Hola Amigos!! Sad to say it is my second to last week here in Ecuador, but I am definitely making the most of it!! This week was full of exciting news. Our sweet caterpillar Bruna turned into a butterfly this week and on Monday afternoon we gathered all of the students in a circle on the soccer field and let her free. She was a little stubborn and did not want to leave her little box, we had to assist her by walking her over to a tree branch and letting her hangout on the tree branch for a bit before she decided to use her wings and fly away. You can see her in the pictures below, we only took a video letting her go, so we had to screenshot to get these little picture of her which is why they are blurry. The kiddos loved watching her grow and seeing her go through the process of being a caterpillar and being the same old Bruna she used to be but just looking different now, and in a different form.

This past weekend the girls and I went to Teleferico which the cable car located a bit outside of Quito that you can pay $8 to take up to the top of the mountain which is one of the highest points that overlooks the city. It is truly beautiful, except our view was a little bit blurred due to the immense fog at the top of the mountain. It was still very cool to imagine what it might look like on a clear day, we got to explore and see images of what it is supposed to look like. We also got to see a map of all of the nearby volcanoes and how they look. We also got to go on a swing that is also at the very top of the mountain and it got to look like you were swinging over the edge of the mountain, however once again we were not able to see down which was okay, it was still a super cool experience to say we got the pleasure of having.

On our way back down the mountain from Teleferico we decided to stop at a lovely little cafe that we have heard many good things about! We stopped at the cafe which is called Cafe Mosaico. It has one of the most stunning views of the city and has truly incredible desserts. I got the biggest hot chocolate I have ever gotten, it was veryyyy rich and very filling. We also got some brownies and tres leches, which is three different milks made into a sort of cake shaped form, it is super yummy and if you ever get the chance to taste it you should! It is unlike anything i’ve ever had in the states!

Here is an update on the flowers from last week’s science experiment. The students were beyond impressed to see how the flowers changed color. This helped them recognize how plants get their food. I then had them write a mini reflection about their thoughts on the flowers, and how they thought the flowers get their food. I also had them include a drawing to show the progression of how the flowers changed. They loved this activity and thought it was very unique.

Also this week we were focusing on teaching them the process of sequencing because in Writers Workshop they will be working on writing How-To books! We wanted to make sure the students were able to properly know how in-depth they have to go when writing a how to book, you do not just write you need bread and bananas, you need to elaborate more. So we did an activity where we had them make banana and manjar sandwiches based on the instruction’s we included in our own how-to books. We showed them how detailed they needed to be and how you needed to include all of the ingredients and steps. The students loved this activity and starting next week they will be writing their own how-to books on their favorite topics! Overall it was another great week, sad it is almost over but I have absolutely loved every step of the experience.

My students have been working on some exciting things this week! They are completing informational writing on a topic of their choice. The class goal is to have a book with a table of contents, introduction, three chapters, glossary, and about the author page. Currently, the class is in the revision stage. It was fun to help them generate ideas and help them organize their writing. Most of the students are writing about soccer, which is the biggest part of their lives down here. One student is writing about how to read, which I thought was inventive and challenging. That is what I learned about in college, not third grade! Although he doesn’t know all the professional terms, he has done an awesome job explaining the steps.

This week, we are also learning about division. We have used visuals and manipulatives to help us. During the introductory lesson, we used Fruit Loops to demonstrate division! The kids were given 36 Fruit Loops and were asked to separate them into equal groups. For example, they would put the 36 Fruit Loops into 9 groups of 4. The kids were so excited to use food for the lesson and even more excited to eat them at the end. I found that this hands-on experience was successful.

This weekend, Apryl and I are up to more fun. We are going to Baños, which is a town about 4 hours from Quito. It is known for its variety of restaurants, shops, outdoor adventures, and spas. We are hoping to go ziplining, parasailing, get massages, and visit one of the most famous waterfalls, Diablo. I cannot wait to update you on that last adventure!

I have a lot of fun to report on this week’s blog. Colegio Menor celebrated Teacher’s Day with an insane party on Friday night. It was held at the school in their gymnasium, called the Coliseum. There was food, drinks, a band, raffles, and tons of dancing! I was on the dance floor for hours. It was also a chance to connect more with my third-grade team. This was one of the best parties I have ever been to.

