Work Works and Hope Changes Us (LGH)

The end of the year is most definitely in sight. Most of me wishes it was already passed just like all of you back home in Chambersburg. In any case, one week from today I will be sleeping in and recovering from the final push of the semester.

The final push of the semester however, has been a memorable one, definitely worth all the effort. Our trip to Rancho de Popy last month was great. The kids enjoyed the activities and are looking forward to a return next year. My favorite part of the camp was the day we got to do the high ropes course. My role as cheerleader to the students who were scared to keep going, reminded me of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, cheering us on and encouraging us to just take the next step and focus on the task at hand.

One day, about 3 weeks ago, our morning devotions took an interesting turn. We were reading from "Jesus Calling for Kids" and the passage had to do with blessing. God blesses us in order that we bless others, that we let the blessing spill out into the lives of others. It talked about how we have so much, but that there are parts of the world where there is not enough food or water. One of my students at that point raised her hand and commented, "But Ms. Shadle, water never runs out." This is when the conversation took its turn. I was able to share with them about how in parts of the world there is not enough food or water. How in parts of Africa kids have to walk for hours each day to get water for their families and the ramifications of that. I told them about the book "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park (a great book by the way). We talked about building wells and helping people create jobs for themselves. This lead to talking about Light Gives Heat and their documentary, Moving On, that shows how creating jobs is better than charity (Work Works) and that hope changes us. Naturally, my students instantly wanted to see the documentary. Living in Argentina however, made it difficult to come by the DVD. I was able to contact the people at LGH and they made it possible for me to show the documentary to my students.

It was a blessing to us and it was great to watch the eyes of my students be opened to other realities around the world. They were so impacted by what they saw that they took action by participating in our own school's outreach program (in which all year we had ashamedly become apathetic). The month of May was collecting clothes to give to 2 children's homes that we support as a student body. While this is still on the charity side of things, it is the first step in taking action and stepping outside of oneself. I was so proud of my students when we challenged each other to go home for the weekend and clean out our closets. Each student returned with at least 1 bag full of clothes, one even needed help bringing in 2 garbage bags stuffed with clothes to give away. On Monday, we will have a jeans day as a reward for bringing in the most amount of clothes during the month. The kids know that the prize is not the reason to bring in the clothes, but it was definitely an encouragement to them when they won the contest for the month. I now pray that the things we saw and talked about stick with them for the rest of their lives and that the seeds take root and grow as they grow into teenagers and young adults.

Finally, on a completely different note, I am pleased to announce that the BAICA 2012-13 Yearbook has been finished and was successfully distributed this past week. It was a great learning experience for everyone involved and I am looking forward to an even better yearbook next year now that we have one under our belts.

And now, to finish the semester well. This will be the hardest week of the entire year because with the end comes several difficult goodbyes. But as I have learned since living abroad, the difficult goodbyes also come with many wonderful hellos. So for now, goodbye/hello.

-Kait

Pre-Adventure Camp

I have intended to update this blog several times in the last month and so when I logged in to see that I HAVE indeed written since Christmas I felt a small sense of relief. Quite honestly, I update my photography blog much more frequently, so if you would like a look into my other adventures, check out that blog. Each gallery comes with a short synopsis of the trip.

Life has been busy. Since the educators conference in March I have been searching for more ways to challenge myself and my students while keeping them more engaged. I have been having much more fun in the classroom (not that I wasn't before), but it is now the final quarter, so the relationships with my students are strong and we have been able to experiment with ideas together. This is the best time of the year and the worst...the end is coming quickly and there is so much to do and so stress runs high, but at the same time the relationships have been built and maintained and the benefits that come from a trusting relationship between students and teachers is beautiful and rewarding.

One of those rewards is the 2nd annual trip to Rancho de Poppy Adventure Camp in Tandil for the 5th-7th graders. I am just as excited at my students to arrive tomorrow at the camp. It is going to be 3.5 days packed with activities designed to develop, improve and strengthen group dynamics and self confidence. Not only that, but it is a lot of fun. A blog update will certainly follow.

So here's to a wonderful trip to come. Signing off for now, but stay tuned!

-Kait

AASSA Conference 2013

After a long, tiring day at school on Thursday, the day was not over with the final bell. The elementary teachers still had several hours left to the work day because that evening was the opening of the AASSA teachers conference held this year in Buenos Aires at Lincoln School (another international school in BA). We arrived with mixed emotions of having sessions going through Saturday afternoon. Our keynote speaker, Yong Zhao, inspired us to rethink teaching as a way to empower our students to enter the world as creative people and ready to create.

I enjoyed going to workshops about using technology in the classroom. I was quite excited after learning about how to use blogs in the classroom and plan to start a classblog for my students. It is a way for students to be excited about writing because they are publishing their work on the internet. There are many blog sites designed to be used in the classroom and they are safe and closed to only the teacher and students.

My absolute favorite session I was not even planning to attend. Becky told me she loved the presenters the previous day and I was not sold yet on which workshop to attend during that time so I accompanied her. She was right, the guys presenting were amazing. They taught in a dynamic way and USED the method they were teaching, they were ademat about doing that. They have been researching using anecdotes to help teach abstract concepts. We connect with people over stories and we remember stories, so why not use that model when teaching? Find ways to put eyes and ears and a mouth on any subject that you are reaching. In math the numerator might become Mr. N that lives above Mr. D (the denominator) to help students remember which goes where in a fraction. Of course in order to be more effective, the story should continue about Mr. N and Mr. D.

I feel refreshed and energized to bring some of these ideas back to the classroom as soon as possible. Most of all I am thankful the grant BAICA received in order to send us to this conference.

-kait

for more in the area of photography, please visit my photography blog http://kaitlinshadlephotography.wordpress.com

U.S. Review

I have recently returned to Argentina after almost a month in the US with my family. It was a great time of relaxation and time spent with family and friends. Many of you are aware that I currently have some of my photos displayed at C&C Coffee in Chambersburg. That may have been the highlight of my trip since it has been a dream of mine for awhile to one day display my photography in a gallery or shop somewhere. Along the topic of photography, for Christmas my parents helped me buy a new camera. I'm now a proud owner of a Canon Rebel T3i and absolutely loving it!


Right now I'm pretty excited because for the past few months 2 of my roommates and I have saved our money and found plane tickets on sale to go down south to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. I went down there 2 years ago with one of my roommates and have wanted to go back ever since. We've had quite the mess with the airline, but now our boarding passes are printed and we are praying that everything goes smoothly tomorrow morning when we go to check in for our 4:45am flight!

I will be sure to update you on the success of the trip as well as a link to photo galleries of the trip. I'm super excited to visit one of my favorite cities again and be able to recapture it after a year and a half of photography classes! Prayers for a smooth and safe trip would be greatly appreciated.




-kait