Why teach English?

As I'm wrapping up my first semester teaching at CEC, I am looking back at these past few months and forward into planning for next semester. Which has me revisiting the question “Why do we study English?” The first day of class, I asked every student to answer this question along with some others as part of setting goals. The seriousness of their responses was a bit surprising. Pamela, a 7th grader, wrote: “Quiero aprender inglés porque es muy importante para hoy en día. Si uno no sabe inglés, no es nadie.” Which translates: “I want to learn English because it is very important for today. If you do not know English, you are no one.”

Now I am working with our colegio English teacher Tracy to plan how to incorporate the ESL students into the colegio English classes, and also rethinking our goals, as teachers and as a school, for teaching English.

So, why DO we teach English at a school in the cloud forest of the Tiliran mountains of Costa Rica? It's clear that many students and their families choose CEC because of the opportunity to really learn English. With the year's tuition equal to a third of an average salary in the region, that choice is even more telling of the value which families place on this skill. I think it's clear that knowing English is a way of increasing job opportunities, especially in the Monteverde region where most jobs are found in tourism and biology research which require interacting with many English speakers. In fact, with the amount of English spoken in Monteverde, it can feel like a rural community in the U.S.

Beyond that, I think that knowing the English language gives students access to new ideas and perspectives, both through communication with other English speakers and through literature. The study of English expands students' world view and understanding of history and helps them to develop an appreciation for cultural differences.

Side note - the Costa Rican Ministry of Education requires that students take an English exam along with other subjects in order to graduate. This test is a 70-80 question multiple choice test with comprehension questions based on a series of short (less than 200 word) texts, such as an email to a tourist with recommendations for planning their trip to Costa Rica, or a description of an English class, or a conversation between a ticket agent and a customer buying a train ticket from NYC to DC. Although this test is not comprehensive, I think it shows a recognition of the importance of knowing a second language and a national attempt to prepare graduates to participate in a world that functions in languages other than Spanish (and often in English). I want us to go beyond the basics in what we're expecting of our students.

Working from my ideas and conversations with others, I have created an outline with ideas for developing the colegio English curriculum around 5 different themes, one for each grade: identity, voices, culture, justice and the environment. And I have ideas for titles to consider with each of the themes. I've heard folks say that anyone can teach English, especially ESL abroad, so long as they know how to speak the language. While I disagree, I do think that I can create a much stronger curriculum using contributions from others. And I think that everyone has useful ideas about interesting books and movies. I'd love to have your input. You can email me suggestions for titles or ask to look at the Google doc.

Pretzels and photos

I made pretzels with my 7^th grade ESL students the other day. Since they had never heard of them before, it was completely fine that we didn't have pretzel salt and the oven and yeast weren't really working. They had a lot of fun covering their hands with flour and twisting the dough into shape, and so long as the final result was warm fresh-baked goodness, I think everyone would have been happy.

A volunteer who is making a video about our school was one of several folks to walk in the kitchen as we were pretzeling, and she asked to take some footage, which was definitely a lot of fun. I also had my camera and had taken a few shots of dough and smiles.

Then I thought about pictures. That decision that, yes, this moment is worth capturing and sharing with others. I remembered a conversation I overheard between a student inviting a volunteer to climb a strangler fig a short walk from school, and she replied, no, I don't have my camera. Like it wasn't worth the trip if you couldn't document the experience. Which is clearly silly.

I think of all of the moments that are just as—and often more—important than students posing with pretzel dough. Like Beatriz's look of concentration as she described the super strong wind with her growing English skills, retelling how she saw a bird thrown against the 'Perro Negro' hill coming from school. And her smile when she was through and could see that I understood her meaning. Or Luis and Freddy wrestling each other to the ground to reenact a bear catching a fish in a story we read. Or Anna standing on a chair and singing 'All I Want for Christmas is You' into her hairbrush to cheer up a friend. Or one of many stray dogs that came into the bar/lounge Moon Shiva and fell asleep on Bethany's lap. Those moments I wouldn´t want to interrupt by taking out my camera or happen when I´m not carrying it, but I often wish I could blink my eyes and have them work like the shutter of a camera so that I could share the things I see with others.

¨Change you can believe in¨

At midnight left la Colina Lodge where were watching the election returns and then McCain´s and Obama´s speeches. And it was one of the few cloudness nights we´ve had here in Monteverde. Gorgeous. Had a feeling of openness, new possibility, positivity. Can´t write more than that now because time for classes.

