5 Years Later...

 haha! omg. I totally left this blog empty the past 5 years. ☺

I'll do a bullet list update:

• I've been teaching newcomer math at Seattle World School since 2017!! 

Front Entrance of Seattle World School

• The 6th graders who I taught math at Showalter Middle School in 2015-2016, graduated high school this year!!

Foster High School Graduation

• I've had the privilege to travel to: 
• Summer 2017 - Singapore | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Siem Reap, Cambodia | Bali, Indonesia
• Summer 2018 - Athens + Santorini + Chania, Greece
• Summer 2019 - Koh Samui + Koh Chang, Thailand | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Tokyo, Japan
• Summer 2020 - Cancún, Mexico
• Spring 2021 - San Ignacio + San Pedro, Belize
• Summer 2021 - San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Spring 2022 - San Pedro, Belize

• I got married in August 2020!!

• My dear grandmother passed away from COVID August 2020. 😭

At the coffee shop in Oakland, CA.

I hope to update more on here!! ✎

Especially since the next school year [2022-2023] I'll be on a sabbatical year off from classroom teaching!!! 😀

Take care ya'll!! ✌💗

Long Time No See!

I know I have not been the most up to date blogger!! It's been 10 months since my last post! Oooops! 

Here's the scoooop:

+ Completed Year 2 as a middle school math teacher in the public school system!!

+ Decided to end my time at the middle school I was at... Thank you for 2 years!!

+ Accepted a new teaching job at another school located in Seattle!!

+ Teaching has its challenges, and its rewards... I need to remember why I started and what I enjoy about my job!!

+ Why do people like or dislike math? Your thoughts/ opinions?

On the last day of school, I let my students sign the board!! THEY LOVE it!!! <3 HAGS!!!

 Me and my lovely mentor/ colleague/ friend!!

 I wouldn't have made it without YOU!! 

Year 2, Week 1: ✔️

Throughout the summer I was looking forward to my second year of teaching 6th Grade Math in public school... And after finishing my first week of the new school year, I think that I have been able to apply several things that I learned after finishing my first year. I feel more confident and I've given myself permission to make mistakes. I also feel more comfortable with my coworkers and school. Even though my district has several issues that I do not agree with, I am grateful for having a job at the middle school. 

I have been working on being more consistent and giving clearer step by step directions. I constantly walk around the room and check-in on students. I have almost all their names memorized. I see about 100 students a day! We started school on Tuesday last week, so we have had four days of school. This upcoming week will be our first full school week. It will be tiring, and it will be fun!!

Here is a photo from one of my classes on the first day of school. We talked about 6 character traits (one in each period) that we need to be in order to be a positive citizen in our communities. It was wonderful! I think it started school on a highly positive note. 

Last Day at CEDIF

Hoy fue mi ultimo dia en CEDIF. Today was my last day at CEDIF.  It was quite the pleasant day. I helped Profesora Ivet feed her students. Then I went to the class with the older students. There weren't many students there, so the few that were there went to the dining room. We folded origami hearts for Profesora Ivet's class. Then it was break time for the students, and the boys were playing soccer. I was the goalie! I was not blocking any shots in the beginning, but as the game went on, I was better! There are senior citizens that usually sit around the courtyard. After I finished playing, an elderly man came up to me and said that I should play for the women's national soccer team for Peru. ha!!! I'm not even on that level, but it was sweet of him to talk to me and my friend Fidan. Her Spanish is better, and he mostly talked to her. I tried listening and I could understand most of what he said. It was a nice last day. I went back to Profesora Ivet's class to say goodbye and to give the children the origami hearts. If I were to volunteer again in Peru, I would love to be in a scondary school math classroom. Maybe next summer... Until next time. Ciao!

¡Matemáticas en Cusco!

