For my Fulbright DAST Program, I taught a week-long workshop to faculty members at the Escuela Normal Amecameca, as well as a 3-week course for current students (future pre-school and secondary English teachers). Both of these courses focused on curriculum design, and how to develop an engaging curriculum from the standards set by the Nueva Escuela Mexicana (the national standards for education). I designed all of the courses that I teach at The Academy, so I was thrilled to share my expertise in creating engaging, exciting, and challenging courses with future teachers in Mexico. Anyone interested in seeing the materials from my courses can check out the website that I designed, which has all materials provided in English and Spanish.
During my time at the school, I experienced some things that were entirely new to me. For example, in Chicago, we're used to having snow days, cold days, and fire drills. But in Amecameca students are accustomed to having alerts because of the active volcano, Popocatépetl, and earthquake drills.
On my own, outside of the required time at the Escuela Normal Amecameca, I did my best to immerse myself in Mexican culture by exploring different cities, visiting museums, and trying different foods.
Here are some of the experiences I plan on incorporating into the Spanish classes at The Academy this year:
I took an Aztec art class, in which I learned about the different Gods and what they symbolized, as well as the traditional art techniques.
I saw a musical, Siete veces adiós, featuring one of my students’ favorite actors - Michael Ronda, who plays Morgan in Papás por encargo. It was so interesting to see a musical in another language, and this one was especially creative. I’m looking forward to having my students read the playbill and having them listen to the music.
I also visited the cities of Cuernavaca, Puebla, Tepoztlán, Cholula, and Oaxaca. I can't wait to share with the students all that I learned about different foods and indigenous cultures of the regions— especially making traditional, Oaxacan hot chocolate!
Lauren Rovin
Spanish teacher