DEVON
Exceptional Education Undergraduate |
DEVON
Exceptional Education Undergraduate |
Our last weekend on the trip we spent in the BEAUtiful and magnificent Victoria Falls. Living so close to Niagara Falls I didn't think I would be too impressed, but I was sorely mistaken. Victoria Falls was simply breathtaking. We were able to walk around near the top as well as hike down all the way to the bottom. We were completely immersed in nature this weekend, and it was a beautiful and relaxing way to end our trip. We came in very close contact with some baboons that were walking right beside us, and we also got soaked walking across the bridge getting up close and personal with the falls. It was a riveting experience and filled me with so much energy and adrenaline. After we left the falls we headed back to the apartments to finish packing and get ready to leave on Monday. Thankfully we were able to visit a local village that makes and sells crafts before we headed to the airport. I was able to talks to the artists and villagers about their way of life and how they constructed their magnificent pieces of artwork while picking out some keepsakes to take home as well. Dr. Shandomo always talks about educating the whole child, and I know this trip definitely did just that. Not only was I able to learn about the Zambian education system and teach and observe in Zambian classrooms, but I also learned so much about myself and the culture of Zambia. I stepped way outside of my comfort zone, but it was all worth it. I was able to immerse myself in the Zambian culture and I found myself leaving with a Zambian family and many Zambian friends that I will never in my life forget about. When we arrived in Buffalo on Tuesday I had to hold myself back from crying tears of joy when I saw my entire family and boyfriend waiting for me. I missed them terribly and wish they could have shared this experience with me. I am so beyond happy to be back home with my family and loved ones and I am taking every opportunity to spend time with them and tell them all about this life changing journey I just finished. It's been a couple days since I have been home, but I can definitely say that I miss my Zambian family and my second home. I know that Zambia will always have a special place in my heart along with the beautifully unique people I got to experience this with. I want to take a moment to thank Momma Shandomo, Auntie Carol, and Nana Wendy for doing everything they could to make this opportunity memorable for each and every one of us students. Without you, none of this would have been possible. I also want to thank all my friends, family, and loved ones for supporting me and pushing me to go outside my comfort zone. While it wad tough and scary at times, I have no regrets and I would do it all over again in a heart beat. See you later Zambia!
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Wednesday 6/15/16: On Wednesday, I was permitted to return to the University Teaching Hospital Special School, where I spent the entire day in a classroom for students with Autism. This class has 30 students in it ranging from ages 7 to 17. All of the students have vastly different levels of needed support, only three of the students have the ability to express themselves verbally, more the half of the classroom has very limited motor skills, and there is only one teacher. Today the teacher, Dorothy, was very happy because she had me to help out. For the majority of the school day we spent our time managing the classroom, singing songs to the students, and talking to the students. During the students hour break where the students who can walk and feed themselves went outside to play and eat lunch, we fed the students who needed support and talked everything under the sun. I felt like I knew exactly who she was after our hour conversation, she was just like me. It was almost unbelievable how alike we were. We became friends instantly and exchanged information to keep in touch. When I spoke to her I could tell she has a vast array of knowledge on teaching, especially teaching students with autism. She knows all the strategies and has all the skills, however, she explains it is almost impossible for her to teach them the curriculum when she does;t have enough support or resources. She explains that her day is spent managing the classroom, and she doesn't have the ability to get to the academic area. While this is very sad to me, I am also very hopeful. I have to remember that Zambia has only been an independent nation for 50 years. The strides that they have made in education, and education for students with special needs specifically, in such a short time is remarkable. They are taking giant leaps in the right direction. These students in her classroom are being treated like equals and being shown that they are cared for and loved. These students are so happy when they come into the classroom in the morning. They know that their teacher Dorothy loves them and would do anything she could for them. I am very hopeful for the students with special needs in Zambia. Things are moving in the right direction and I cannot wait to keep in touch with Dorothy and hear all about her classroom in the future. I have made a life long friend today, and I will never forget the students in this classroom. I was in Heaven today with these students, and they will forever be in my heart. These students have such high potentials, and I know they can reach these potentials with the help of their beautiful teacher Dorothy. Below you will find Tabo, Charles, John, Natalie, and Dorothy. Although Tabo cannot express himself verbally he is extremely creative and intelligent. He has so much energy in him and it is contagious. Around the classroom you will find writing on the walls of words that I myself would struggle to spell, but these words come effortlessly to him. He will do amazing things one day. John had a smile on his face from the second he entered the classroom until the second he left. I couldn't help but smile right back at him. He loves to be read to as well as listen to music. The world should take a lesson from John, it is much easier to smile than frown. Charles has such a personality. His favorite question to ask is "How are you?" and he loves to show affection. I'm going to miss his hugs now that