The Int HS at LaGuardia Community Colleg, Long Island City NY
Deepen knowledge of the Spanish language and Mexican culture through immersion and experiential learning opportunities with an emphasis on the visual arts to lead SEL circles and allow English Language Learners to express themselves and engage with the school community more fully.
Monograph printmaking with the fabulous instructor Hugo Anaya in Guanajuato.
Immersing myself in the artistic process in Guanajuato.
Taller Grafica incredible workshop on linocut printmaking in Oaxaca.
Day #1 of linocut printmaking.
Street art inspiration Mexico City.
The Church of La Soledad, Oaxaca
I went on this journey hoping to improve my Spanish fluency and learn art techniques to enhance my effectiveness in the classroom; however, these goals just touched the surface of my experience. In both my language and art classes, I got to talk to people about local culture and history. We shared stories about our lives, families, travels and aspirations. I became a student in the sense that I opened myself up to trying new things and taking risks.
I learned with dedicated practice, I gained confidence in my ability to express myself in Spanish. This led my journey down amazing paths in Mexico making connections with locals and tapping into the richness of the society through art classes and cultural experiences. It solidified my conviction that students need a variety of opportunities outside the traditional school schedule to put their English language skills into practice and gain confidence in themselves as learners.
My learning experience in the graphic art classes was transformative. The process of practice, refinement, constructive feedback gave way to the opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge through my choice of medium. I grew tremendously through this process. If I were to describe how my professional perspective has changed based on my Fellowship, I would say have added a final objective to my pedagogy toolkit: impart, demonstrate, facilitate, practice, access and let go. Yes, let go.
My level of expressive language in Spanish has improved as a result of my fellowship and feel it will help me to relate to and communicate with students and their parents on a deeper level. I will continue to take Spanish language classes with my summer instructors online this school year to continue to improve my fluency. Also, I am excited to share my skills in graphic art I acquired during my fellowship to help students express themselves through art.
In my graphic design classes, the instructors built up my knowledge and confidence. After practice and feedback, we were given freedom to choose how to best exhibit our learning. I was pushed mentally to think of how to best illustrate my understanding of a skill. It was challenging, but liberating at the same time. I want to make certain that my lessons this coming school year are designed to guide and inspire students to think deeply and express themselves in the most authentic way possible.
I will coordinate with my colleagues to host printmaking demonstrations for individual classes and at whole school events. Students will have the option of working with school clubs to create announcements to post in the school using their knowledge of printmaking. I would like students to facilitate a printmaking workshop at a PTA meeting where we can invite families to participate in this hands-on, creative activity. Parents familiar with the printmaking process will be tapped to lead, too.