Where Art Thou Guatemala
Description of Internship Site:
While being in Guatemala, I will be working at a school called LIFE with a goal of primarily teaching English as a second language. LIFE is a school providing international and Guatemalan children a multicultural education based on the humanist philosophy of Robert Muller. The mission of this school is to educate children with a deep understanding of religions, languages, arts and cultures all over the globe.
Description of Mentor:
My mentor’s name is Nancy Pile. She graduated from Harvard in 1999. She began to be involved in education when she studied science and environmental interests at Western Massachusetts. She then joined Teach For America in the Mississippi Delta and taught the 4th grade. She received her teaching degree at the University of Memphis from 2002-4 and then joined the Peace Corps in Mauritania from 2004-6 as an English teacher. From 2006 to 2009 she taught at a charter high school in Washington DC. Feeling ready to travel and move on, she ended up in Panajachel, Guatemala. She loved it so much that she found a job at LIFE school and decided to stay.
Explanation of how I came to intern in Guatemala:
Hearing that we had a chance to do an internship for our junior year, I knew perfectly well that I wanted to travel. Therefore, I contacted one of my moms friends that I knew worked at LIFE school and from then on my internship started laying itself out. This shows that I can accomplish things that I really set my mind to. A lot of my goals in the future have to do with traveling and doing international studies. I see this experience as a great opportunity to keep traveling and learning about different religions/languages/cultures around the world.
What I will accomplish while Interning:
I will get to continue learning on a daily basis about how to teach children. Playing with kids comes naturally because I like them, but I might be challenged when I have to set limits. In the Spring, I will be in a Spanish class at AHS and this will be a very intensive Spanish unit for me. I plan to do a presentation in class or at the last exhibition when I come back, to talk about my internship and growth in Guatemala.
My Project for my Internship:
It was tough to set up a project for this internship because I knew I would be working with kids but I also don’t know much about how to do that and where to start. Going back and forth with my mentor Nancy, she mentioned doing a section on Shakespeare. When I first heard this, I got really scared because the only encounter with Shakespeare I had had was my Freshman year of High School and that was just a lot of memorizing and reading. I thought to myself, well how do I make this fun for these kids? I looked up a lot of books on how to teach Shakespeare to kids and I found a lot of interactive ways of teaching Shakespeare that made me jump for joy. I hope to leave these kids with not only a greater understanding of Shakespeare but a new love for learning.
LINK preparation:
To make this project possible, I had to contact people that I didn’t know and put myself out there. This is an example of a real life situation. Outside of High School and your hometown, you wont know everybody and you will have to put yourself out of your comfort zone to get the job done. When I found the books on Shakespeare that I wanted, I emailed the author, told him what I was doing and he sent me 18 different books on how to teach Shakespeare to kids. The author, Brendan Kelso, and I are still in contact and we have a plan to set up a blog interview about my experience in Panajachel, Guatemala. This internship is not only a great way to get out and learn about a different area of the world but it is also a way for me to coordinate with people I don’t know on my own.
While being in contact with Nancy, I asked her if there was any certain supplies the school would benefit with and she responded with a list of supplies that would be great to bring. I wrote a note to a locally owned store, Petersons Office Supply asking for certain supplies for my trip. The owner, Ron Curtis, has yet to get back to me but seemed very enthusiastic and excited about my trip. I can’t wait to hear back from him.
My schedule will look like this: 8:30 - 8:50
8/9 Advisory
8:50 - 9:20
Prep
9:20 - 10:00
Prep
10:00 - 10:20
10:20 - 11:05
8\9 Language Arts
11:05 - 11:50
8\9 Social Studies
11:50 - 12:35
7 Reading
12:35 - 1:15
1:15 - 2:00
7 Advisory
2:00 - 2:45
8 Language Arts
Each day, I will have about an hour and a half to ‘prep’ for class. During this time, I will also be coordinating my project with Nancy. At home, I will write in my journal on a daily basis and post blogs to my L.I.N.K. website.
How to work around challenges:
One of the problems that I do see happening would be my project completely changing. I have talked this over with my internship coordinator, Rachel Sands, and we both realize that this could happen. The outcome of my project could end up being me just being there and helping this school. I would be more than pleased if this happened. Either way I am happy because I know that I will leave Guatemala with a new understanding of how to teach, communicate, speak better Spanish, and a new culture. All in all, I feel very ready and excited to tackle my internship.