I am back in America. Natalie stole my heart the second I entered the classroom. It took a little while, but I finally got her to smile and when she did, it was breathtaking. She is working very hard towards walking and increasing both her fine and gross motor skills. I know that with her heart, she will get there in no time. Missing her like crazy already. Last but not least is the beautiful Dorothy, inside and out. She is doing amazing things and I hope to see her again someday. Maybe she can come to America and see what our schools are like some day. Thursday 6/16/16: I was very sick the night before and didn't think I was going to be able to make it through the very eventful day we had on Thursday. I had been looking forward to this day since the second we landed in Zambia, it was the day that we went to visit Chikumbuso Women and Children's home. Boy am I glad that I powered through it and went. I would have been so heartbroken if I missed this opportunity. Chikumbuso is doing great things for the children and women of Zambia. We were able to walk around and see the school classrooms and facilities, as well as hear some stories from the women who found a home in Chikumbuso. I encourage anyone who reads this to look further into Chikumbuso and do what they can to support such an amazing cause. They survive completely through donations. All of the food that is provided, the teachers salary, the students clothes, everything is paid for by donations. Every little bit helps and I can tell you personally that you won't regret any donation made. I hope one day I can do more for the people at Chiumbuso, they deserve the world. The past few days have gone by in a whirlwind. We spent the weekend at the safari and it was such an amazing experience. I was able to share my temporary weekend home with wild animals such as hippos, lions, elephants and zebras. Any time I was walking to my chalet at night there was a possibility that one of those animals could be within 100 meters of me. It was definitely an adrenaline rush. I fell asleep to the sounds of hippos coming out of the water to eat for the night, and woke up to the sounds of monkeys swinging on branches (monkeys actually came into our room while my roommate was getting ready the last morning! Crazy right? But that’s a whole different story.) When we returned on Sunday, night we were able to have dinner with Dr. Shandomo’s family at her sister’s house. I truly feel like I am a part of their family now. They have welcomed all of us with open arms and care for us like we are their own. When we arrived they were preparing a traditional Zambian meal and it was delicious. It was amazing getting to experience a traditional Zambian dinner with our very loving Zambian Family. I will never forget these people and the impact that they have had on my life in such a short time. I cannot wait to see some of them when we travel to Victoria Falls this weekend. The safari weekend at Mukambi and dinner at Dr. Shandomo’s sister’s house was a much needed break from the prior week as well as a great way to prepare for this week (which has already started out strong and packed with new experiences.)
faces when they received their first real soccer uniform cannot be explained in words. It brought tears to my eyes as they thanked us and gave us hugs. It was truly an unbelievable feeling that I will never forget. These students work so hard and deserve so much more than they receive, my only wish is that I could’ve brought more for all of the students of Libala. I am very grateful to the Tonawanda Soccer Club for their donation, because without them this would have never been possible. I want you to know that you have made such a long lasting impact on the students who received the uniforms and every time they put these uniforms on they will think of you. Later, I taught a lesson to a room of 60 second grade students on forests and how to preserve them. This was one of the most rewarding and overwhelming experiences that I have had yet. I can’t believe that I was afforded the opportunity to teach to students in a setting very unfamiliar to myself, in Zambia Africa nonetheless! While it was a little nerve-wrecking at first, I realized a couple minutes in that I just had to be the teacher I am and show the students that I wanted to help them learn about this topic. The students were more than willing to participate and seemed be interested in what I was teaching. While I was not confident in my lesson immediately, I realized that I did the best I could and that if I can teach here I should have the confidence to teach anywhere. Today is another whole story, we visited four schools!! We started at Lusaka Girls and Boys School where I was placed in an 11th grade class, next Jacaranga school where I was placed in a fourth grade class, after that we visited Roma girls school where I was placed in an 11th grade class, and finally Mary Queen School where I had the opportunity to talk to a handful of senior girls. Observing in upper grades was an experience that I wasn’t expecting whatsoever. I am so beyond happy that I had this opportunity, though. After working with these classes I can definitely see myself possibly being a secondary teacher. My whole life I thought I had it all figured out; I would teach elementary students and specifically work with students with special needs. Now I know that I can be happy in any grade level with any group of students, as long as I am teaching and doing everything I can to help my students reach their fullest potential. Being able to see students in different schools was very helpful for my observations as well. In my fourth grade class, the teacher was teaching a reading comprehension lesson. In this lesson the students were reading a passage about common folktales in their country. The teacher read the passage once and then also translated the passage into Nyanga so the students could fully understand it. She also used visuals and connections to the students’ personal lives throughout the reading. Another aspect of her teaching style I appreciated was that she went over the assessment questions (both production and identification) prior to the students answering them on their own in their notebooks. This shows me that the teacher truly wants the students to get the most out of her lesson.
