Comite Curiculó

So some of you may know that in addition to teaching I am a part of the curriculum committee at my school.  This opportunity was one of the reasons I chose the job over others when looking to move to Bogotá.  The committee is made up of only 5 people:  the director of the school, the director of academics, the director of bilingual education, and the director of technology.  How I ended up on this committee among all the head honchos of the school, I'm not sure but it is the most interesting part of my week.

The committee was advertised to me as a committee working on reforming the school's curricula to include 21st century skills.   I love discussing curricula, developing curricula, modifying curricula, etc. and have yet to see a school that is doing an excellent job of teaching 21st century skills in a systematic way that ensures students are really learning.  So this seemed like a challenge that I would enjoy taking on.

As I said, it really is the most interesting part of my week.  It makes my brain hurt - which I like - but it can also be frustrating.  The meetings are completely in Spanish - except when we're reading texts that are in English.  Also, we don't have agendas or take minutes, so sometimes it is unclear what we are trying to accomplish.  In addition to this curriculum reform, we also plan Rondas or observational rounds in which the committee, along with all the heads of departments, spend a morning observing classrooms in 15-minutes bouts and the afternoon discussing trends that we are noticing.  So sometimes in these weekly meetings we are discussing curriculum and other times we are discussing pedagogy.   I realize these things go hand-in-hand but I still find myself lost at times.

Despite this though we have really interesting conversations about what countries are having success with their students, what measures of success are important, how to we get teacher buy-in if we want to effect change, and what does it look like to incorporate 21st century skills into a curriculum.  We read articles and books and research standards from a variety of locations, 21st century skills, and various assessments including PISA and Colombia's SABER, developed by ICFES.  This weekend I am reading the PISA standards for each grade level and the book Who's Teaching Your Children? by Katherine Boles (a Harvard professor) and Vivian Troen.  So fun.  I bust my butt all week at school with the goal of not having to do planning work over the weekend so I can enjoy this research.

The only frustration is that I am about action.  I am ready to plan, create, do...but we are still discussing.  I want to develop teacher support programs and a teacher career track.  I want to get others involved.  I want to transform my curriculum in order to better incorporate 21st century skills.  Baby steps though.  First?  I should probably keeping working on my Spanish so I can be more vocal in these meetings.  Oof.   :)
 

Voy a Colombia!

So after many weeks, or actually months, of planning a study trip to Colombia - the time to leave has arrived!

I will be heading to Colombia - Bogota and Cartagena from Saturday, March 12 through Sunday, March 20.

Will do my best to post pictures and updates as I think this trip is going to be fascinating. I will also be contributing to another blog with my study group...which might be updated more frequently and will have the perspectives of multiple people.

Check it out here

The Next Chapter

So it has been nearly a year since I last posted anything on this blog and I've gotten a few requests to keep it updated - especially now that I am about to begin a new chapter of my life. After four years as a teacher, I am going to be returning to the classroom beginning July 25th as a student! This school year I will attending Harvard Graduate School of Education for my Ed. M in International Education Policy. Eeeee!!!!

I will be moving to Boston in July, where I will attempt to update my blog with what I am doing and learning... :)

Next Steps

These six weeks were incredible.  While I am certainly looking forward to hot showers, toilets with seats and raw vegetables, I am really going to miss Gulu and all the friends I have made.  Part of me would love to return to Gulu to teach at Sir Samuel Baker School as a permanent teacher - six weeks was simply not enough.  But then another part of me realizes that it is not really my place to go into that school and "fix" things.  There were certainly aspects of the school that seemed a bit dysfunctional but it seems are slowly improving and SSBS will someday be the great school it once was.  I also think a lot of the problems at the school are a result of a failing system and the teachers were doing amazing things in the face of the challenges with which they were faced.  Also, who knows if the teaching methods I use in the US would have made a major impact on student performance...

Which gets me to my next steps:  I am facinated by international education and what is transferable across cultures and what is not.  What are the commonalities of good teaching?  I know that no matter what education is the key to making the world a more peaceful and sustainable global community.  Everyone needs access to information and needs to be taught to think critically - to ask questions, to challenge the status quo and to engage in constructive dialogue to work toward the betterment of this quickly shrinking world.  Not sure exactly where I fit into this but I'm confident that graduate school is my next step - Comparative Education or International Education Policy will afford me the opportunity to explore and further develop some of these new ideas and understanding.  This trip has given me a whole new perspective on what education is, should be and can be.  I have be re-energized by this experience!