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” -Cesare Pavese
While being in Guatemala, I will be working at a school called LIFE with a goal of primarily teaching English as a second language. LIFE is a school providing international and Guatemalan children a multicultural education based on the humanist philosophy of Robert Muller. The mission of this school is to educate children with a deep understanding of religions, languages, arts and cultures all over the globe.
Description of Mentor:
My mentor’s name is Nancy Pile. She graduated from Harvard in 1999. She began to be involved in education when she studied science and environmental interests at Western Massachusetts. She then joined Teach For America in the Mississippi Delta and taught the 4th grade. She received her teaching degree at the University of Memphis from 2002-4 and then joined the Peace Corps in Mauritania from 2004-6 as an English teacher. From 2006 to 2009 she taught at a charter high school in Washington DC. Feeling ready to travel and move on, she ended up in Panajachel, Guatemala. She loved it so much that she found a job at LIFE school and decided to stay.
Explanation of how I came to intern in Guatemala:
Hearing that we had a chance to do an internship for our junior year, I knew perfectly well that I wanted to travel. Therefore, I contacted one of my moms friends that I knew worked at LIFE school and from then on my internship started laying itself out. This shows that I can accomplish things that I really set my mind to. A lot of my goals in the future have to do with traveling and doing international studies. I see this experience as a great opportunity to keep traveling and learning about different religions/languages/cultures around the world.
What I will accomplish while Interning:
I will get to continue learning on a daily basis about how to teach children. Playing with kids comes naturally because I like them, but I might be challenged when I have to set limits. In the Spring, I will be in a Spanish class at AHS and this will be a very intensive Spanish unit for me. I plan to do a presentation in class or at the last exhibition when I come back, to talk about my internship and growth in Guatemala.
My Project for my Internship:
It was tough to set up a project for this internship because I knew I would be working with kids but I also don’t know much about how to do that and where to start. Going back and forth with my mentor Nancy, she mentioned doing a section on Shakespeare. When I first heard this, I got really scared because the only encounter with Shakespeare I had had was my Freshman year of High School and that was just a lot of memorizing and reading. I thought to myself, well how do I make this fun for these kids? I looked up a lot of books on how to teach Shakespeare to kids and I found a lot of interactive ways of teaching Shakespeare that made me jump for joy. I hope to leave these kids with not only a greater understanding of Shakespeare but a new love for learning.
LINK preparation:
To make this project possible, I had to contact people that I didn’t know and put myself out there. This is an example of a real life situation. Outside of High School and your hometown, you wont know everybody and you will have to put yourself out of your comfort zone to get the job done. When I found the books on Shakespeare that I wanted, I emailed the author, told him what I was doing and he sent me 18 different books on how to teach Shakespeare to kids. The author, Brendan Kelso, and I are still in contact and we have a plan to set up a blog interview about my experience in Panajachel, Guatemala. This internship is not only a great way to get out and learn about a different area of the world but it is also a way for me to coordinate with people I don’t know on my own.
While being in contact with Nancy, I asked her if there was any certain supplies the school would benefit with and she responded with a list of supplies that would be great to bring. I wrote a note to a locally owned store, Petersons Office Supply asking for certain supplies for my trip. The owner, Ron Curtis, has yet to get back to me but seemed very enthusiastic and excited about my trip. I can’t wait to hear back from him.
My schedule will look like this: 8:30 - 8:50
8/9 Advisory
8:50 - 9:20
Prep
9:20 - 10:00
Prep
10:00 - 10:20
10:20 - 11:05
8\9 Language Arts
11:05 - 11:50
8\9 Social Studies
11:50 - 12:35
7 Reading
12:35 - 1:15
1:15 - 2:00
7 Advisory
2:00 - 2:45
8 Language Arts
Each day, I will have about an hour and a half to ‘prep’ for class. During this time, I will also be coordinating my project with Nancy. At home, I will write in my journal on a daily basis and post blogs to my L.I.N.K. website.
