San Juan College IT Lab

We met with Michelle Day at a computer lab at San Juan College to learn how to edit video for use in the classroom.  I appreciated the time she took to teach us some basic skills about making videos.  I had personally made a video presentation from some pictures taken of a science lesson that I taught and so it was nice to learn more about the movie making process. 

Andrea Kristinas Cafe

I enjoyed being at Andrea Kristinas it is a nice atmosphere and though I didn’t try any of the food, I hear it is really good.  I did however buy a Berry Smoothie that was very good.  I think places like this are important in a community.  Frances told us of an incident in which another restaurant in town was not very hospitable to class groups and so it is nice to know there are places that support us.  When we first arrived it was still the lunch rush and so it was busy and loud, but after the rush it was quiet and as I was leaving I noticed two people using tables to do writing or other work.  I’m glad that I went.

The Farmington Family History Center

I really enjoyed touring the Family History Center, I have never been there in the four years I have lived here.  Sophia Rustead is my good friend and spends many hours a week there and so I have heard great things.  There were so many interesting books there, history, censuses, maps, and collections. I thought it would be fun just to spend time there browsing the book collection.

In several of my methodology classes we have talked about using family stories and genealogy as vehicles for teaching social studies and language arts.  This would be a good resource, perhaps for older students, but a good resource.

La Michoacana

Another great fieldtrip!  The food was wonderful. Eldadiana was a wonderful hostess, and a great teacher.  It was wonderful to hear about the Mexican culture, and Elda’s own personal experiences.  Another great part of the afternoon was the freedom to just sit and have good conversation.  Our conversations are usually pretty good but I think the writing activity helped to bring them to another level.  The activity began with a quote.   We read the quote and then were asked to write down a question prompted by the quote, we then passed our papers to the person next to us and we were asked to write another question, and then pass the paper.  The third paper we got, we were to respond to either of the questions and then pass the paper again.  We continued responding and passing until our paper was returned to us.  I felt that there was some very insightful and meaningful dialogue taking place in the writing.  Lastly, we were encouraged to share aloud anything that came to our attention from the writing.  Those comments then led to some more powerful conversation.  I want to remember this activity. What is it about writing that brings thought to another level?

I really appreciated Frances’ letting me conduct a Socratic Seminar based on the chapter presentations given by Sam and Sarah.  I have been studying the technique and it was great fun to practice it.  Sometimes, especially lately, I am tired of just always learning; I want to practice!  Thank you Frances, and thank you fellow students.

This time we had to converse in combination with a conversation I had with my daughter has shown me how important it is to have time to converse and dialogue about subjects that are important to us, it takes time however to get to the meat of dialogue sometimes and that is quite often time that teachers just don’t have in their classrooms.  I want to come up with a solution though….

Navajo Prepatory School

It was a wonderful visit.  I enjoyed learning more about where and when the school originated and the accomplishements they make now.  I also enjoyed visiting a classroom, and learning about the Navajo Philisophy; I think it is a remarkable  tool for life and learning. 

The visiting and talking afterward was fun and beneficial also.  It is good to listen to differing view points, and to learn about each of our cultures. It was a good afternoon.

E3 Museum

Time ran out on us and though we met at the museum for class, we didn't have the opportunity to take a tour, or explore.  I intend to go back there and see what there is to see, perhaps during spring break.

Cold Stone Creamery

Happy Birthday Ami! It was fun to meet in an ice cream shop.  I find it interesting how the chemistry of the class changes with each new place in which we meet.  The Nature center was very laid back and relaxed whereas today I felt class was very loose and it took time for us all to settle down to have good discussions.  We tended to interrupt each other more, and not listen to each other very well.  I think that is an important thing to remember about teaching.  The setting of your classroom, the environment, really does set the tone for the class and we need to be aware of that principle so that instruction can be beneficial and not frustrating.

The Riverside Nature Center

I enjoyed going to the nature center.  The ducks have been coming back over the last few weeks and it was fun to see them there, up close and personal.  The nature center is a great resource for teachers to bring nature into student’s lives.  I also appreciated the hand outs given us; they gave me some more ideas for using nature with students. 

It felt good to sit out at the picnic bench and soak up the sun, Sarah and I had some good conversation about school, life and teaching.  It is good to hear different points of view and think about things in a different way. 

Enlace

Wow! What a visit.  What a wonderful place in our community, I am so grateful that the Latin community has a place to go, to learn, and to receive support and education.  I am overwhelmed with awe at the people in this world who have the talents, courage, and energy to act when they see a need in the community.  I was very enlightened today.  As I have mentioned before, I am still struggling to know what I think about teaching so many cultures in one classroom.  I appreciated hearing the stories and examples of the problems and challenge that Latinos experience, to see their side of the story. And I appreciated that they listened to and addressed my concerns.  

Something that was said today reminded me of an experience I had while substitute teaching.  I was in a freshman math class and one young man, X, would not do his work, every time I left to help a student or turned my back on him, he would get up and move around, or involve other students in talk.  I had to continually tell him to return to his seat, be quiet, go back to work, etc. Finally, there were just ten minutes left in the class and I went over to his desk and told him that I was going to stand right there next to him until the bell rang and he was to do his assignment.  He groaned a little, but sat down and got to work.  In those ten minutes he not only finished the assignment but he did it right!  I began to think umm.. This kid is bored, he’s not dumb.  A month later I had him in an English class.  The assignment that the students were to do was not enough to fill the hour, and so I began a discussion about the reading.  Once again X had been up to his behavioral tricks, but as soon as the discussion took off, he began to pay attention and made some very insightful and mature comments.  I again had the thought that he was too smart for this class.  I don’t know if he was placed in the lower level math class and English class because of his behavior or what, but I do know that he didn’t belong there.  He is very intelligent and needs something more.  I told a few of the teachers about the experience, and I hope that someone will pay attention and do something about it.  It would be a shame to waste his intelligence. 

Well, the moral to the story, is that I was shown an experience of a student not having his needs met.  He is a Hispanic young man, and maybe he is a victim of these prejudices that we are talking about.  I want to be cognizant of that and do something. 

Sycamore Community Center

What a fun visit.  What a wonderful building and opportunities for the community!  I didn’t grow up where there were community centers.  Our communities always gathered at school or church, and so this is a new concept for me to grasp.  It is wonderful to have places where children, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens can come to interact and have social events.

I was very excited to get home and share what I had learned with my children.  They too know nothing of community centers it was an eye opener for us all.  My oldest son’s curiosity was peaked when I told him that there would be dance lessons taught there, he’s been wanting to learn to dance for some time now. 

We spent some good time debriefing about our Apache visits, I learned quite a bit, about the children in our fourth grade classroom, their home lives and their personalities; it was enlightening.  I also got some great ideas from fellow classmates, how smart they are, how talented.  I am very fortunate to be working with them.