RCOE International Student Teaching Fall 08

Hello! My name is Lena Evans and I am majoring in Elementary Education with a concentration in Theatre Arts at ASU. Teaching has always been a passion of mine and I love to learn myself. I feel that having a positive attitude as well as my joy for learning will help in my teaching career. I have had some experience teaching in the past, including my internship at Mountain View Elementary in Ashe County teaching and helping with kindergarten as well as my practicum experience at North Wilkesboro Elementary in Wilkes County helping with 3rd grade. I am currently student teaching at Blowing Rock Elementary in Watauga County in 2nd grade. I look forward to the experience and all that it has to offer!
I decided that I would like to student teach in Costa Rica for various reasons. I have had experience living abroad for three years, but it was when I was in kindergarten, therefore I don't remember much of the experience. My father was in the military and we were stationed in Rota, Spain. I attended a Spanish kindergarten and became completely fluent in Spanish only to loose it all when we moved back to the U.S. because I had no one to converse with. Costa Rica is a beautiful country and I look forward to learning about its people and customs. I hope to be able to participate in local festivals and being able to try the local cosine. I enjoy learning about new cultures and actually living in Costa Rica for five weeks will let me experience what their culture has to offer. I also look forward to the challenge of teaching students in Costa Rica.
I hope to learn their language and customs and apply them to my everyday life. I want to learn what makes the people of Costa Rica different but similar and how their living styles vary from ours. While I am teaching and working with the students at San Ambrosia School in Nicoya, Costa Rica, I hope to learn new learning techniques that I can apply to my classroom. I think I will learn to appreciate what I have and I feel traveling the country will help. I want to travel to different towns and explore them as well as the many nature reserves and wildlife refuges. I am looking forward to this opportunity and feel honored to be one of Appalachian's International Student Teachers!

Hello! I am Nicole Lemmon and I am an Elementary Education Major. I am completing the first ten weeks of student teaching in a second grade class at Dillard Drive Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina. So far it has been a very rewarding experience and I have learned a lot about how students learn and how to be an effective teacher. I will complete the last five weeks of student teaching in Nicoya, Costa Rica working with 7th-9th graders. While I am in Costa Rica I hope to become fluent in Spanish as well as to make an impact on my students' lives. I hope to learn as much as possible about the culture and traditions in the country.

I have spent the last six years working with children, and this has where I have gained my passion for working with children. I started out working with the YMCA in Cary, North Carolina. I loved working with kids and seeing how they grow, learn and play. When I came to Appalachian State University, I knew I wanted to become a teacher. I have spent the last four years taking teacher education courses and completing several internships and working with a variety of grade levels. I am fortunate for this experience because it has taught me a lot about how to interact with students and how to be a great teacher.

I am currently completing my first 10 weeks of student teaching at Valle Crucis and Mabel Elementary here in Watauga County. I did my share of major changing the first few years of college, but wound up an art education major. It was one of those 'aha' moments in life that, after arriving at it, made me think, "Why didn't I do this soone?" Since making the decision, I have not been happier. The fact that my new direction afforded me this opportunity to teach abroad is the cherry on top.

While abroad, I will be at Kill O' the Grange in Black Rock, Ireland, just outside of Dublin. They do not have an art education program in their school, so I am anxious to see what direction I will go with the students during my time there. I enjoy building my curriculum around my students’ interests, culture, and academics. I believe these qualities will help me create an effective and functional art program during my short stay. I am anxious to see the excitement that awaits me abroad.

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Hello my name is Stephanie Toliver!
I am in my senior year, and am currently doing my student teaching in Charlotte, NC at Endhaven Elementary school in a wonderful fifth grade classroom. After 10 weeks of teaching at Endhaven, I will have the opportunity to go to Nicoya, Costa Rica and complete my student teaching.

Student Teaching in Costa Rica will allow for me to learn about another culture, which will help me become a better teacher in the future. When I heard about international student teaching I knew that I would really like to teach in a country that had mostly spanish speaking natives. This will help me learn the language and also if in the future if I have an ESL student I can have more of an understanding on what it is like to not speak the primary language in an area.