Halloween

This year Halloween involved costumes, sharing Reese's and spider rings sent by my mom, reading “The Tell-Tale Heart” with my ESL students, dancing with Chancos del Monte (rock band that includes the school's board president), an international teachers' party with 'bloody' toilet paper streamers, and pumpkin cookies that Anna and I made with super cute Martha Stewart cookie cutters that Jenn brought back from the States.


Good times. But one of the most interesting things was the reaction the Halloween celebrations got from many Ticos and questions it raised for me about the origins of the holiday and why we celebrate the way we do. I was repeatedly told that it was a Satanic holiday. One person said she really wanted to go to see the band at Bar Amigos, but would not because advertised as a Halloween party, and did not want people to think that she worships Satan or had anything to do with Halloween. I explained my vague understanding of the word “Halloween” originating from “All Hallow's Eve” or “All Saint's Day”, a Catholic celebration and that the holiday also takes some traditions from pagan (Druid?) harvest festival (celebrating lots of food...eating candy). I realized that I'm really not sure myself what we're celebrating or why. Interesting side note, the Spanish translation is “Día de las Brujas” or “Witches' Day”, which may partially shape (and/or reflect) how the holiday and it's celebrations are perceived by Spanish speakers.

Which is not as interesting as the staff meeting on Wednesday, when Anna asked whether students should be allowed to wear costumes to school, and led to a debate that ended with the decision not to celebrate the holiday in school. Tico teachers said don't celebrate because not part of Costa Rican culture. But students know that it exists, because of television and tourists/expats (bars advertise costume parties for us gringos). The only reason folks would want to wear costumes is to show off how much money they have. Or (for high school girls), to show off their bodies. And school has a policy against junk food. And that many parents see holiday as a Satanic celebration and would misinterpret our allowing students to wear costumes, so would need to explain why celebrating, but that would be difficult to communicate beforehand, and better to not recognize Halloween, but possibly have a costume day at some other time during the year since dressing up can be fun.

I wonder why we don't use this as an opportunity to teach about U.S. culture, offer a different view of U.S. culture than Disney channel, have U.S. students share experiences, learn a bit of history, consider religious influences on holiday, talk about what is scary, why people like being scared, why people like disguises, and so on. In my ESL class, I asked students to interview a U.S. student or teacher about how they celebrated Halloween in the past and plans for celebrating in Monteverde. I shared my favorite candy (Reese's sent by my mom), and we read a scary story or read about “ghost hunting”. And I know that could create more interesting Halloween-themed lessons with more thought and planning. I think it is a shame to ignore an opportunity for cultural exchange like this, and want to think about how we could celebrate as a school next year (starting the conversation earlier than 2 days before).

Just passing through?

Last week, we had an interesting discussion at staff meeting. We all discussed in small groups our goals and dreams for the school, and then barriers that kept us from accomplishing them. Then we shared ideas with a global discussion. One thing that came up was the fact that many of the staff are international teachers who come to the school for a year or two. This makes it hard to build community, since there is a division between Costa Ricans, ex pats who have settled in the community, and teachers in their first year at the school (I am one of 9 in this last category, of about 36 who make the school run...another 7 are in their 2nd year). At one end, there is certainly a language and cultural barrier. Also, there is a problem that people (unconsciously) don't want to put all their energy into relationships when they know they might need to say goodbye in just a year. People come each year with new energy and new ideas, but this leads to some inconsistency when the next teacher does not necessarily continue the same conversation. Some problems we discussed are conversations that have happened before, and the solutions never seem to work out completely. This situation is especially interesting considering that most students enter in preschool and continue through graduation in 11th grade.

Why do so many teachers come and go? The answer is fairly simple, if also complicated. Many teachers are recruited from North America. The salary for teachers is low. In take-home income, I am making less than I did as an Americorps volunteer living at minimum wage. And while many expenses are cheaper than when I lived in West Philly, prices for many items are high since Monteverde is a tourist town (restaurants and such cater towards folks with money to spend) and in the mountains (you buy a bus ticket for your rice and shampoo). And of course, there are added expenses, like the cost of a ticket home for Christmas and the temptations to be a tourist and explore as much of this new place as possible. The founders of the school included ex pats living in the community who had a vision for a new kind of school, quality, bilingual education with an emphasis on understanding and protecting the environment that would be accessible to as many students as possible. As a bilingual school with English, there is an emphasis recruiting native English speakers. Which leads to a new set of question. What do I bring beyond a southeastern PA accent? How would a Tico teacher do my job differently?

