Lost in Translation ?, but Making Progress

Tuesday started with 14 students and was filled with having students go to the Central Park area of Leon to observe behaviors and collect data after clearly identifying the target behavior.  They selected very interesting target behaviors:  number of people taking photos of the large La Gigantona, number of people who bought water from a stand, the number of women who went into the catacomb at the Cathedral, the number of people who used the restroom, etc.  After collecting data and comparing with their partner, they put together some nice graphs that were shared with the class along with their interpretation of the information.

On Wednesday we had a total of 19 students, but not all 19 were there at one time! Thursday we had 18 students in the morning and 17 students in the afternoon. Just part of the fun of planning when we really do not know who will show up and who will stay all day!! We get to rearrange the room many times! Wednesday and Thursday were spent examining the UDL principles and determining how to plan lessons taking the three principles into account.    Below are some examples while presenting Multiple Means of Representation:

We have worked with 3 different translators throughout the week. At times, it has been difficult to adjust to the differences between amount of transitions between English and Spanish, but we are teachers, so we are flexible!

We have made progress this week but we modify our plan each evening. Tomorrow will be on Day 3 of our original plan, but it is our final day of presenting information.  We keep looking for the most applicable concepts and how to continually reinforce concepts.  Flexibility is the key in teaching, and we wouldn't make it through the first morning if we weren't always adapting lessons and utilizing what we are learning about our students.

Another Nicaragua experience! The La Gigantona is a VERY large doll, often 9 feet tall, that is worn and paraded down the streets with drums.  We experienced this interesting tradition several times from the 30 feet tall La Gigantona in the park, to the children with the smaller La Gigantona who chased us, to Jenifer bringing in artwork for us with tradition represented.

Children with La Gigantona-
who were about to chase us!

La Gigantona by the Cathedral

It is always a learning experience.

It is what it is...

WOW! I am not sure where to start as so much has happened in a mere 24 hours! The celebrations continued all day and into the evening...lots of fireworks and music. It is difficult to get away from any of it with the open courtyard at Casa de Protocolo.

At 2:50am we hear the doorbell ring multiple times and the rolling of luggage as our compadres from Spain were leaving to return home.

At 7:00am we found out that Maria was not here because it was another "free day" due to the festivities over the weekend, therefore no breakfast, lunch or dinner (this was not in our plans).

Around 8:00am we have 2 students here and Indiana arrives. At this time another compadre from Cuba indicates that he has reserved the room (that we are teaching in) for a conference on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. At this point, Kris and I begin to panic a little knowing that Plan B is go to the room with the computer lab (not ideal for group work). Francisco shows up and takes care of it and we stay in the room!

As more students trickle in at 8:30am we begin for the day with 12 students. One additional student joins us at 9:00, therefore total student count for the day was 13 out of 24! Below was an introductory activity...create your own flag....

We engage in a variety of activities throughout the day and gain additional information about the content knowledge our students are retaining from the previous Modules. A positive.....they know the rules of the classroom that we created in Module 2!!! Yeah!

They have retained some basic surface level knowledge, but are not able to apply the information....this is disappointing, but a reality when there is 5 months between trainings.

Currently, we are reworking our original information for Day 2, so we can review more about target behaviors and data collection. We will be sending the students out to apply the knowledge they are learning by collecting data in the real world!

What will tomorrow bring?

Quién causa tanta alegría? (Who causes so much happiness?)

We arrived last night in Managua and were whisked away this morning to Leon.  We arrived in Leon on December 7th with firecrackers to greet us.  Just when we think we have heard it all, there is a new and louder celebration.  La Griteria is celebrated on December 7 in Nicaragua with fireworks and firecrackers at 12pm, 6pm, and 12am.  The good news is that we arrived in time for all three!

Ulises, the worst tour guide in Leon (you can't even find him on TripAdvisor), took us on a walking tour of Leon in the afternoon and then took us to Subtiava so we could see all of the houses decorated (and I think we saw one or two) for the La Griteria celebration.

Mural at a school in Subtiava- Julie this is for you!

We listened to the 6pm firecrackers from the safety of Casa de Protocolo and then Ulises took us out to see the celebration on the streets with the children and adults going to houses to shout and sing to the virgin Maria after which they receive candies, toys or other gifts from the home owners.  

Iglesia San Fransisco Church

There is a lot of singing throughout the evening (and fireworks too!) Quién causa tanta alegría? is the saying....Who causes so much happiness? I think celebrations in Leon cause a lot of happiness- as do fireworks! (not so much happiness for visitors like us)

The crowd at the Cathedral in Leon

An alter at a house with people SHOUTING!

The fireworks did continue throughout the night and the happiness goes on! The midnight celebration was the loudest we have heard in all of our travels to Nicaragua!

Maia's Reflection

          This is Maia Delkamiller.  I am 14 (almost 15) and will be a sophomore at Marian High School.  This is my third trip to Nicaragua with my mom and each trip has been very different. 

         This is supposed to be an overview of the entire trip, but how do you fit an entire trip into a few paragraphs? Its not like this was a resort vacation where all you have to do is write “Laid on the beach all day”. Well, we did go to the beach, but let me start at the beginning of the trip so I don’t get myself confused.

Ulises orders lots on Amazon and we bring free shipping.

