Video: COE students talk about course?s impact
University of Georgia student Chandler Fortson, a senior from Jackson majoring in early childhood education, was looking for a study-abroad course to take last summer that would really benefit her in her future career.
?There are not many that are relevant to my major and as soon as I read the description of the Language and Culture Service Learning course, I knew it was just what I was looking for,? said Fortson, who is considering becoming an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher. ?I am taking three additional classes to get my ESOL endorsement to broaden my teaching scope and cultivate my interest and belief in providing an education that is compatible to each individual student.?
Now, in its seventh year, the month-long course runs from early July to August. It is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. During that month, the students explore through reflections, discussions and theoretical readings the nexus between language and culture and the issues involved in teaching ESL, according to Paula Mellom, co-director of the program and a research scientist in UGA?s Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, based in the College of Education.
Fortson works with a Whitehead Road Elmentary School student on some mathematics problems. Photo by Michael Childs
As part of the service-learning component, the UGA students apply what they are learning in a week-long ?English Camp? for local elementary school children. The students develop interactive lessons that integrate the national science curriculum and apply strategies for teaching English to non-native speakers of English.
In addition to their classwork, students work with local farmers and a local women?s cooperative. They also live with a home-stay family for a week.
Most of the course is at the UGA Costa Rica campus and surrounding communities, but they also travel to Turrialba in the Atlantic zone and finish out the trip at Playa Samara, one of Costa Rica?s coastal jewels in the Guanacaste region, according to Mellom.
?The program provided me with the means to truly step out of my comfort zone whether it was zip-lining through the rainforest and white-water rafting in the Pacuare River or living with an unknown Spanish-speaking family for a week,? said Fortson, who decided to study early childhood education during her senior year in high school.
?My home stay with a local family in Monteverde for a week was what made me the most nervous about my time in Costa Rica initially. I had no idea what to expect and because of this, I worried and worried until I stepped out of the taxi onto the Leitons driveway and saw my home-stay father?s and brother?s smiling faces,? said Fortson.
The part of the trip that worried her the most, turned out to be the experience that had the greatest impact on her views. While it was difficult communicating at times because her Spanish was not great, Mellom had asked the family to speak to Fortson only in Spanish.
Fortson talks about her Costa Rican experience
?I would have never guessed that I?d wake up one night only to realize in confusion that I had been dreaming in Spanish and was now thinking in Spanish even after waking up from my dream,? said Fortson. ?I gained my own family in Costa Rica. I was able to truly experience the language and culture of Costa Rica and gain even more respect for the differences and similarities of cultures other than my own.?
Fortson, who completed two semesters of practicum in two different Clarke County elementary schools this past year, will complete her student teaching through the COST (Consortium for Overseas Student Teaching) program this fall, in Quito, Ecuador.
Fortson will graduate in December 2012, but beyond that she?s unsure of her career path. She is planning to attend graduate school in some aspect of education.
But one thing of which she is sure is that she will be well-prepared for the challenges she may face as an educator.
?The Early Childhood Education program at UGA has given me an awareness of the many everyday issues in our school systems,? she said. ?And the experiences of Costa Rica allow me to teach and observe with more of an ethnographic perspective ? truly being able to understand that each and every student comes from a different background and to be accepting of this.?
Space is still available in this year?s program, for more information, visit:
www.externalaffairs.uga.edu/costa_rica/
For specific course info, contact Paula Mellom at: pjmellom@uga.edu
Michael Childs is Director of Public Information for the UGA College of Education.
north korea news giuliana and bill giuliana and bill bill rancic nflx jennifer hudson chicago blackhawks
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.