Research the ways Caiҫara on the Ilha do Cardoso in São Paulo, Brazil, meet their needs through sustainable fishing techniques and community-based governing practices to create case studies and a model action research project that supports student investigation on how to live within the 21st century while also living in balance with the environment.
I gained so much content about the history of Cardoso Island and the people living there. In order to do this, I had to refine my skills of interviewing, note taking, and photography. I also had to develop a process for organizing all the gathered information. I stretched my capabilities to create meaningful connections between real experiences and academic study. Finally, I continue to work at the next task: how to present the learning.
I will definitely change the way in which I teach the research process. I can see that action research requires more time than a typical, text-dependent research project. I will share a bigger sense of compassion for students, as it takes a great deal of effort to determine what is most important and how to emphasize what has been discovered. I will also use use more primary source documentation for instruction because I more fully understand the impact of linking a human voice to an event.
Several days before I departed for my fellowship, I switched positions in the school where I teach. Rather than working in 7th grade social studies, I would be returning to Four Rivers in the fall to teach 9th and 10th grade U.S. History. My greatest personal accomplishment, by far, has been my ability to craft the events of my fellowship into ideas for new curriculum within my new role.
One of my unplanned learning outcomes was how the people on Cardoso Island build community with each other through celebrations. We have a weekly meeting with our students, and I would like to bring ideas for more celebration into that meeting. I also look forward to teaching the content I gathered so that students will have concrete examples for the historical topics we will cover.
I have already started working with the team of teachers in the 9th and 10th grade to re-design our weekly community meeting. I will also use subject team time this year to apply the learning within our social studies department. I hope for us to be more intentional with the way we teach research, and to align our teaching vertically. I also hope to work with our assistant principal to find an audience and authentic product that will allow students to demonstrate what they have learned.
Because I work at an Expeditionary Learning school, I imagine a celebration of student learning will come in the form of a public presentation. Ideally, students will create an authentic product that can be useful to other members of our community. I would also like students to design a celebration that will honor their responsibility and effort to do action research.
Cardoso Island is expected to be under water if the sea levels continue to rise from global warming. I would like my students and I to determine how we might educate more people to make changes to slow climate change. Also, when the government of Brazil made Cardoso Island a public park, the people living there protested for the right to remain. I'd like us to see how we might join with Native Americans who are at risk of losing their lands to the oil pipelines in the United States.
I have had many international travel experiences prior to my Fund for Teachers Fellowship, from personal vacation to leading international exchange programs. This opportunity was special because I was more alert to my observations; I knew I would need to share them with my students and use them for their learning. That accountability, provided through the encouragement of FFT, made my time in Brazil meaningful in a unique way.
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