I will miss...

I truly had the most amazing time in Sayulita. The people were so kind, the students sweet and eager to learn, and the climate was amazing. There are so many things I am going to miss. The following are the top 10 things I will miss most, in no particular order:

1. Costa Verde International School

There are so many things about Costa Verde that I will miss. The progressive nature of the school, the layout, the home-made lunches, and the amazing specials (soccer, breakdancing, or surfing anyone?) are just some of the things that make the school so great.

An amazing school. ¡Viva Costa Verde!

2. My students

The students at CVIS are passionate and eager to learn. They are brilliant, sweet, and accepting of differences. I am going to miss all of them beyond words can possibly express. I loved seeing them in school, on the streets riding their bikes, and surfing at the beach.

3. The staff and faculty at CVIS

CVIS is a small school. It is a great school and able to operate because of the hard-work of all of the staff and faculty. They come in and work on Saturdays, fill in as substitutes for each other, take on extra responsibilities, and are always willing to help a colleague. I am so lucky to have found such a positive, collaborative work environment.

Teachers, administrators, parents, and more!

4. Working under Kathy’s leadership

Part of the reason why CVIS is such a great school is because of Kathy. She is the most amazing role model because she is person who truly walks the walk. She was an educator for many years before becoming a school director, and continues to teach secondary school classes, and English classes to staff and faculty members. Although she will be elsewhere next year, she has positively impacted CVIS and her legacy will live on. 

5. The weather and the beach!

I probably missed the worst winter of all time. While my friends and family were dealing with multiple polar vortex I was wearing my summer clothes, learning to surf, and going whale watching. I am definitely going to miss the sun and summer lifestyle. It made me a happier person and really put everything into perspective for me. It is just harder to be stressed out when you can take a quick break on the beach!

Bienvenidos a heaven on earth.

Beach life!

6. The community feel

The community feel is strong in Sayulita, both in and out of the school. I loved that parents and community members were also connecting with CVIS. And I love that I knew my neighbors, the store owners, and the beachgoers. Everyone was so friendly in Sayulita. I seriously think that if you can’t make friends in Sayulita, you just can’t make friends.

7. The laid back lifestyle

Sayulita is a hippie town at its finest. People are so laid back and relaxed, and that rubbed off on me while I was there. I embraced things that normally would bother me in the states. One day, Cynhia and I walked to the Juice Bar only to find it closed so the owners could spend a day with their daughter. In the states I would grumble about how it is bad business. But here I am happy because I know they are happy and are following their hearts. I am going to try to stay positive like that when I get back.

I will miss these hippie signs!

8. The best food on the planet

I am such a foodie, and Sayulita is hands-down the best place for a foodie to be. The food is always fresh and delicious. I cannot get over the fact that buying a giant a bucket full of produce only cost us $5. When we weren’t cooking ourselves, we were eating the best school lunches in the world, or eating at one of the amazing restaurants. Sushi, fish dinners, pasta, brunch, sandwiches, pizza, burritos, chocolate croissants, you name it and Sayulita has the best version of it.

Fresh lobster dinner. Where am I going

to get fresh seafood back in Wisconsin?

9. Trucks for everything

One of my favorite things in Sayulita are all of trucks. If you need to buy something, there is probably a truck driving around town that can sell it to you.

The bed truck!

The plastic truck!

The chair truck!

10. All of the dogs

During my time in Sayulita I have unsuccessfully attempted to adopt a dog on multiple occasions. It’s probably a good thing that it didn’t ever pan out for me. At this point in my life I can confidently say that I’m NOT ready to be a dog owner. And even if I did bring a dog back to the states, it wouldn’t be the same. The dogs here have their own lives. Many of them don’t wear collars, and they aren’t confined to their kennel our house. They roam around town and the beach freely. They have their own people friends who feed them, and dog friends to play with whenever they want. To put it simply, they have it made.

Now that's one happy dog!

Saying Goodbye!

Time is such a strange phenomenon. My time in Sayulita went by faster than I ever thought possible. I had the most amazing time and had a hard time saying goodbye to all of the wonderful people I have met.

Saying goodbye to my students was the most difficult. I wrote each of them a letter saying thank you and goodbye, and included a picture of us as a class. They loved the letters and had their own ways to say goodbye to me. The day was filled with lots of hugs, goodbye letters, and even goodbye songs that my students wrote for me. The day was so precious and unforgettable. I usually don’t cry in front of people, but I did get teary eyed multiple times throughout the day. I am really going to miss CVIS!