On Saturday, I went to TeleferiQo, which is a cable car which takes you to the peak of a mountain. The views are amazing. You can see the whole city and surrounding valleys of Quito. Unfortunately, the clouds blocked our view, so we did not see anything. I plan on going back to enjoy the full experience. It is just hard because the weather here is so unpredictable. It can be sunny one minute and overcast the next.

Sunday was also tons of fun. I went to the town of Cotacachi and hiked Cuicocha. It is a crater that has a lake on the inside. The hike was tough even for me, and I work out multiple times a week. Between the altitude and the steep climbing, it was rough. Although that was the case, I felt invigorated when we finished our trek.

I also wanted to update you on my teaching. I have been conducting a behavior plan with one of my students, G., and I am starting to see improvement! His target behavior is work completion. I have been using an incentive chart to motivate G. He can get a smiley face for each class that he completes work in. Our goal is for 70% work completion over the course of the week, which is 19 smiley faces. So far, he has been able to get very close to or meet this goal. G. is showing more enthusiasm about working, but still requires one-on-one support for certain subjects. For example, G. does not like writing and will only complete work with this kind of support. I know it will be difficult for the classroom teacher to continue this plan once I am gone because she is by herself with 24 students. I hope that starting this intervention with G. will at least prepare him to work independently when I am back in the U.S.

This has been my favorite week in Ecuador so far!

In class, my host teacher has been focusing a lot on teaching the students how to actively calm themselves and regulate their emotions through breathing. Now, we start each class by doing a few deep breaths. I appreciate the attention my teacher has brought to this topic because I believe it is so important for these students to know how to control their emotions. Unfortunately, here in fourth grade there is no morning meeting time, which makes it hard for the teachers here to find the time to have these types of conversations with their students. I strongly believe that elementary grades should have morning meetings everyday and community building should be prioritized. 

This week in reading my students worked with main ideas and supporting details. I’ve noticed that at Colegio Menor, they use the online program, IXL, to supplement instruction in both math and reading. At my placement school in the US, we only had an online program to supplement math instruction (ST math). It is nice that there is one program that the students can use to practice skills in multiple subjects. During reading, the students also worked on practicing identifying main ideas and supporting details from an article about tornados. Later in the week, the students learned about other types of extreme weather and they began a mini research project on a specific type of extreme weather. The students also started a new spelling list, took a quiz on it, and learned about the author’s point. Overall, I think that the 4th grade curriculum here is very similar to in Massachusetts, but I do notice that instruction in ELA here is very dependent on Powerpoint presentations. When I’m teaching, I prefer to use a variety of delivery methods, which include presentations but also other methods like simply talking, small groups, centers, think-pair-shares, turn and talks, and Jamboards. 

In social studies, the students continued to learn about currency, but they started to explore the history of currency and how people bought things before there was paper or coin money. Before the lesson, the students needed to call a grandparent or talk to a parent about how they bought things when they were younger. In class, we shared answers and the students learned that we used to use different forms of currency. It is very interesting because Ecuador used to have its own currency called the sucre, but after lots of inflation, the sucre was not worth as much and Ecuador adopted US dollars and coins as their national currency. The students also got the opportunity to explore the history of currency through an online interactive slideshow, which I thought was so useful and I even learned a lot from it. I really like how the lessons here consistently incorporate other cultures and countries. 

I had the chance to observe math and science a couple times this week. I enjoy seeing how the other subjects are taught. Here, they also use Mystery Science videos as part of their science curriculum, which I am very familiar with because I used it at my previous practicum school. In math, they are learning about fractions. In science, they were learning about energy and how it can be stored and released, but not destroyed. As far as I can see, their math instruction is very hands on and involves plenty of visuals. I have not noticed any uses of math manipulatives so far.

Usually, at least a couple times a week, my teacher will allow the students to have a dance break/brain break before starting class. Our class periods are only 40 minutes, so she is not able to give them a brain break before each class. This is part of why I support fourth graders staying with one teacher/one classroom instead of visiting different teachers for each subject. I think it is so much harder to fully support the students and create a strong community when we have so little time with them outside of instructional time. 

Next week is my takeover week, so I taught several lessons this week to gradually take over the classroom. I spent time planning lessons for next week and I went to the grade level planning meeting to stay up to date with the other teachers’ plans. This week the students had visits from an author and an illustrator. Below is a photo of them at the illustrator’s visit. 

