WOW! What an amazing three weeks in Brazil! I have met so many wonderful new friends and learned a lot. I am excited to bring back all of my experiences and stories to share with my students. I look forward to introducing my new friends to my colleagues, students and friends. Thank you to everyone that made this trip of a lifetime possible. I hope to be a better teacher because of it.
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Today we visited the beautiful Basilica Do Bonfim. We learned about the history of the Bonfim ribbions and saw the Room of Miracles. The Room of Miracles is located next to the presbytery, on the ground, in the opposite way to the sacristy. There are exposed impressions in wax, representing organs of the human body (head, legs, chest, hands), in the most varied and sometimes strange shapes, permanent expression of requests and thanks to the Lord of Bonfim. Bahia Bands have been around for a very long time. Fitas, or Bonfim Ribbons as they were originally called were silk and the writings on them were done by hand with ink or silver. They were worn on the neck as a necklace, upon which were hung medallions and holy images. Today, ribbons are still worn but the tradition of tying the Bahia Bands on the church gates and wearing them for luck has lived on! People all over the world celebrate the Bahia Band tradition! Ribbons are mostly worn around the wrist or ankle, but they are more than just an accessory... Our day began with several guest speakers on the history of Salvador and a safety debriefing. We were able to say goodbye to our host teachers and then we were off to the beach! It was a wonderful afternoon to relax.
Today we had the wonderful experience of collaborating with many Brazilian teachers. All of these teachers had participated in the ILEP program in previous years. The ILEP program allows teachers around the globe to study and teach in the US for five months. Most of the ILEP participants were also the teachers that had hosted us in Brazil. In small groups Brazilian teachers and American teachers worked together to discuss the needs in our schools. We then created projects that would address our needs and connect our students. This was a difficult task as internet and access to technology is not comparable in all schools. One of the main needs from many of the Brazilian teachers was technology training for their teachers. With my technology background I was "tasked" at creating a training website. 😳 We discussed many other ideas such as using Skype in our classrooms and connecting via a blog. I am also looking at creating a conversion project with another math teacher. It is wonderful to have so many personal connections now in Brazil. The last part of our trip will be spent on the coast, in Salvador. Today we took a cultural tour, went shopping and had a wonderful dinner in the town. The city is celebrating Festa Junina this weekend and they were setting up this afternoon. Yesterday we had to say goodbye to all of our new friends in Ceilandia. Adriana had made us a special lunch at her apartment and before the staff meeting we honored Adriana and her school with a special video, gifts, certificate and dinner. The teachers I have worked with are very knowledgable and dedicated to their students. Each and everyone has a huge heart and puts their students needs first. It was my pleasure to work along side of them with their students. Adriana was kind enough to invite us to visit her parents' beautiful home. It is interesting to compare the structure to homes in different regions of the US. This was one of the larger homes on the street.
Students in Brazil typically go to school from 7:30am -12:30 pm and have the remainder of the day to spend as they wish. Many students will work or attend language classes in the afternoon or evening. Today I visited many different language classrooms at Cilc, in Ceilandia. I admire the students in the classes that I met today because of how hard they work to overcome adversity. Some of the students feel as though it is dangerous to get to school because they walk or take the public bus and fear being robbed. The night classes run until as late as 10:20pm. It is very late to focus and study however these students were attentive and eager to learn. I was surprised to learn that for most of the students at Cilc, Suzanne and I were the first Americans they had met. We taught class tonight, without our host teacher, which forced the students to communicate only in English. In class we analyzed the lyrics and meaning of the song, "Style" by Taylor Swift, plotted points on a four quadrant graph and answered many questions that the students had about life in America. All of the students participated and worked extremely hard for us. In the evening our host teacher had received many messages from her students telling her how much they enjoyed class. One message in particular stuck out. It read: "Hi Teacher! I'm gonna try to express my feelings in English. I just wanna thank you for being this great teacher. Your classes always make me feel happy and very excited about the language. You make me like the language more. I know that I am a hard student but I really try to hear to talk because I think that you deserve our best. Because I know that you do your best every class. I just want to thank you. You are amazing. Thanks for working so hard to teach us what you know. Today I realize how important was what you said to us. I saw that is possible to speak and understand them. And you make this for us. Of course I spoke to much kkkk because I'm this way. I tried and I did....So...just thanks...I hope that I've write it right kkk..." The teacher has always stressed the importance of learning the English language and being in touch with foreigners. Tonight when we were in their class, the students had the opportunity to test their abilities. It was a great class for the students to realize that their hard work, over the past several years, did pay off and that native English speakers could easily understand them. It was a real life affirmation that now has motivated them to continue to persevere towards reaching all of their life long goals. I had the pleasure today to work with students in many different classrooms at both Cooplem and Cilc schools. My students wrote letters that I shared with the Brazilian students today. It was interesting to learn how similar the students are. Check out the beautiful, hard working and talented students in the pictures below. If you are a student that was in a classroom I visited today, please leave a comment, in this blog, listing something new you learned today. We would love to read your posts. Thanks for sharing with me today.
Today is Jason and my 18th wedding anniversary. I was able to FaceTime my children and husband. It was wonderful to hear all about their day and see their faces. Adriana drove us two hours away to a city called Pirenopolis. It is a beautiful older city with many shops. All of the store owners were super friendly and enjoyed practicing the little English they may have known with us. I hope my family and friends enjoy the gifts that I have picked out for them. |
AuthorLisa Caswell Archives
June 2015
CategoriesThis website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and information presented are the grantee's own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.
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