On my second to last night I stayed up late

writing goodbye letters to my students.

The teachers also put together a going away party for us. It was a very Mexican get together. We gathered at Costeños, an amazing Mexican restaurant right on the beach. We talked, laughed, and shared multiple 7-liter margaritas (seriously, only in Mexico). The party didn’t stop there though. Another teacher hosted a late night pizza party at her house. Almost all of the teachers, and even some parents showed up. It meant a lot to me that they were all there to celebrate our last night with us. I could not have asked for a better community to have done my student teaching in. I love Sayulita, and WILL come back someday!

My cooperating teacher, Jen, and I saying goodbye!

One of the 7-liter margaritas.

I can't believe something like this

actually exists. Good thing we had

20+ people to share with!

The four of us saying goodbye to the 

lunch ladies and administrators! 

The four of us posing with Kathy, a baby, and a dog!

My last few weeks at CVIS

My last few weeks at CVIS were filled with lots of teaching and reflection. Here are some of the major highlights:

• Making learning culturally relevant to my students. This bimester the 6^th graders were studying immigration and migration. When my mom spoke with the class during the book donation the 6^th graders had an amazing conversation about their experience with language and culture. It made me realize that my students have many experiences with immigration and migration, especially living in a community like Sayulita and attending an international school. The conversation inspired me to draw on their own experiences during geography, as opposed to just reading about other people's experiences out of a book. I planned a series of lessons in which students investigated immigration and migration by conducting interviews among themselves and other people in the community. My students were so curious about certain aspects of immigration and migration after the interviews that I taught a lesson in language arts where they explored the different tourist processes for Mexicans and Americans. The character driven seminar was a success. I was so impressed with how passionate and in character my students were. As a follow up we even had a guest speaker, one of the administrators who was recently denied a tourist visa to the U.S. Kathy really helped me throughout this unit. She had amazing ideas and constructive criticism. Now, I am thinking about how I can incorporate language objectives into all of my lessons, and how I could expand on this unit in the future. 

Some statistics from the students interviews.

They interviewed friends, family, teachers, and 

even each other!

• Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Everyday there is a second language period, where students go either to Spanish as a Second Language or English as a Second Language. The students in Jen’s ESL class are all very advanced at speaking and listening. Because of this, she uses ESL to develop their reading and writing skills. Together, we put together a short writing unit. We used one of David Wiesner’s picture books. There is no text, so the plan was to have students read the pictures and author the text on their own. I thought it was going to be a great writing activity and that the students would love it. But I was wrong. My students really hated the activity. After writing the book, they were impressed with their final product but did not want to do it again with another book. I held a discussion with them about the activity. Basically, what I took from it was that they do not enjoy writing. They also dislike the writing process, which was a central focus of the unit. But, most importantly they didn’t seem to connect with the book. As a follow up, Jen and I started giving students time to engage in free-writes, where they can write about whatever they want without feeling pressure to write everything 100% correctly. While I want to eventually focus on the writing process, I also want them to develop a love for writing and I think free-writes will help them with that. For more formal writing activities in the future I would like to give students more power when deciding what to write about. One idea Kathy had that might work is taking pictures of a field trip, or some common experience for all of the students. Then, they could author the story.

The students loved the final product of "Tuesday"

but did not like the process it took to create the text.

After we finished the activity, students talked about

what they liked and didn't like about the activity

and how it could be imrpoved in the future. This discussion

was really helpful for me as a teacher.

•  Impromptu substituting. On my last Monday at CVIS Jen was out sick and I got to sub for the whole day! At first I was a little freaked out because I didn’t have anything planned for the day. But, I knew what the students are learning about and Jen sent me an overview for the day. There was a lot of scrambling in the morning, but it was a great experience for me. It showed me that I can control a classroom on my own and gave me a lot of confidence as a teacher. I mean, there are obviously things I can improve, but I can do it!
• CVIS Student Survey.  Our last “extra” project the four of us did for the school was creating and administering a student survey. We spoke with the teachers and administrators, developed questions, and took feedback. Then, we actually administered the survey. For K-3 we administered the survey one-on-one with students using a Google Form. With the older grades we just gave them a paper survey and then input the data ourselves. Google Forms was a great way to collect the data because it organizes all of the results for you. I hope the results are helpful to teachers!