Friday was an incredibly fun day at school because the school threw a party for the staff to celebrate teacher’s day from last week. The party started at 4pm and we stayed until 10pm! It took place in the gym, which they call the coliseum. They had a DJ, a live band, plenty of food, and they decorated the gym with a dance floor and couches. They also had an open bar. Roslyn, Felicia, and I spent the whole night dancing with the teachers. There was also a raffle and Roslyn and I won a prize. Colegio Menor is a private school, which allows for them to have the budget to throw parties like this to show appreciation for their teachers. I know that we could never have these types of parties at public schools in the U.S. After the party, I slept over at Roslyn’s house because it was too late to uber all the way back to Quito.

Saturday morning, Roslyn and I ubered to Felicia’s house and then her host dad drove us to my house in Quito. My host mom and her son took us to teleferico and we sat on the swings that overlook the city. It was very cloudy so we were not able to see the city once we were at the top. It is better to go early in the morning to see the view before the clouds settle in. Then, we went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant and drove to a cafe that overlooks the city. As always, the views in Quito were so beautiful. Roslyn slept over at my house that night because we had made plans to wake up very early and visit Cuicocha with my host mom and her friend.

On Sunday, we woke up at 6am and got ready to go to Cuicocha. The drive is about 2 hours and it is near Cotacachi and Otavalo. We stopped on the way to have breakfast. I had eggs, juice, hot chocolate, and bizcochos. All for only $3! I also took the opportunity to buy some snacks for the road. We arrived at Cuicocha and started to hike. Cuicocha is so beautiful. There is a lake and two islands with the mountains all around. It was a bit cold there, so I would recommend dressing in layers. It is a place to hike, but you do not have to hike to see the lake and the islands. The entire hike is a loop and it is 14 kilometers in total. It takes about 4-6 hours to hike the whole thing. Definitely use the bathroom before starting the hike because there are not bathrooms during the hike (at least not the part I hiked). I am not a fan of hiking, so we only hiked about 5 ½ kilometers. I was so exhausted by the time we got home. We stopped at a restaurant to have lunch and I finally tried locro, which is a traditional Ecuadorian potato soup. It was really good! When we got back to Quito, we stopped at a place called Cyrano, which had so many delicious pastries, cakes, and they have ice cream. Everything I got from Cyrano was so tasty. 

It was such a fun and tiring weekend. Next weekend, Roslyn, Felicia, and I are hoping to visit the Amazon! Our time here is nearing the end, but we are trying our best to fit in everything that we want to see and do before we return to the states. Stay tuned for next week’s adventures! 

Well I cannot believe that another week has gone by, the days here go slow but the weeks go by so quickly! I cannot believe we only have two more weeks left, it has been the sweetest experience here getting to learn and understand the school system and curriculum here as well as the culture and everyday life of the people here.

The students are very excited as we are getting closer to their Literacy Celebration which is next Tuesday! We have spent the past two weeks reading, creating activities and focusing on this one text that was provided by the principal of early childhood. They each picked a different book for each first grade class, most of the books are focused on self-love and confidence for the students, so they can learn to embrace these things before heading over to second grade. The book that we were given is a book that is called “I’m Gonna Like Me” by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell. The students have been loving the book it talks about all the different ways you are going to like yourself and embrace your uniqueness even when you don’t want to. We have had the students create a few different activities about themselves and what makes them unique. They are also learning about sequencing in reading right now so we provided them with four different sheets of paper which they had to put in order and pick out what they thought were the four most important pieces of the story and put them in order. They had to draw the events on these papers, and then they filled them in with watercolor, since the book is done in watercolor. They did this to hopefully resemble the book more. Next Tuesday is the big day so I am sure there will be plenty of photos and updates about the literacy celebration then.

Also this week in Science we are continuing to learn about living and non-living things. This week we stopped at the market and brought in white flowers into the classroom, we had each students get into pairs and work with their partners to pick a color of food coloring. We put each little flower into a water bottle and added five drops of food coloring to the water bottle. We told them we would keep the flowers on the shelf in the sun and we would observe what happens to the white flowers. We want them to recognize how the flowers get the water and how and where it travels, so they will watch next week to see how the flowers change colors!

Also here is an update on Miss Bruna our sweet Caterpillar. She is thriving, earlier this week she entered into her cocoon, we keep telling the students it is all part of the process. We also keep reminding them to keep calm and quiet voices or else she will not want to come out of her cocoon. They love going over to her and observing her during the day all happy and cozy in her cocoon. One of the other first grade classes caterpillar has turned into a butterfly. They had the privilege of sitting around as a class and letting the butterfly go, we are hoping that next week Bruna will come out of her cocoon and turn into a beautiful butterfly.

