I didn't just come here to travel, or eat or play at the beach or climb rocks or stand on top of mountains, I came here to learn. And not just Spanish, but about culture, politics, history, nature and myself.
These are a few snap shots of my notebook for my culture class, probably the manifestation of my growth can be found in this book. There are a lot of pictures, charts and rants, and hey, what better way to learn?
This page is one of many pages about the politics of Chile. The lemon that I drew represents the tear gas that is always present at student protest/riots. People suck on lemons and use them to cover their nose so that they don't pass out when they are trying to run away. I was never directly in the thick of a student protest but something I learned from these conversations is the importance of not taking education for granted.
As a current student, future student, currentish teacher, and future teacher, I've worked my way around many types of school systems and while I can directly understand the fight in Chile for free education, it will be hard returning to my private university without feeling like a total cop out.
A little bit of a history lesson above. Learning about the aftermath of Pinochet after he fled the country. History is so important to understanding a culture and just when I am going to leave this country, I finally started not only understanding the history, but finding my voice and deciding my opinions.
One the one side, I have grades from 4medio's presentations and then good ol' Che makes an appearance. Some Bob Dylan poetry...
So what lesson did I learn from this page. I learned that I have strong personality that shines through to my view points. I think I learned that I need to be a bit more gracious when I offer my opinion. I never try to push my opinion onto others, but I bet it comes off that way sometimes. I am just passionate okay!! OKAY?!! But in all honesty, working alongside Meghan for our grading our kids has helped with my compromising skills, talking about politics always gets heated, but I have learned better ways to go about it, and the Bob Dylan, well, he is just awesome.
El Ojo Silva was a selection from our literature in culture class. I learned a lot about people's work ethic during these assignments and even thought I didn't do this in the moment, in retrospect, I have learned that you shouldn't let other people's lazy behavior effect your attitude/participation/mojo/attitude (worth mentioning a second time!) Not only did the other people in my class never read the assignments, they rarely participated in the classroom discussions (and that counts as part of the grade for the presenter) Attitude is everything! It's not what you said, but how you said it. Right mom? :)
I learn better when there is art involved, regardless of the form. When my notes are full of designs or font changes, it doesn't show my lack of interest, quite the contrary. I like looking back into my artwork, because there I can really remember what I was thinking on the subject.
And it is also fun finding quotes in your notebook like the one highlighted, "welcome to this episode of snarky comments in the corner."
But the biggest think I have learned over my educational journey is that I am in transit, en camino, en ruta, still on my path to somewhere else. Who know where I will end up. Maybe I will open up Carabeaner, my coffee shop rock wall, and not have anything to do with education in my title, but even if that happens or if I get my own classroom, educations exists far beyond the school system.
What have you learned today?
rach
