SPANISH TWO
Visit to Park Elementary Description + Reflection
The English Language Learning Program at Park Elementary allows students who come from bilingual backgrounds to gain individual attention in facing challenges with schoolwork/social life/etc. To prepare for our visit to Park Elementary, our class reviewed conversation topics in Spanish, as well as how to answer a variety of questions. After selecting our "little", students picked a book that we could read on our trip to park elementary that met the age and language skill of the kids we were working with. For the last day, our group worked on making cards for our kids as a sort of "farewell" present (which the kids loved!) in order to leave a physical tribute to our time spent together.
I must admit that I had some serious reservations when I heard that we would be assigned a an elementary school age child who came from a Spanish speaking background. Since I do not know much conversational Spanish, I was nervous that my assigned kid would feel uncomfortable around me or that I would feel uncomfortable communicating with my little. I realized, quickly, however, that language was not as much of a barrier as I had previously conceived, and my kid and I were able to communicate fairly easily in english. My little was very nice and playful, and I had fun meeting with the other kids and asking what their favorite movies are (LEGO movie was a crowd favorite) and learning about how they had played a game with imaginary "bombs" during recess. Almost immediately I realized how energetic the kids were as well, and had some trouble keeping them in check while listening to the directions for our game of "Balloon Pop". Playing with the children was very fun, however, and we got to know each other very quickly.
I have a lot of respect for bilingual kids in school. As I saw during our visit to Park, kids that do not speak english at home or as a main language can have some troubles in class or with friends when trying to overcome a language barrier. This being said, however, I could see how my child had adapted to the english language within the classroom, and he seemed to comprehend the content just as easily as any other students in the class who spoke english as a main language. Because we live in a largely english speaking community, I think that students who don't necessarily speak english as a first language learn quickly because they are constantly surrounded by it. Being able to know both of these languages well could be very helpful to students who travel to countries that are Spanish speaking, and I think that this is a very valuable skill to have.
As a language learner this experience impacted me greatly. I could see how hard it was to connect and speak with the children in Spanish, and I could only think of how much harder it would be to speak with a fluent adult who had spent years perfecting their Spanish skills. If I had to sum it up into one word, this experiencing was humbling. The highlight of the experience was being able to positively influence my kid and his class, because I felt like they held a lot of respect for me and I was able to show them how to work together (when playground fights broke out, etc.) All of this experience also helped me grow inwardly, and made me realize that the energy of Kindergartners is a nice novelty, but will leave you exhausted at the end of a day!
So, in summary, I'm very glad that I was able to have this experience through my Spanish II class. Being able to brighten up a child's day (and have my day brightened too!) was a truly fun and valuable experience. Working with the English Language Learning class was especially valuable, because I was able to test my Spanish skills and was able to learn some conversational skills in this regard. There is always a chance to make an impact on a child's life, and I think I learned this by working with the kids and making cards for them. Whether it's helping kids with their plant journals or playing racecars on the playground, high schoolers and kindergartners can both gain skill from working with each other in a collaborative environment.
I must admit that I had some serious reservations when I heard that we would be assigned a an elementary school age child who came from a Spanish speaking background. Since I do not know much conversational Spanish, I was nervous that my assigned kid would feel uncomfortable around me or that I would feel uncomfortable communicating with my little. I realized, quickly, however, that language was not as much of a barrier as I had previously conceived, and my kid and I were able to communicate fairly easily in english. My little was very nice and playful, and I had fun meeting with the other kids and asking what their favorite movies are (LEGO movie was a crowd favorite) and learning about how they had played a game with imaginary "bombs" during recess. Almost immediately I realized how energetic the kids were as well, and had some trouble keeping them in check while listening to the directions for our game of "Balloon Pop". Playing with the children was very fun, however, and we got to know each other very quickly.
I have a lot of respect for bilingual kids in school. As I saw during our visit to Park, kids that do not speak english at home or as a main language can have some troubles in class or with friends when trying to overcome a language barrier. This being said, however, I could see how my child had adapted to the english language within the classroom, and he seemed to comprehend the content just as easily as any other students in the class who spoke english as a main language. Because we live in a largely english speaking community, I think that students who don't necessarily speak english as a first language learn quickly because they are constantly surrounded by it. Being able to know both of these languages well could be very helpful to students who travel to countries that are Spanish speaking, and I think that this is a very valuable skill to have.
As a language learner this experience impacted me greatly. I could see how hard it was to connect and speak with the children in Spanish, and I could only think of how much harder it would be to speak with a fluent adult who had spent years perfecting their Spanish skills. If I had to sum it up into one word, this experiencing was humbling. The highlight of the experience was being able to positively influence my kid and his class, because I felt like they held a lot of respect for me and I was able to show them how to work together (when playground fights broke out, etc.) All of this experience also helped me grow inwardly, and made me realize that the energy of Kindergartners is a nice novelty, but will leave you exhausted at the end of a day!
So, in summary, I'm very glad that I was able to have this experience through my Spanish II class. Being able to brighten up a child's day (and have my day brightened too!) was a truly fun and valuable experience. Working with the English Language Learning class was especially valuable, because I was able to test my Spanish skills and was able to learn some conversational skills in this regard. There is always a chance to make an impact on a child's life, and I think I learned this by working with the kids and making cards for them. Whether it's helping kids with their plant journals or playing racecars on the playground, high schoolers and kindergartners can both gain skill from working with each other in a collaborative environment.
Me and Gael (Kindergartner, Professional Imaginary Racecar Driver)