In one of my 11th grade classes the students were discussing a play they began reading about the struggle to decide what type of leader is “better”; political or spiritual. The teacher had the students recall information from the play as a class rather than individually, and then had students explain further individually. She also used visuals and acted out parts of the play. I loved that she asked students basic knowledge questions such as “what happened in the beginning of the play?” and “What were the characters doing in the beginning, what were they wearing?” Then asked questions that required a high level of thinking, “What does this mean? Why were they doing that?” This reminds me of Bloom’s taxonomy which I came to know very well this past semester. It helped the students gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of the play. Seeing the different strategies that teachers use in their classrooms is something that can help me to become a better teacher myself. I know I will take what I learned today back to the classrooms I teach in back in America. The best part of today, however, was just getting to talk to many of the older students and teachers on a deeper more personal level. I heard a group of girls sing their favorite song (and let me tell you, it was beautiful), I saw traditional Zambian Dancing and Singing at Jacaranga, talked to teachers about their dreams to see what school is like in America. With the girls at Roma and Mary Queen we talked about the T.V shows and music we enjoy (One girl asked me if I like Paramore which is one of my favorite bands), we talked about boys and first kisses, and what they want to be when they are older. We connected on such a deep level that I know I will never forget any of the students or teachers that I met today. I know when I return to America that I can say “I have friends in Zambia.” How cool is that? Today has probably been the hardest day for me so far on this trip. I began to get homesick today and experienced all of the emotions that come along with it. At the same time, though, It has also been one of the most memorable, joyful, and life-changing days that I have experienced so far. Today we were given so many new experiences and opportunities (Shout out to Dr. del Prado and Dr. Patti) that have forever impacted me. The first experience we were afforded this morning was visiting the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) Special School. UTH is one of the few and far between schools for students with disabilities in Lusaka, Zambia. Being a special education major and a huge supporter and advocate for the Western New York Special Olympics, this experience was life changing and so educational. I was able to meet and learn from so many amazing individuals, both teachers and students, while learning about the school itself and the special education system in Zambia. UTH was founded in 1971 as a hearing and speech center. It wasn’t until 1992 when UTH expanded to support and educate students with other disabilities. One of the four departments of this school now supports and provides education for students with disabilities ranging from Autism, to Down Syndrome, to Cerebral Palsy and so on. Originally, the department for students with multiple disabilities only had around ten students attending, but as of last year, the school’s student body grew to 260. These students are able to receive the same love, caring, and education as the students in other government schools that we have visited in Libala. One of the classrooms we were able to visit was a classroom for students with Autism. The second I walked into this classroom I felt at home, it was as if I could feel a gravitational pull to these students and the teacher. For those of you who do not know, I am most interested in the Autism Spectrum. I feel that individuals with Autism are some of the most unique, talented, and amazing people. I bonded with one of the young boys in the classroom immediately. He had this glow about him and I could see that he had a very comical and outgoing personality. He was unable to express himself verbally, however he found many other outlets to express himself and show his personality. He grabbed my hands and held them the entire time the teacher was showing me his form of expression. All over the walls of the classrooms was writing and scribbles. On one wall written in chalk was “Fresh Fish for Sale.” On another was “Cement for sale.” The teacher explained to me that this young boy has so much energy and that the hilarious writings on the wall were written by him. There was even writing high up on one wall near the ceiling that seemed nearly impossible to reach. It felt right that this individual was able to write this high up because it showed me that even though some people may feel otherwise, there is nothing out of reach for this student in his life. I was able to talk to the teacher of this classroom about herself and her education as well. I was amazed to find that she had a profound interest in the Autism Spectrum as well and she recommended a book for me to read on teaching students with Autism. We had many of the same values, beliefs, and interests and it is crazy to think that someone on the opposite side of the world in a place that seems so different from my home could be so similar to myself. We share many of the same passions as well as life and career goals. The students and teacher in this classroom had such a huge impact on myself, that I know I will do anything in my power to visit this school again before I leave to return home. Although I had one of the best experiences of my life at UTH, I was still feeling down. I wasn’t showing it on the outside, but it was a tough time for me internally travelling to our next location. We were very lucky to return to Libala Primary school today, and I was even luckier to be able to observe in a very, very special fifth grade classroom. I didn’t know it yet, but I was going to gain some much needed wisdom in my life. The teacher I observed today has been teaching for 26 years, and has 80 students in her classroom. In America, it is uncommon to see classrooms larger that 25-30 students, so it seemed impossible to me that one teacher could teach a classroom of 80 students. I found myself wondering, “How on earth does she manage her classroom and teach all of these students at the same time?” I know now that it is possible. These students were so respectful and dedicated to their learning, and I feel it has a lot to do with their teacher. When I walked into the classroom, as well as when any other adults walked in, the students stood up and said “Welcome to our grade five class.” When learning a lesson about gender equality, the teacher made