How to work around challenges:
One of the problems that I do see happening would be my project completely changing. I have talked this over with my internship coordinator, Rachel Sands, and we both realize that this could happen. The outcome of my project could end up being me just being there and helping this school. I would be more than pleased if this happened. Either way I am happy because I know that I will leave Guatemala with a new understanding of how to teach, communicate, speak better Spanish, and a new culture. All in all, I feel very ready and excited to tackle my internship.
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” -Cesare Pavese
Project Proposal for My Time in Guatemala
For my internship I have decided to design a trip to Panajachel, Guatemala. While being South, I will be working at a school called LIFE with a goal of primarily teaching English as a second language. LIFE is a school providing for international and Guatemalan children a multicultural education based on the humanist philosophy of Robert Muller. The mission of this school is to educate children with a deep understanding of religions, languages, arts and cultures all over the globe.
The location of this internship is important to me because it is in a rich, mysterious culture in South America. I use the word mysterious because it is a culture I look forward to getting to know. By being in Guatemala, I will improve my Spanish, create a deeper understanding about the world, appreciate a different culture as well as my own and define myself as an individual as an intern. I am somebody who loves to travel and would like to work with Doctors Without Borders when I am older and this will just help me learn more about what I want to do.
While I am in Guatemala, I will be working Monday through Fridays from 8:30am to 3:00pm. My schedule will look like this:
Daily Schedule:
8:30-10:30 am Assist Kindergarten teacher
10:30-11:00 am Break
11:00-12:30am Tutor students ages 6-8
12:30-1:15 pm Lunch
1:30-3:00 pm Tutor students ages 9-13
During my internship, I will get to continue learning on a daily basis about how to teach kids. Playing with kids comes naturally because I like them, but I might be challenged when I have to set limits. In the Spring, I will be in a Spanish class at AHS and this will be a very intensive Spanish unit for me. I plan to do a presentation in class or at the last exhibition when I come back, to talk about my internship and growth in Guatemala.
As I look at my opportunity to intern in Panajachel, Guatemala I realize I will be creating an experience that is going to stick with me for my lifetime. I think of my internship in Guatemala as a building block for my future. It offers me work with children, international immersion, intensive Spanish, and personal growth.
To learn more about LIFE school visit their website:
http://www.lifeschoolweb.com/
The location of this internship is important to me because it is in a rich, mysterious culture in South America. I use the word mysterious because it is a culture I look forward to getting to know. By being in Guatemala, I will improve my Spanish, create a deeper understanding about the world, appreciate a different culture as well as my own and define myself as an individual as an intern. I am somebody who loves to travel and would like to work with Doctors Without Borders when I am older and this will just help me learn more about what I want to do.
While I am in Guatemala, I will be working Monday through Fridays from 8:30am to 3:00pm. My schedule will look like this:
Daily Schedule:
8:30-10:30 am Assist Kindergarten teacher
10:30-11:00 am Break
11:00-12:30am Tutor students ages 6-8
12:30-1:15 pm Lunch
1:30-3:00 pm Tutor students ages 9-13
During my internship, I will get to continue learning on a daily basis about how to teach kids. Playing with kids comes naturally because I like them, but I might be challenged when I have to set limits. In the Spring, I will be in a Spanish class at AHS and this will be a very intensive Spanish unit for me. I plan to do a presentation in class or at the last exhibition when I come back, to talk about my internship and growth in Guatemala.
As I look at my opportunity to intern in Panajachel, Guatemala I realize I will be creating an experience that is going to stick with me for my lifetime. I think of my internship in Guatemala as a building block for my future. It offers me work with children, international immersion, intensive Spanish, and personal growth.
To learn more about LIFE school visit their website:
http://www.lifeschoolweb.com/
My Resume:
resume.docx | |
File Size: | 117 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Internship in Guatemala!
As juniors at Animas High School we are allowed to do a three week internship wherever we want! This is great because it is going to be such an experience for growing as individuals and a student out in the world! Learning outside of a classroom, love it! I absolutely love traveling and I really like kids. For my internship, I wanted to incorporate both of these things and I was fortunate enough to discover an opportunity to travel to Panajachel, Guatemala and help teach kids Language. The school I will be working at is linked below, as is my Resume. This is were I will be posting all of my weekly blogs about my day to day opportunities. I really hope you enjoy it!