Also this week I got to experience one of the things that was high up on my list when visiting Quito which was to go to Quilotoa. Quilotoa is a lagoon surrounded by mountains. It used to be a volcano, it erupted about 800 years ago and when it erupted the heat from the volcano as well as the lava melted the nearby glaciers which all melted and pooled into the crater of the volcano, which is now the lagoon of Quilotoa. I booked it with a private tour company which is called Best Trip Ecuador, and it really was the best trip, we had a driver and a tour guide, and we took stops whenever we needed as it is a 3 hour drive from Quito to Quilotoa. We stopped at two different farm stands to see the peoples way of life way out in the country, it was truly unique. We also got to take a picture with one of the Alpacas that was one of the farmers pets which was super cool. We got to Quilotoa and walked down to the lagoon which was pretty steep. We then took the insane trek back up the moutain range to make it back to the top lookout point. It was truly a difficult hike as the altitude is very high here especially compared to where I live in the United States. It truly was so breathtaking and very beautiful and I enjoyed every minute of my day!

Hello again!

Everything here is going beyond well. My students in first grade truly have SO much energy! Last week we did so many fun things! First to start I want to talk about Teacher’s day last Thursday. I woke up to flowers from my host family that they bought me and had left on the kitchen table for me and my host sister who is also a teacher. I then took the bus to school and when I arrived I was greeted with gifts by my other classroom teachers, little chapsticks with little notes. I also had many different gifts from my students a lot of them which were homemade. A few students made me some baked good like homemade cookies or cupcakes, with a sweet little note. I truly felt so loved that day and appreciated as a teacher, it just made me look forward to having my own classroom one day soon too!

This past week in science we were learning about living and non-living things. The principal bought every first grade class their very own caterpillar, and over the next two weeks we will watch it go through the process of going from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Over this weekend it decided to begin hanging from the ceiling of its little box it came in as it is beginning to make a cacoon. Since we are in first grade all of our students wanted to name the caterpillar so my host teacher made a list on the whiteboard and each student volunteered to share one name, she wrote all of the possible name ideas up on the board. Then each student voted for which name they liked best, so we ended up naming the caterpillar Bruna. I will be updating next week with some more information on Miss Bruna.

Also in science this week we did an experiment with seeds. Our assistant teacher brought in a whole bunch of different fruits and vegetables, we gathered all of the students around on the floor into a fishbowl style and our teacher cut into each fruit and vegetable to show all of the different seeds that are in each fruit and vegetable. She then talked about how flowers and fruits and vegetable’s reproduce, or “have a baby” as the students were saying. We then asked the students to show us the seeds on each different fruit or vegetable. We took the seeds from many of these fruits and vegetables and planted them in the bottoms of plastic water bottles with some dirt, we have them sitting by the window and the students are looking forward to seeing how long it takes the plants and their seeds to reproduce, or “have a baby”. We also had each student pick between two different types of beans and put them in a little plastic bag with a napkin and some water, and we have them hung against the sliding glass door in our classroom because it gets the most sun during the day. The students come in every morning and check on their beans. They love these hands on activities and are excited to see their little beans and seeds “have babies”.

One last activity that we did this week that I thought was very very cool was an activity that we did in math. The students have their Chapter 8 assessment this week on addition and subtraction within numbers to 20. So last week as part of a review we had each student decorate a little addition or subtraction mat. They decorated it as a background of their favorite place, like the beach or the soccer field. We then slid these mats into little plastic sleeves and had the children write on them with expo markers to practice some problems with their friends. Then we did a super fun activity, where I gave each student a big ball of playdoh, they were tasked to make twenty little balls of playdoh out of their one bigger ball. When each student had all twenty we gave them word problems and they have to put the amount of playdoh balls on their subtraction mat. For example we would say, Sarah had ten apples then John ate four how many does Sarah have now? The students would put ten on their mat and squash four of the playdoh balls with their finger, they would then count all of the playdoh balls that were not squashed and that would give them their answer. Overall it was a very fun week with a lot of love, learning, and hands on activities.

I can’t believe I have already spent four full weeks in Ecuador! 

I had another exciting and eventful week here at Colegio Menor. This week I taught several lessons and got to experience being the only teacher in the classroom. 

