Undertake a linguistic and cultural immersion experience in Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to expand a Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages curriculum for elementary students to include culturally-relevant forms of music /movement/the arts and more effectively reach students emigrating from Brazil and Portugal.
When I first arrived in Belo Horizonte, MG, I had major culture shock for the first time! It all dissipated when we began to visit all of the schools and had the chance to interact with Mineiro children. I had the opportunity to see how much accostumed to closer quarters the students are, how they interact and how much more casual they are with their teachers. However, they also laughed at similar jokes as our kids, and their favorite classes tended to be the activities (or English!).
About myself, I learned that teaching is really a part of my being. There was a time that I explored other careers, but getting the chance to see students in Brazil, and to talk to other teachers, has really cemented the importance of working in education. Professionally, I'd like to take the advice I learned from Brazilian teachers about building camaraderie and try to transform the relationships the teachers have towards one another at my school--especially in terms of cultural responsiveness.
At the beginning, I thought the best and most efficient way to learn Portuguese was to be in a school, going to classes. However, due to a hiccup with the school we intended to go to, we ended up just going with the flow and focusing on cultural as well as heritage sites. We got to interview a few people and hear their own opinion of the education system. Even though a translator wasn't present for some of these conversations, I still felt I could understand their perspective.
I plan to create a partnership with the municipal school Wladimir, in Brazil in hopes of creating an on-going relationship with the students and teachers there. This way our Hartford Public School families can feel a strong connection back home, but also feel welcomed and invited in CT. Students will participate in a video message pen pal experience which will not only help them develop oral and literacy skills but also learn through movement and become accustomed to more complex technology use.
One way I plan to leverage my learning is have students participate in some simple Capoeira activities that I learned through an activity instructor, named Wagner, at EM Wladimir. Another way is to include photos of activities that I and my teacher partner did, and have students practice speaking and writing prompts about what they would like to do one day. And of course, have them learn about our cultural pursuits and the importance of being a global citizen.
My fellowship has already extended beyond my classroom! In fact, I participated in a Maculele performance as a volunteer! I continue to dedicate my time outside of my classroom to learning Portuguese online and hope to provide more opportunities this year for non-Brazilian families to experience Brazilian traditions.