Inputting student responses using Google Forms.

The Mexican Circus

Before the Mexican carnival completely left Sayulita, the Mexican circus was up and running. It was definitely an experience an experience to remember, partially because of how odd it was. Everything was held in one tent. It was by no means small, but it was intimate enough for there to not be a bad seat in the whole tent. Cynhia and I sat really close, about 15 feet away from the stage.

The circus started 3 giant tigers. Their trainer was in the small, enclosed stage with them. It was scary to watch because they didn’t seem too friendly or thrilled to be there. I was worried for the trainer, but he has probably been working with them since they were babies. It was such an exciting and engaging way to start the circus off. The tigers did all sorts of tricks, and even jumped through a ring of fire!

The 3 "tigres" and their trainer. 

Jumping through the ring of fire. 

...And she made it!

After the tigers left, a bunch of men quickly took down fence that had kept the tigers away from the audience. I could hardly believe my eyes. The men effortlessly took it apart in about 5 minutes. If it was so easy for them to disassemble, I don’t think it would have been that hard for the tigers to break down. Only in Mexico…

A few men effortlessly taking down tiger enclosure. 

I am so happy the circus didn't end in disaster 

with us as tiger dinner!

After the tigers, we were excited for the rest of the acts. I mean, how do you top that? The answer is, you don’t. The tigers were hands down the best part of the entire circus. It should have been the finale, and I cannot figure out why they started with that act. The rest of the circus consisted of parading horses around, creepy clowns, and a gymnast. The grand finale was so anti-climactic. A man paraded donkeys around the stage. They weren’t cooperating so he just said, “that’s all,” and the audience just got up and left. There was not applause or anything. Cynhia and I were left scratching our heads, saying, “that was it? It’s over?”

The gymnast was very talented and

made the most beautiful poses.

This was by far the strangest part of the circus. 

Why would donkeys ever do this? 

Whose brilliant idea was it to train them to do this?

Watching the animals was also a little difficult. Although it was cool to see exotic animals like tigers, they should not spend their lives in a circus, completely devoid of any time in nature. I left feeling sorry for them and guilty for condoning it.  

Public Schools

During my time in Sayulita I have been student teaching at Costa Verde International School. CVIS is a private school, which means students have to either pay admission or be on a scholarship. However, CVIS is not the only school in Sayulita. There are also public schools. We all wanted to visit a public school during our time here. So, on Wednesday, Jessica took us to Sayulita’s public kindergarten and primary school.

The teachers and administrators were very welcoming to us. We all toured the kindergarten together, going from room to room. At the primary school, we split into groups. Cynhia and I observed Emmanuel’s 5^th grade classroom, of about 30 students. The classroom was large, but dark. Although there was sunlight coming in through the windows, it was minimal. Cynhia and I both noticed that there were no decorations on the walls. I think that had more to do with the material the walls are made of, because Jen and Joel have the same problem in their classrooms. They will try to hang things up and it just falls down. Tape just doesn’t stick to the walls. As a result, we end up taping things to the windows, doors, and cabinets!

Emmanuel’s students were working on independent research projects in science. As a result, we didn’t really get to see him teach the class as a whole. Instead, he checked in with individual students, while the rest worked independently. I noticed some students were off-task, but considering how large the class was I was impressed at how well students were able to engage in independent study. Although there were a lot of students, Emmanuel, seemed to have a good handle on his classroom. When he addressed the class they seemed to respect and pay attention to him. There were some students wandering around the room, but all it took was for him to count to 3 and they were in their seats ready to learn.

Before we left, Emmanuel also told us about some of the difficulties at the school. He seemed most frustrated with the large class sizes. Mexican schools, including CVIS, all operate under SEP (Secreatriat of Public Education). SEP outlines the standards the schools need to be teaching to, provide workbooks and curriculum, and check in with individual schools and teachers on a regular basis. Emmanuel explained that the SEP curriculum he is expected to teach was designed for about 25 students. This is a problem because at this particular school most class sizes have closer to 30-40 students. This affects teachers’ abilities to teach the SEP curriculum, because a lot of time lessons and units take longer due to the larger class sizes. This whole discussion was very fascinating to me. Now I am thinking more about standards, pre-packaged curriculum, and the expectations teachers are supposed to meet. I don’t think standards or high expectations are a bad thing by any means, but I do think it is important to give teachers more credit and control when it comes to making curricular decisions than SEP seems to be giving them.  