In writing, my students were finishing up their unit on opinion essays. They looked at the comments that their teacher and I made on their essays and made corrections to create a final copy to share with 5th graders. Both of my classes had the chance to read their essays to students in a 5th grade class. The students switched around so that each student got to read to multiple 5th graders. The 5th graders then gave feedback to my students when they were finished reading. I think that it is a huge benefit of Colegio Menor that there are all grades here because it allows younger students to learn from the older students. My 4th graders really enjoyed reading to the 5th grades and they definitely learned a lot from them. When I have my own classroom, I want to give my students opportunities to present their work to an audience just like my students here did. 

In reading and grammar, we started a new spelling list, continued learning about note taking, and practiced taking notes. There is a larger focus on spelling at this school than at my previous placement, but I think it is necessary because English is a second language for most of my students. After the students copied down the spelling list, we went outside to play a game with the words. In the game, the teacher gives a word from the list and the students need to go around the circle and spell the word one letter at a time. If they said the wrong letter they had to sit down. If the word was spelt correct, then the person next to the person that completes the word has to sit down. At the end of the week, the students took a spelling quiz on the words. I graded the quizzes and I was so proud of my students because they did so well as a class. This week my host teacher also showed me the student data from the reading assessments that her students took. I saw that most of the students had improved from the beginning of the year. She used the reading data to form small reading groups for extra help afterschool. I led this week’s afterschool small reading group because my teacher wanted to watch how I do reading groups. I also taught the lessons on note-taking. 

In social studies, my students were studying world currency. I taught the currency lesson to one of the classes and I thought it went so much better than my last social studies lesson. In the lesson, the students were given a print out of various types of currency from countries around the world. My students had to use clues on the currency to determine what country’s currency it was. Afterwards, we discussed what countries they thought the currency is used in and we filled out a chart with the name, country, and continent that the currency is from. I enjoyed this lesson and I think it is so important for students to be exposed to aspects of other countries besides their own.

Since my teacher only teaches ELA and social studies, I have been checking the class schedule to see when I can go observe their math and science teachers. This week it worked out for me to observe a science class, which was so nice because I forgot how much I love teaching science. I will try to observe most math and science classes next week. 

There were a few special events that took place this week. First, it was teacher’s day on Thursday so several of my students brought in sweets or little gifts for myself and my host teacher. We also had innovation day on Friday, which was a whole elementary school event that parents were invited to. Due to the big event on Friday, we had a staff meeting afterschool on Wednesday to go over the logistics of the event and what each teacher’s role was. Every grade went at a different time and stayed for about 2 hours. Earlier in the week, the students were tasked with designing a machine that could solve a simple task (a Rube Goldberg machine). My class chose to accomplish the goal of popping a balloon. They needed to think of materials and a design for a machine that would last at least ten seconds and end with the popping of a balloon. They needed to bring materials from home and then on Friday they built their machine in groups with the help of their parents. I was a floater at the event so I got to walk around and see everyone’s machine. Everyone had so much fun and I thought it was a great STEM activity. I think this event may  have been hard to do at school in Massachusetts because it requires a lot of family involvement and parents would need to take time off work. As I was walking around, I took video and pictures of my students’ machines. I am so proud of all the work they put into their machines. They showed so much determination and creativity. 

Over the weekend, I visited the artisan market in Otavalo and the Peguche waterfall for the second time. I went with Felicia and her host family. It was really nice to meet her family and get to know them a bit better. Since we went on Saturday, the market was a lot busier than the last time I went. There were many more vendors to buy from. If you want to go on a quieter day with fewer vendors, I would recommend going on a weekday. On our way home, we stopped to eat bizcochos (a traditional cookie/biscuit that is made in Cayambe). It was a long day, but we had so much fun! On Sunday, I went to the mall with my host mom and her son. For the rest of the day, I just relaxed and tried to get some work done. 

I am having so much fun here, but I am starting to miss some things from the states. For example, I do miss being able to drive myself around and I especially miss my friends and family. My host mom and the other student teachers’ host families have been so helpful and kind by offering to give us rides to where we want to go. However, I do feel a slight lack of independence because I can’t really go wherever I want whenever I want like I would at home. These past weeks I have gone to a lot of Ecuador’s tourist attractions, so now I’m looking to experience Quito and Cumbaya through the lens of a local. Let’s see if I get the chance!