Thank you to everyone that has followed along on my journey.  I have found it nearly impossible to put my experience into words - a lot is missing.  Please feel free to e-mail me questions as I would love to continue to share stories with those interested  - kncottrell@gmail.com.

Much love, 

Kate

Student and Teacher Empowerment Conference

Not much teaching going on yet. This week was midterms so I only had to be at the school on Wednesday morning to proctor the S3 mathematics exam. I did get to mark (aka grade) them afterwards which has kept me busy. I was shocked at how low the scores were - the highest was a 36/60! The confusing part is that my team teacher, Acire Simon, seems to think that these are pretty good.

Friday and Saturday were the Annual Invisible Children Teacher Exchange Educational Conference. It was really fabulous except Acire could not make it because his one-year old son had Malaria and he needed to help out at home. I understood his reason for being absent from the conference (obviously) but it was a disappointment because I think his presence at the conference would have helped us to build a stronger working relationship as we discussed the topics at the conference. The first day was filled with presentations from each school. Each school had an issue that they shared and for which they presented solutions. We discussed communication, student motivation, curriculum, managing with a low teacher salary and more. It was all very positive an uplifting. On Saturday we observed several workshops for students. The workshops focused on student engagement, positive reinforcement and student empowerment. Afterwards we met as a school team to discuss what we'd observed and how we could implement some of the facilitation strategies in our classrooms. The Sir Samuel Baker School teachers were enthusiastic, looking forward to group work, games, and relationship building with the students.

Sir Samuel Baker School

Today was my first day of school. I am teaching 3 sections of S3 mathematics (this is approximately equivalent to grade 0) that each meet 3 times per week for 80 minutes. My team teacher is Acire Simon (pronounced Ah-cheer-ay). He is a quiet and kind man who is married and has four children. I am hoping I get to meet the family because his two youngest are 1 and 3 years of age! So cute! I looking forward to working with him over these next 5 weeks as he seems as excited as I am to exchange ideas with an international teacher about teaching.

Some of the challenges that I believe we will be working to combat this summer include:
-Students dislike for mathematics
-Students thinking that they cannot do math
-Students arriving late to class
-Students not completing their work/reading for class
-Students not participating and asking questions
All challenges that we see in classrooms in the United States – so I have lots of ideas and Acire is excited to try new things, I believe.

The classroom setting is quite different. First of all it’s all boys. LOTS of energy! All the boys sit at wooden desks that look a bit like church pews with tables. 3-4 boys cram into a table that is made for only 2. They each have one book (this is amazing…usually students have to share one book among several students) and one notebook. They all write in pen. I have not seen a single pencil yet. They also LOVE getting a red check mark on their paper. It’s a little bit wild and I will need to bring some more structure to their independent practice just for my own sanity. Right now they will work on problems independently and when they get an answer will shove their notebook in their face and wait for the red check that communicates that they are correct. Did I mention there about 60 students per class? It’s utter chaos if they ALL have the problem correct at the same time. Thankfully with Acire and I both in the classroom we can each only have to deal with a 30-student pile up. Again…something to work on.

As for the rest of the school – everyone is SO friendly. The teachers greet us every day in English and Acholi. They get a real kick out of hearing us practice our Acholi – it’s clear that we are pretty horrible but they are very encouraging. I have gotten to know many and the atmosphere is much more relaxed. When we are not teaching, which is more often then not, the teachers relax in the staff room. Scrabble it the game of choice to pass the time. It is AMAZING how good they are. I have been too scared to play as of yet but may give it a go next week. They will have solid blocks of words, words that I often do not believe are English words until I look them up and find out, yep, it’s a word. Crazy, seriously crazy.

Needless to say, I’m loving the interaction with the people at my school and am really looking forward to getting to know them better. I feel so privileged to have this opportunity – hopefully I will be able to reciprocate the learning experience for my new friends.

Required Reading and listening

Before my trip I was asked to read a couple of books and listen to and watch a few videos and news clips. I've attached the list below for those who are interested -enjoy. I hope they stretch your thinking as much as they did mine.
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire
"How Not To Write About Africa" by Binyavanga Wainaina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-jSQD5FVxE

"The Ethics of Global Aid: One Kenyan's Perspective" from Public Radio's Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2008/ethics_of_aid-kenya/