 

Today Jane and I worked on her math homework (Algebra). I was so excited to work with her on her math! Yesterday I asked her if I could see her math work, but she said she will have it tomorrow. I think she has the class every other day. Kind of like a block schedule. Her school is about two blocks away from the Educational Center.  We spent most of the morning doing math. Then we looked at pictures on my phone and asked each other what we like and don't like (food, fruit, music, etc.). She loves ceviche, chocolate, grapes, and Justin Beiber. ❤️

Matematicas en Cusco! This is Nayruth's math notebook.  She was working on fractions and percents. One fun tidbit that I learned... when using long division, they do it the opposite way how I learned to do it. The divisor is on the right and the dividend is on the left! AND the quotient goes on the bottom. MIND IS BLOWN!! This makes sense because a lot of students write the dividend on the left... Some food for thought... I would love to be in a math class in Cusco and learn how they learn math here! Maybe for my next trip? 😄

Con Los Niños Mayores [With the Older Kids]

Hoy era en la clase con los niños mayores. Today I was in the class with the older students. They were mostly 12 years old. I spent most of my time with Jossie y Jane (pictured above). They asked me to write a few things in Chinese. Luckily, (1 year of weekend Mandarin Chinese School lessons paid off! Thanks Mama! ) I knew a few characters. I wish I knew more... They asked how to write their names in Chinese... I definitely do not know how to do that. I was going to attempt to write it in Japanese Katakana, but I didn't want to mess with that. So I taught them how to write the numbers (one to ten), love 愛, I 找, you 你, star 星, and moon 月. Pretty basic, but fun to learn. I wish I knew MORE! I know I said that already, but I DO. :( 

One of the main reasons why I am passionate about traveling is the opportunity to learn from others...  about their lives/ experiences/ likes/ dislikes/ language/ culture... and in their sharing I learn more about myself as well. There's a correlation... connection... bond... I learned from these two 12-year-old girls that they like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, One Direction, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, SIA, and more. There was one Spanish singer that I learned that they like too! They are called Adexe y Nau. They said they are from Spain, and one boy is 10 years old and the other boy is 17 years old. :) https://m.youtube.com/user/AdexeOficial Check 'em out!!! They played for me the Spanish cover of "Sorry" by Justin Beieber. I also spoke to one of the boys named Cristopher, and I mentioned something about Japan, and he started naming a bunch of Anime that he likes: One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, etc. He doesn't like Attack on Titan though... Which is the one I like as well as Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. :) 

I wrote a note in English and translated it in Spanish to give to the teacher that I worked with last week. She asked to add her on Facebook, so I did... BUT I think it would be amazing if she could come to Seattle and come visit my school. Basically, in the letter I said how she is welcome to come visit me,  stay with me, and come to my school. I think it would be wonderful to have this kind of exchange between teachers around the world. There must be some kind of organization already developed that does this... if not... Maybe I should create my own!!

"When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are tools God uses to show us the way."

Lost in Translation {Perdido en la Traducción}

 

Today I was planning to go to one of the two classes with the older students, but I ended up going to the same class as last week with the 4 year olds. I was helping out with their breakfast, and then Profesora Ivet asked me to help walk them to class. She was trying to tell me something in Spanish, but I did not understand her... My Spanish level is low... Once I got to the classroom it clicked!!! She was telling me that her daughter was here!!! Once I got to the room the Profesora's hija (daughter)  hugged me and handed me a note. It said in English and Spanish "Could you please teach me origami?" So I spent my day (3.5 hours) teaching her origami and English... and she taught me Spanish. She is 9 years old... I wonder why she didn't go to school today... or did she have school... or does she go to school later? I don't know. I guess I can try asking tomorrow. BUT tomorrow I will definitely go the the class with the older students. There are 2 classes for 3 year olds (about 25 in each class!!), 1 class for 4 year olds (about 25), and 2 classes for older students. There are only 4 teachers at this school. I feel guilty leaving the Profesora with the 4 year olds because those students need more guidance and redirection than the clase with the older students... BUT I really want to work with the older students. Why? Because with the older students I can TRY to have more of a conversation (if only my Spanish was better!!!) with them and support them in their homework with school. I think I am pretty good at miming things or making communication happen without words... Non-verbal communication to the rescue!!

The school is called CEDIF, which stands for Centro de Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (Center of Integral Development for Familes). I believe it is ran by the government because it also says Municipal Provincial of Cusco on the banner in front of the school as well. And a quote about making a "beautiful/ better Cusco." I Googled it, and found an article/ bond/ document thing about supporting the children and adolescence in Cusco. 

One day last week the Profesora mentioned how terrible these kids are... and I tried saying... because they are 4 year old... and she said no, not all 4 year olds act like these kids. I said oh, my students are similar to these kids and they are 10 years old, and she laughed. At least this is what I thought was our conversation. :) I think even though my Spanish understanding and production is basic, we are still able to communicate... or at least I figure out what she said later on! Hahaha. or maybe something gets lost in our communication... but in the end we smile, hug, and kiss on the cheek. Abrazos y Besos!!