During my time in Costa Rica I am excited that I will be part of a first and second grade classroom. I was really thrilled to be a part of these two grade levels because I have not yet experienced first or second grade yet.

Like I said in my introduction I am currently in fifth grade and am really enjoying the students I am interacting with. Last year during my internship I was a part of a kindergarten class which I also really liked. I have always really enjoyed working with children over the past few years. My first part time job was teaching swimming lessons at the YMCA. After that I have been a nanny for two different families over the past years.

I always knew that I wanted to work with children when I was older, and figured that teaching would be a great way to do that. I think that this experience will help me become a better teacher in many different ways. I will be able to learn about other cultures, learning styles, and teaching practices during this time. It will also be a good experience for me to put myself in a situation outside of my comfort zone, while still teaching.

Hello! My name is Megan Keever and I am a senior Elementary Education major at ASU. I am currently finishing up ten weeks of my student teaching in Denver, North Carolina. I have had the privilege of working with a fourth grade class at Rock Springs Elementary and have had a wonderful experience. I will complete my student teaching in Nicoya, Costa Rica working with ninth through twelfth graders. Although I am a little nervous because I have not had much experience with upper grades, I am very excited about the challenge.

While student teaching and living in Nicoya, I will be exposed to diversity through a new culture and environment that will impact me in a beneficial way. I will be able to learn more about the language and how to communicate with students speaking Spanish, which will be an advantage for me in my future classroom. I hope my students will learn from as much from me as I know I will learn from them while working together in Costa Rica.

I have had many opportunities to work with children from babysitting to working at daycare centers. Most recently I have had the opportunity to work with children since becoming part of the education program at Appalachian State University. I have been able to work closely with first, sixth, and fourth grades and has helped me realize how much I want to become a teacher.

I feel privileged to be provided this international student teaching opportunity and cannot wait to begin trip! I know this will be a rewarding experience that will further my knowledge and confidence of becoming an educator.

I cannot believe we have less than two weeks left!! I emailed my host family a week ago and am really looking forward to staying with them. I am bittersweet about my student teaching here coming to an end...I'm sad to be leaving, but am excited about going somewhere new!

I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for me to grow as a teacher. I am looking forward to interacting with the children and teachers...I have never taught English to Spanish speaking children before. I know they will make a difference in my life and I am hoping I can do the same for them.

I'm very excited about experiencing the culture of the area! I have heard that salsa dancing lessons are offered in town! Even though I have two left feet, I plan to try it out.

I cannot wait to travel! The one place I am particularly looking forward to going is the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Judging from the pictures I have seen, it looks absolutely beautiful with a variety of wildlife. Traveling to a rain-forest has always been a childhood dream of mine; I'm excited that I'll be able to experience it while I'm in Costa Rica.

I am a bundle of mixed emotions! Excited, anxious, and slightly nervous are the main ones! Right now I am student teaching at Blowing Rock Elementary in second grade. I couldn't have asked for a better school or class! I have thoroughly enjoyed what the school has offered and the opportunity to be in the classroom teaching.

Growing up I have always wanted to be a teacher and this experience of being in the classroom has only strengthened that desire. I feel that this opportunity to student teach abroad will not only help with teaching but also help expand my knowledge of another culture as well as help me grow as an individual.

I will be in Nicoya, Costa Rica for my international student teaching. One of the travel books I bought said that Nicoya was "one of the most pleasant cities in the region" with a very welcoming atmosphere. Since I have read that statement I can only imagine what my stay and visit to Costa Rica will be like. I will be helping teach pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. I very much look forward to the experience with that age group.

Last semester during practicum, I was placed in kindergarten and loved it. I hope I can take some of the activities and lessons I taught and adapt them for the students in Costa Rica. I also look forward to the challenge of teaching English to Spanish speaking children.

One of the major things I hope to achieve is an understanding of a different culture. I am going into this experience with an open mind and hope to soak up everything that I can. I hope to find things in their teaching that I can use when I have my own classroom.

