Park Elementary School, and the Lessons Learned
or
With A Little Help From My Friends
In our most recent Spanish Project, we had the opportunity to go to Park Elementary and hang out with some bilingual elementary-school kids. This consisted of getting into the proper vehicles, and rolling out. We then followed them to their various classes all day.
At first, I was a little uncomfortable, because despite my experience in the Powerhouse Science Center, it was a whole new environment. I didn’t know the rules, and spent some time learning them, and convincing my new friend that they did apply to me, and that I had no intention of letting him break them. Once this happened, I got fairly comfortable hanging out with the sort of people who will actually play tag with me. After this point, we got along fairly well. He was fairly open to talking with me, and vice versa.
It seemed to me that he had some issues, not through any fault of his own, but through the teachers not explaining stuff. He would often turn and ask me what words meant, words that his classmates seemed to have no issue with understanding. If the teacher had taken the time to explain the words, or break down the concepts, he would’ve had an easier time with timekeeping. He was a very quick study, which I suspect is related to the variety of languages and new words. The teachers just needed to break things down a bit more.
I really enjoyed this from a language perspective. Spending all that time with someone who I wasn’t really self-conscious about my Spanish while talking to was a real relief. I felt comfortable with his class, and I feel like I genuinely helped him. I think that talking to kids, as opposed to adults, is a more comfortable environment and one that I can speak more easily in. If I were to do it again, I wouldn’t do much differently, aside from try to get through the “Scary High Schooler” barrier a bit more rapidly. It was an awesome experience.
Overall, it was an awesome experience, and I am grateful for the chance to do it. I liked the feeling of actually helping, of knowing that a project had an impact for someone. I suppose that’s what I will seek in all my language experiences. Using my learning to make a difference.
At first, I was a little uncomfortable, because despite my experience in the Powerhouse Science Center, it was a whole new environment. I didn’t know the rules, and spent some time learning them, and convincing my new friend that they did apply to me, and that I had no intention of letting him break them. Once this happened, I got fairly comfortable hanging out with the sort of people who will actually play tag with me. After this point, we got along fairly well. He was fairly open to talking with me, and vice versa.
It seemed to me that he had some issues, not through any fault of his own, but through the teachers not explaining stuff. He would often turn and ask me what words meant, words that his classmates seemed to have no issue with understanding. If the teacher had taken the time to explain the words, or break down the concepts, he would’ve had an easier time with timekeeping. He was a very quick study, which I suspect is related to the variety of languages and new words. The teachers just needed to break things down a bit more.
I really enjoyed this from a language perspective. Spending all that time with someone who I wasn’t really self-conscious about my Spanish while talking to was a real relief. I felt comfortable with his class, and I feel like I genuinely helped him. I think that talking to kids, as opposed to adults, is a more comfortable environment and one that I can speak more easily in. If I were to do it again, I wouldn’t do much differently, aside from try to get through the “Scary High Schooler” barrier a bit more rapidly. It was an awesome experience.
Overall, it was an awesome experience, and I am grateful for the chance to do it. I liked the feeling of actually helping, of knowing that a project had an impact for someone. I suppose that’s what I will seek in all my language experiences. Using my learning to make a difference.