actually one team!  It always amazes me that you can live far away from people and still share basically the same thoughts, values, and behaviors!

All in all it was a great day!  In the afternoon we sat with the English Language teachers and talked about various challenges that we all face.  Again...very similar!  I was able to set up a pen-pal program with Jesus to begin when we return to school in the fall!  He teaches students in grades 9, 10 and 11!  I am really excited to get back to school and continue our collaborative relationship!  The pen-pal program will give his students a chance to practice their English language writing and reading skills while learning about our culture...  and... my students will have the opportunity to learn about a new culture!

Tomorrow we are back at the school for our last day!  I will be visiting a 9th grade social studies class, and a philosophy class!  The school has a surprise for us in the morning...I can't wait to see what it is!