I have been a member of many communities that I've since left, but continue to impact who I am and how I interact with others, my own schools, summer camps, Americorps, my host family in Ecuador. I know that they all change as new members come, and it's easy to not think of myself as part of them anymore. But there is also a bond that exists between me and others who have been part of these same communities at completely different times. I'm interested in exploring how the internet could be a way to bring past, current and future members of CEC community into the same conversation.

Monteverde itself is an interesting mix of people. There is a very large transient community. Tourists, students at language schools, biologists doing research, construction workers, in addition to CEC teachers and others. Many of these groups do not interact with each other. This mix of people adds another type of diversity to the incredible biodiversity that attracts so many people to the zone. And it creates tension at the same time.

Even the diversity in residents of the zone creates interesting tensions. Consider the one paved main road in the Monteverde zone. This was added in the past year (maybe two), after a bit of controversy. Most roads are still dusty/muddy littered with rocks and holes. The road from the Panamerican highway up to Monteverde is still dirt, terribly bumpy and even deadly (just last week, the post courier was killed by a mudslide while traveling on his motorcycle). Many environmental advocates want to keep the road relatively inaccessible to limit the number of tourists (who come despite the road) who visit the zone and thereby limit the human impact on this zone´s fragile ecosystem. Others argue that the road should be paved to allow better access to the hospitals, malls, family and friends in other towns and cities and easier access to transport goods up the mountain. Last week, heavy rains caused landslides that blocked the roads to and from Monteverde for days, and this is not uncommon for the season. Now, there is a paved road that cars, trucks and ATVs can race down. Is this change progress? Community development?

I think many view my role in Monteverde as part of this flow of folks coming and going and that I'm just "passing through". I'm not wholly sure how long I plan to stay, and will make that decision later. But I know that I'm not just passing through, because I am ready and wanting to understand this community and allow myself to be influenced by it and grow within it. And I'm looking forward to continuing that process.

Sights and sounds

Because I promised to include a few pictures and I now have access to faster internet connetion at school so uploading is easier, here's a few images.

First, frisbee with other staff, students and friends each Saturday:


This is a sloth that was walking back and forth on a telephone line by our cabin one night:



Here's a view of my bedroom, with the quilt my mom made me that matches really nicely with the all wood everything:

And here's a video that Bethany recorded of the 15th of September Independence Day celebrations:



Finally, here's a link to my all my photos on Picassa that I'll update periodically.

Cooking with chayote and other ideas

And now for something completely different. I mentioned chayote and good soup in an earlier entry, and Melissa asked for some recipes. So, here's a recipe that a friend from Columbia shared. Making a variation of this soup attempting to create my own chicken stock was my project all Saturday afternoon. The first time I had it, it was cooked on a wood stove, which I do not suggest, since takes super long.

Super starchy soup

2-3 potatoes
1-2 chayote (darker green is better for soup)
1 yucca
1 green plantain
1 tomato
bullion cube
salt
cilantro

Peel and dice the potatoes, chayote (remove white center core), yucca and plantain. Add them to boiling water with bullion cube and salt to season. When potatoes are soft, add diced tomato and fresh cilantro and allow to boil another 2-5 minutes.

Tastes great with fried plantains (as does everything). 1 large yellow plantain makes 8 pieces. Slice peel length-wise to open, then cut plantain in half and slice halves length-wise. Fry in some vegetable oil until both sides golden-brown. No need to add anything.

Other ideas

I've also used chayote boiled along with potatoes to make mashed potatoes/chayote. Then mixed in some sauteed onions, peppers and garlic and a bit of cheese. Melissa suggested boiled with brown sugar, which sounds wonderful. And, like all veggies, mixed with rice is a great plan for some cut up chayote. I like Dana's mom's rule about more colorful meals being better.

Another thing I very much enjoy is creating variations on banana bread. Here's a recipe:

Banango bread

1 egg
½ stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2-3 ripe bananas
1 mango
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix egg, butter and sugar (I'll melt butter in oven as preheating, so also greases pan). Mash in bananas, using a fork. Add cut mango. Blend dry ingredients, and add to batter. Bake in a greased pan at 350 for about 30-40 minutes (or until golden brown).

I've substituted (or supplemented) fruit yogurts, jams, for fruit and added honey, nutella, granola, oatmeal, and/or raisins. Always pleased with results.

Please share ideas you have for good recipes. I'm a big fan of food. And potlucks are a splendid way to socialize. One of our teachers talked about starting cooking classes as a way to socialize and learn Costa Rican cooking. Once that happens, I'll have more to share.