Student Reflection

by Theresa Calkins


This semester I am volunteering at Garden Hills Elementary School in Champaign, Illinois.  I am working in a bilingual first grade classroom.  Por eso voy a escribir mi blog post en las dos lenguas (español e ingles) para practicar usando las lenguas juntos, como los estudiantes en la clase.  All of the students in the class are native Spanish speakers.  Es obvio que algunos estudiantes se sienten cómodos al hablar ingles, pero algunos siempre hablan el español.  When I met with the Garden Hills volunteer coordinator for my orientation, she told me that by the time the students are in fourth grade, they won’t speak Spanish in the classroom any more.  Had I been working in a classroom like this, even if I made the effort to speak Spanish with them, the students probably would not speak Spanish to me.  Por eso, estoy emocionada por tener la oportunidad de trabajar con esos niños del primer año que pueden ayudarme a mejorar mi habilidad de hablar el español. 

Este hecho que he mencionado, que los estudiantes hablarán el inglés en unos años es increíble.  I have taken Spanish classes for more than ten years, and I still do not consider myself completely bilingual.  I know that there is a lot more that I have to learn.  However, these young students will be completely comfortable with English in just three years or so.  Creo que esto es debido al hecho de que estos hispanohablantes han empezado a hablar el inglés desde una edad muy joven. 

The Garden Hills volunteer coordinator also told me that there are more dialects of spoken Spanish at Garden Hills Elementary School than at any other school in the Champaign-Urbana community, and that even the teacher, who is a native speaker of Spanish, is not completely familiar with all of the dialects her students speak.  Creo que esto es muy interesante porque demuestra que los hispanohablantes en nuestra comunidad no son todos iguales.  Son de diferentes partes del mundo y tienen culturas diferentes, pero la lengua es algo que les une a ellos y les hace una comunidad especial dentro de la comunidad grande de Champaign-Urbana. 

Estoy emocionada por  tener la oportunidad de trabajar con los estudiantes y la maestra de la clase del primer año en Garden Hills.  Hay mucho que puedo aprender de ellos, sobre la lengua española y la cultura de ellos, pero ojala que pueda ayudar a ellos también y les muestre algo de mi cultura y les enseñe algo del inglés.  A volunteer opportunity like this one is a two way street; if I am helping the students in the class as much as I can, I will learn the most Spanish possible during my time with them.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vocabulary for Parent-Teacher Conferences

Image
I'm very happy that so many students responded to our community partner's need for help. Our students' language skills will help Central High School's Latino parents better communicate with the teachers during the parent-teacher conferences next week. Central's secretary will contact the students directly to schedule times with them. Here is some vocabulary help for students. Materias. School subjects are "materias" NOT "sujetos." You should remember subjects from your intro Spanish courses, but here are some reminders: historia, matemáticas, inglés, física, química, biología, educación física, etc. General vocabulary. Notas = grades; aprobar = to pass; suspender = to fail; conducta, comportamiento = behavior. Topics. Ms. Citraro offers the following advice: "The topics and vocabulary that would come up are about the subjects at school. For example: no ha entregado las tareas tiene que tomar el examen otra vez habla mucho en clase falta muc
Read more

How to Correctly File Hispanic Names

Image
I know that community-based learning students don't like it when they are asked to file during their time in the community. However, their learning goals are to improve their Spanish and knowledge of Latino cultures. Filing information on clients with Hispanic names helps them with both. And imagine the impact of mis-filing for the organizations where our students work and and their clients. That's why I was unhappy to learn that many SPAN 232 students did not do well on their exam section asking them to put some Hispanic names in alphabetical order. I can imagine that some students feel that putting names into alphabetical order isn't important. It is! It is especially important in the organizations where they work because they are dealing with clients who may not have "accommodated" to the American system of using only one last name. And it is especially important for clients whose papers are so important for their legal status, medical information and oth
Read more

Interview with Jessica Horn of ACCIÓN Chicago

Image
By Carolyn Kloecker , Span 232 student This past week I completed an assignment for my Business Communications class (SPCM 211) which was to interview someone in a field that I am interested in working for in the future. I asked her many questions about the organization, and lots of information can be found on their website www.accionchicago.org . This organization is a Community Partner with Spanish & Illinois, and has an extensive connection with the Spanish-speaking community in the Chicagoland area. Here are a few of the questions and answers from Jessica: Is ACCIÓN a fairly new organization? How did it begin? ACCIÓN Chicago started in 1994, but the parent organization, ACCIÓN was started in 1961. It is the largest micro-lending organization, and it began in Venezuela, and took root in the U.S. in 1991. How do loan officers communicate with clients? Mostly by phone, as people call in to the office to get a loan for their small business. The website is also a main form o
Read more