Farewell

This entry is about my farewell. It was really sad to say goodbye to the students I was with. I am sure I will never forget their little faces and how they made me feel today when they ask me not to leave. I had the chance of saying goodbye to all of them, to take pictures and to thank everything they did for me. I also told them how wonderful was for me to meet them. Moreover, I am really concerned of what will happen to them, and if they will learn as much as they can. It is so sad to say goodbye after you have started loving every single one of them. Next Tuesday will be really strange for me because I will not go to the school and I will miss them. But, I think next Thursday will be worse because I will really miss them. It is sad to think that probably I will never see them again.

About my teacher, I really hope she understands that teaching it is not playing or something easy to do. I wish she could understand that if she plays, she is playing with the lives of little people. I do wish her the very best and I am sure I will see her again. I hope she gains the experience she lacks, so she can improve her practice.

Although it was a good day, I think it could have been better. I had imagined my farewell so differently because I had heard my classmates speaking about theirs. I thought it was going to be similar to what my friends had commented. As always, you set your expectations. My expectations for today were high, but nothing happened. I thought the kids were going to write letters for me, but they didn’t. I also thought there was going to be a little goodbye party, but there wasn’t. In addition, I thought my teacher was going to give me a present or even a letter thanking for all I did for her during this term, but she didn’t. I felt really bad when I left the school with empty pockets. I only have good and bad memories, but it would have been so nice to have letters to show everybody and to read when I felt nostalgic. I guess life is like this and you have to accept it. Anyway, I knew the kids were not going to do the letters by themselves, but my teacher should have encouraged them to do it. She didn’t.
I have learnt so many things and I have met so many beautiful creatures in this experience that I will never forget it. It was the first time I wore a blue apron, and I felt like a teacher. But after observing different situations and teachers, I think I lack so many things that I am just not ready yet. Presently, I am looking forward to my new experience in a new school and I am sure I will learn a lot of new things.

Schools & Belen Educa

Today, I was in our second grade class and suddenly my teacher started dancing with a song and motivated every student to dance along with her. I think that is a very good way of motivating the students and a fun way of learning too. The problem was that there were like 4 students that did not dance at all. Then, when the dance was finished, I asked her what we could do with the students that did not want to dance. She told me “everybody was dancing” and I said that was not so. She did not reply, so I thought maybe she wanted to believe that everything was perfect or that it was impossible to think that 6 year-old kids did not want to dance. I did not mention this again because we have been having some problems about my performance as her assistant. Sometimes I feel she does not want me in her classes anymore because I see things in a deeper way. In this situation I can see segregation because not every student is considered in the pedagogical practice.

I have realized something very important the last few days. The teachers in this Foundation stay quiet without speaking their mind. I do not know why, but I definitely know that this should not be happening because as teachers we must understand that one of our most important roles is to have full responsibility for the students learning. With teachers staying quiet we are just allowing other people to make decisions about our actions in the classroom. Exactly the same that has happen with the Education General Law (LGE). Sadly, we are not considered because there are not many teachers that have something to say. As we have discussed in classes, there are many technicians in the system. For instance, I cannot understand how a coordinator comes once in a while and makes suggestions if he/she is not there every day with the kids. As lately, the voice of the teachers is not considered and we cannot let this happen.

I hate the position I am in now because I am only allowed to observe and I cannot change this tragic reality. I wish we could have a more active role, but when you make an opinion you are considered as someone that has no idea of education, that you have no experience or you are just learning; when the truth is that they have allowed the system to be like this. When I think about it, I see that some teachers that are in the system are guilty of it for they have done nothing to change it. Now there is this movement, everybody wants to join but they do not give anything rich enough to help. I truly think we are the ones that have to change this and I will work extremely hard to do it.

Just one question to finish, Is because of Belen Educa that these things are happening or is because of the teachers that do not do anything to change this reality?