I am also looking forward to the opportunity to travel. One thing I will definitely do while I am in Costa Rica is visit a rain forest. I look forward to meeting my host family and starting this experience!

I am so excited about this trip. I have read and heard so many good things about Costa Rica, which is helping me get excited. I believe that my host family will be wonderful and I am so excited about meeting them. I will be staying with a family that has three younger children. I am excited about this since I will have new younger "siblings". I am hoping that my family can help teach me more Spanish and about their culture. I am also excited about being in the school. I feel that I will learn a lot from the teacher about classroom management and hopefully Spanish.
Even though I am excited I do have some fears. I worry that I will not understand what people will want to tell me and that they will get frustrated with me. I will use Spanish whenever I can but I fear that my Spanish will not be very good. I also have a fear of getting lost. I believe this goes along with my Spanish skills. I worry that somehow I will get separated from the group and I wont be able to communicate what I want to. The final fear I have is offending my host family. I already care about them so much and the last thing I want to do is something that will hurt or upset them. I have spent time reading about their culture and I will do my best to please them.
Overall I feel that this will be a wonderful experience and that I will learn a lot about teaching, cultures and myself.

First and foremost, I am ready to board.

There are many things I look forward to when I arrive to Puebla, Mexico:

1. To finally meet my host family. We've all been keeping in touch, and I receive an email from Senora Margarita almost once a week. I look forward to getting to know all of her family members and their daily routine.

2. Teaching and learning. One of the biggest things that I hope to accomplish is to learn Spanish a little bit. I know we will only be there for 6 weeks, meaning I will probably pick up enough of the language to communicate popular phrases in a conversation, but definitely not going to be fluent. Another big thing that I hope to be while in Mexico is to be as useful as possible. I want to help out in anyway possible--whether it be with the school, with my host family, or with the community in general.

3. Eating! I like food and I can't wait to try all the dishes Senora Margarita plans on cooking for us, such as "tacos de carne árabe, tacos de carne al pastor, cemitas, mole poblano, quesadillas, molotes, tlacoyos, etc etc". YUM! I am also really looking forward to having some local fruits from the market, especially some exotic ones that you don't usually find at our overpriced grocery store.

4. Just having the privilege of being there! Also, I can finally say "Yes, a little" whenever a kid comes up to me and ask if I speak Spanish, cause I get asked that...alot.

A little over 2 weeks guys!

Fun Facts:

If you have never heard of Puebla, Mexico, you might have heard of the festivity that we (especially college kids) use as an excuse to celebrate--Cinco De Mayo. During this special occasion for which you hold Jose Cuervo close to your heart is thanks to the Mexican victory that was won over from the French army in Puebla of 1862.

I am so excited that I will be leaving so soon! I can not believe that when I talk about going to Costa Rica I can tell people that I will be leaving in about two weeks! I can still remember the first meeting that I had heard about this opportunity. I remember running to my apartment and calling my parents and telling them about it, and now I am a part of it!

Now that my student teaching here in Charlotte is starting to come to an end, I am starting to focus more of my energy on preparing for Costa Rica. I am sad that I will be leaving my students and my classroom teacher that I have gotten to work with these past few weeks. I have really enjoyed my student teaching so far, but I know that I have a lot more excitement to come!

Getting everything together over the past weeks has really gotten me ready to go! My feelings are very hard to describe. A little nervous, anxious and a lot of excitement are all feelings that I am having at the moment. One thing that I am sure about is that this will be an experience I will remember for the rest of my life! The people I meet, the places I go and the things that I do while in Nicoya will stay with me forever.

Only two weeks before I leave and I am ready to go. I am looking forward to meeting my family and students, as well as getting settled into the school. Since there is not an actual art program in the school I am anxious to develop a strong artistic rapport during my time there.
I am thankful, as I will not have to start teaching the moment I arrive. Instead, I will have four days to recover from jet lag and get settled before beginning my stay in the school. This could not be better, as it will give me time to get used to my new surroundings and get to know my host family before diving into this new experience.