it possible for the students to make connections and relate the lesson to their personal lives. The students were able to share personal experiences that related to the lesson, and the students also stood up whenever they were sharing with the class or answering the question. Although there were not enough books for the students, they didn’t complain about having to share a book with three or four other students. They just got right to work and did the best with what they had. One thing that caught my eye instantly were signs hanging on the walls titled “Rain of Wisdom.” I thought it was only fitting to title this blog “Rain of Wisdom” because I have gained so much unexpected wisdom from unexpected people today. One of the pieces of wisdom on one of the posters was “Life is an echo- what you send out comes back- what you see in others exists in you.” This quote means a lot to me because I never thought of life like this, like an echo. Now I know that I want to do everything I can to contribute to the people and world around me. I want to send out as much positive thoughts and actions because one day it will return to me. It may not be right away, or in the same form, but it will return. I must have done something right already to be receiving this amazing opportunity so early in my life. The most important “Rain of Wisdom” I received today, though, was from one of the fifth grade boys in my class today. Throughout the class, whenever I would say something to a group of students, a sound of giggles would spread throughout the group. I would giggle as well and ask “What is so funny?” After about ten minutes, a student explained to me, “If you don’t laugh, you get old fast. We learn here to laugh at life whenever possible.” Here I am secretly feeling sad and homesick, when at the same time I am having such an amazing opportunity to experience education in Zambia. Something that many in my profession never have the chance to do. I know now that although I might experience sad times and homesickness again, I cannot let it ruin this opportunity I have. Travelling to Zambia, I knew I would be learning so much from the university, the culture, and the mentor teachers, but I didn’t realize that I would be learning so much from the student. He has taught me that I have to learn, laugh and love as much as possible to gain the most out of this experience and my life as a whole. I want to be able to gain more life-altering experiences like this one in the future. And if the young boy is right, the more I laugh at life, the longer I will stay young and be able to experience these adventures!
My heart grew two sizes yesterday. We had the amazing opportunity to visit Libala Primary school where we will be teaching an observing during our time here. We were able to learn about the school system in Zambia the day before at our partner university so we were able to make connections to what we learned through hands on experiences. I was placed in a first grade classroom where the students are taught in Zambian's national language, Nyanga and are beginning to learn English. In second grade they will begin learning in both Nyanga and English. There are 60 plus students in my classroom with one teacher. It was amazing to see the different classroom management strategies Zambian teachers use and how they provide the necessary supports for a classroom of this size. It truly makes me appreciate the classroom sizes we have in America as well as the resources we have.
This experience as a whole was breathtaking. The students were so excited to see us when we walked in and the entire time we were there, we felt like celebrities. Students were running up to hug us and thank us for coming. They were asking questions about America and what the children are like back home. When entering the school, there is a sign that reads "Quality education begins with me" and it is clear that this philosophy is embraced by all of the students in Libala Primary. The students are so eager to learn and receive and education. We learned that students walk from long distances regardless of weather just to come to school. I struggle to come to school some days just because I am tired or having a bad day, and seeing how important education is for these children makes me realize how much I have and how important my education is. This day has had such a major influence on my life and my future as a teacher, and I cannot wait to return and see these amazing students and teachers once again. I know I will be learning so much more than I ever could've imagined and can't wait to see what new adventures are coming my way. I cannot believe that we will be leaving in less than 24 hours! I have experienced so many mixed emotions over the past few days. We hit many bumps in the road when it came to finding a way to get all of the donations that I have received to Zambia. Recently, my local soccer club (Tonawanda Soccer Club) donated around 50 soccer uniforms including socks, shorts and jerseys, around 15 soccer balls, bags, water bottles, and cones. I knew there was no way I could leave this study behind, but it seemed virtually impossible to get all of these to fit into my luggage along with the hygiene supplies, clothes, school supplies and many other amazing donations I have received over the past few weeks. It took a lot of creative packing but I think I finally did it with the help and support from my parents! Thank you to all my friends and family who donated items for me to take to Zambia, Africa. I cannot wait to see the look on the children's faces when they get all of these amazing items.
Today I will be spending the day with my family, friends, and boyfriend before I leave to start this amazing journey. I know it will be hard not seeing them every day like I am used to, but I also know that it will all be worth it in the long run. I swarmed with emotions and nerves as I wait to leave in the morning. Next time I post I will be in Zambia, Africa! Crazy to believe! I'll post soon! Thank you again to my family and friends for their support and well wishes. I can't wait to share the amazing experiences of this trip that I know I will have when I get back! |
AuthorI currently work at Stanley G. Falk school as a substitute teacher aid. Here I get to support, teach and form relationships with students who may not receive the necessary support and caring from home. I love to read and spend time with my family and friends in my free time. Hopefully in the next couple years I can pursue my dream of becoming a special education teacher in our area so I can continue spending time with my family and friends. I hope this experience in Zambia will help me to become a better teacher as well as a better person. ArchivesCategories |