          My mom and I flew in late on the 13^th. We stayed at Camino Real and then went to Leon in the morning. It was a nice surprise to have my “brother” Ulises ride with us. The first week we went to the deaf school, which is the main reason I love Nicaragua. I am like a friend, or a big sister to these kids. I missed them as soon as they left at the end of the day. It was even nice to see the teachers again. I told my mom that in 2 years, I am going to spend my summer at Ulises’s house so I can go to the deaf school every day. We only got to spend 4 days with them this time because they didn’t have school on Friday (because of the revolution celebration).

          We decided to spend the night out at the beach then had Samba lessons from Ulises and lobster for dinner. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunset. The last 2 times I have been to Nicaragua, I haven’t been able to see the sunset at the beach because we never spent the night there. So worth it!

Me and Anna figuring out how to eat lobster

          Then on Sunday we went volcano boarding. It has always been on my list of things to do but the timing has never worked out. Wasn’t an easy hike but the actual boarding was worth it. Got to see how almonds and chayote were grown also.

          The week after was training and Anna and I did all the background work. Making review games, checking people in, etc. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but it helped our moms. Then on Friday they threw a party for us, gave us presents, and made us food. It was sooo nice of them, I was a little sad to see them go. Then on Saturday I was sad to leave Dona Maria!  

"twins"-- Jordan and I were born on the exact same day--
 not sure who is really older though

         

2013: working with the youngest students

 I can’t pinpoint one reason why I love the deaf kids, because there are so many. It’s really a collection of a lot of things. I mean, after all, Nicaragua is already in survival mode, and on top of that they are deaf. Deaf people have no rights there. I just think about all the deaf adults I know that are educated as well as hearing people and then I see these kids already behind because it’s Nica, then even more behind because they are deaf.

          I think that in turn, I want to become a pediatrician to help kids like them. So when I get older, I want to be involved in “Doctor’s Without Borders”, ideally in Nicaragua.  So all in all, I love Nicaragua, it improves my Spanish, and I love being able to come back and see all of our friends :-)

(ok Anna Swain-- your turn to explain beef jerkey, baby food and bug bites!  :-)  )

Module #2 January 21, 22 and 23

Our trip to Nicaragua started on Friday afternoon and we made it to Managua at 10:30pm. We stayed overnight in Managua at Camino Real (very nice) and then started our day of adventure with Julio Tours at 9am. We were unable to see the Mesaya volcano in July when we were here, so we were very excited for the experience as it was our first stop. We toured the museum at the base of the volcano and then drove to the top. We experienced the sulfur fumes a little at the top and then went to explore the Mesaya cave. That was an experience as we walked about 3 blocks into the darkness. Then we drove to Mesaya market, and then to Granada to make chocolate at the Chocolate Museum. Then onto Leon and we were welcomed with fireworks!

Day 1
There was a little apprehension and excitement for our first day of training Module #2: Classroom Management. This was our first experience teaching while having an interpreter, so it was difficult to imagine how the flow of the information would go! Additionally, understanding that Kris and Julie had already made an impression on the students, we really weren't sure what to expect from them! I can definitely say we were pleasantly surprised! We started off Monday morning at 8:00 with 11 students, but by 8:30 we had 22 students! Our goal was at least 20, so that was good! Then we discussed the requirements of the Diplomato. The students appreciated that information as most of them just knew to be involved they had to have a degree in Education, but no other requirements.

Then the morning consisted of generating "classroom rules" for our classroom and making sure they were explicit enough that they could abide by. The rules are displayed at the front of the classroom. One procedure that was implemented on Tuesday and Wednesday morning (and at times throughout the day, as necessary) was to review the rules as a way demonstrate modeling that when rules are not being followed, they must be revisited. This has been a learning process for all!

Setting expectations was also addressed and we related expectations to the students' objectives in their unit plans. A good way to connect the two modules and students appreciated the examination of their lesson plans!

Approximately 3:15pm, Day 1 was completed and it was a successful day of engagement and learning!

Day 2

Following the first session, Mitzi and I debriefed and began planning for Day 2, but rearranging the classroom environment to match the needs of our content, which was teaching that effective room arrangement is a part of behavior management.

We had them draw a digram of their individual classrooms, then provide specific content about the impact of room arrangement (the 4 M's) and then they revisited their original diagram and made modifications. A great way to apply the information to their own environments!










While discussing ABC analysis, we could see the
wheels turning as they made connections to their reactions to disruptive behavior in their classrooms. Realizing how important it is to begin paying attention to the antecedents of the behavior because behavior is contextual!






Day 3

The topics of the day were Positive Reinforcement and beginning to understand Token Economy.  Demonstration of functions of behaviors and positive reinforcement allowed them to examine the concepts while acting out scenarios. This was great!

Most of the students were familiar with the term positive reinforcement, but unfamiliar to Token Economy. They have received positive reinforcement with a variety of candy and stickers on Day 1 and 2! One aspect that really sticks out to us....defining a target behavior. This was a difficult task for the students. We want to tell students what and how we would like their behavior to look like in the classroom. A volunteer to define your target behavior? Student A "I want my students to pay attention." Our response back "Can I observe paying attention? Is paying attention mean the same to Martha as to Maria?" Ohhhhhhhhhh I have to say the behavior! Like eye contact, asking questions. Si.....

We are still working on this concept!! It is a work in progress.

It has been a very productive, engaging and eye-opening first three days.....

Beth and Mitzi