Link to more information about Puerto Rico

Below is a link where you can find more information about the "country" and people of Puerto Rico.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html

Direct Link to YouTube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7-IaoyVJXw

This is a direct link to our PR video on youtube. Enjoy!

Reflections upon returning...

I have continued to reflect on my time in PR as a new school year has begun.  I have shared my blog with my school's media center specialist as well as the ELL teacher (s).  I hope that it will provide insight to the many Puerto Rican students that we serve.  I feel that I view my students in a different way, having visited the place that some of them come from.  I encourage my students to see how learning English will benefit their futures, meanwhile keeping their culture is just as important.  This educational experience was a way to connect with some of my new students who were from PR.  They were anxious to hear about my time in "their" country.  I hope that my experience in PR does not end today, and that I continue to reflect on this role of culture in the classroom.  

our sweet mini documentary

---El ultimo dia---

This morning we board a plane to return to our lives in PA. Hopefully, the things we have learned about the culture, history, and people of Puerto Rico will continue to have an impact on us, our classrooms, and the students that we teach. After spending time here, I will look at my students from PR through a new lense, one with a little bit of understanding.

Viernes: El Moro y Old San Juan de nuevo...

Today we went back to Old San Juan to get a closer look at some historical sites, including El Moro.

The first picture that looks like a giant pool table is actually a bed---for about 20 Spaniards!! The mini-pool table is the captain's bed. It's a good thing they were not even five feet tall!

After studying more of the history all week, I took a closer look at the walled city and how it was a fortress.  Because Puerto Rico is an island, there are not many opportunities for invaders to sneak up on it.  This city is designed as a fortress against invaders, and this piece of history has been preserved in Old San Juan.

The third picture is of El Moro and also a picture of the entrance to the city from the Caribbean. El Moro means "the mound" and the fortress was built there because it was a useful spot for guarding San Juan.  In the U.S. mainland, we focus on our nation's flag.  In PR, it is an amazing site to see the Puerto Rican flag flying together with the flag of the United States.

Jueves: Visitamos una escuela y La Perla

Today we visited a school for students in pre-kinder to 6th grade. We showed them our blogs and discussed possibilities for extending this experience further, both in PR and in the US. The teachers were very welcoming and open to discussing different issues that we see on a daily basis, as well as what we have been seeing in PR. This discussion was one of the most valuable, as I was free to discuss the opportunities my school offers to Hispanic students, as well as ways I can encourage the students to take advantage of those opportunities. In my mind, this is what collaboration looks like, both sides discussing ways to make a positive impact.

We also went on a walk through La Perla, one of the lower socio-economic areas in Old San Juan.It was interesting to hear the man, who is a representative of La Perla, speak about the history and hope he has for the area. They are in the process of receiving government help and tutoring for the students so that they will have more educational opportunities to succeed. The other photo is the man discussing the location and history of this area. We also saw a clinic and Head Start, which seemed very similar to what you would find in the US.

In the afternoon a professor spoke about the history of the education system from the time it became a territory of the US until the present. I appreciated her point of view because she was actually born in the US, though she is Puerto Rican and has been teaching in PR at the university level for 23 years. It was interesting to hear her talk about this topic because she sees more than one angle. It seems that every few years, and sometimes in between, there is a change in the emphasis of education: Spanish only, English only, or both.

Currently, English is taught from 1st grade until 12th grade as a content area. As an ESL teacher, I can see why some students who come from PR require ESL and others may not. Their educational background and what their parents speak in the home are two factors that determines the child's dominant language.