Afterwards, we walked around the school grounds. I was amazed when I walked past the first grade classroom. It had about 35 students. I could hardly believe my eyes! The kids were packed into the classroom like sardines, sitting in rows of desks. I know that I am spoiled in Madison, because most schools have a grant that keeps class sizes under 18 students until 4^th grade. Even still, 35 students in a FIRST grade classroom is unheard of in the U.S. I cannot imagine teaching that many students that young at once. They need so much attention, especially because going to school is new for them, and they are building all of the basic literacy, mathematic, and social skills. The first grade teacher was also male. I found that very interesting. In the U.S. most elementary school teachers are female. Jessica said that is also the case in Mexico. But, most of the teachers we saw at the primary school were male. I wonder why…

Another thing I noticed was that there were not a lot of resources at the school. Jessica brought boxes of pencils and markers, but was disappointed that she couldn’t bring more because she knows how badly the public schools need resources. I was surprised by this because I thought CVIS had a problem with resources. After all, whenever visitors come and bring materials for the school, CVIS is overjoyed and finds a fair way to distribute them throughout the school. But in comparison to the public school, CVIS is doing great.

One of the major highlights of the school visit was seeing the boys that live near us. Almost every day on our way to school we walk a little ahead or a little behind of a group of about 5 boys. If I had to guess I would say they are in 3^rd-5^th grade. For most of our time here we have just walked near each other without saying much. Maybe we’ve said hi once or twice. But, in the last couple of weeks the boys have started shouting, “I love you.”  I think they find it funny because we all always end up giggling. They’ve even started running ahead of us, hiding by a building and the jumping out at us and shouting it when we get close. Anyway, they are students at the primary school. When we got there, we immediately saw one of them as we passed his classroom. Later, we saw him again with some of his friends and they started shouting it at us again. It’s definitely something I will never forget! 

School Conferences

 It is to my understanding that school conferences in the U.S. are only held a few times a year. When I was a student I only remember having them once or twice a year. But at CVIS it is a completely different story. They hold conferences once every 2 months, for a total of 5 conferences a year. Even though it is a lot of work for the teachers, I love that the school prioritizes communication and relationships with students and their families.

My first week at CVIS was conference time. Kathy thought it would be good for all of us to sit in on at least a few conferences to experience what it is like. I sat in on two conferences. Although it was a good experience, I felt awkward being at a conference for students I had just met and had never had the opportunity to teach.

Last week was the next round of conferences. This time I attended all of the 5^th and 6^th grade conferences. I was much more comfortable attending them since I have gotten to know the students during my time spent student teaching in their classrooms. I also had a lot to contribute since I have been in charge of small groups and have taught lessons and units in both grades.

All of the students portfolios.

Ready for conferences!

The conferences work differently in each teaching team. Jen and Joel are considered a teaching team since they share the same students, the 5^th and 6^th graders. During their conferences Jen and Joel take turns going over the students’ report cards. The students are also supposed to attend the conferences, although, sometimes they don’t. When students are present Jen has them participate in the conference in some way. This bimester she had each student write down 2 goals for the upcoming bimester, and identify something they did well and something they can improve on. I like the idea of having at least partially student-led conferences. I think this approach is more meaningful for students because they are actively involved in the evaluation process. In my experience with Jen, students are for the most part aware of their strengths and weaknesses and very honest, so there is no reason not to include them. Overall, I was very impressed with students’ reflections and goals, and in most cases I couldn’t have put it better myself!

This student set realistic goals and acknowledged

that he can improve in ESL by not working as

"fast" and "spending more time" on projects.

Although I’ve been speaking a lot about my observations during conferences, I was also able to participate and contribute a lot. Because I designed the 6^th grade science unit this bimester, I went over that part of the report card. I also spoke with some of the 5^th graders parents about math since I was in charge of leading a math group. At first I was kind of nervous, but quickly realized that I have gotten to know these students really well and have a lot to contribute in terms of observations and insights. Overall, this experience gave me confidence for the many conferences that lay ahead in my future.

Another interesting aspect of the conferences at CVIS is language. Parents come in speaking English, Spanish, and sometimes both. When parents only spoke Spanish, Jen was able to communicate with them. However, Joel was not able to do the same with parents that only spoke English. In those cases, I translated back and forth for Joel and the parents. The experience made me think about how this issue is addressed in the U.S. There are so many students who speak English as a second language, and I wonder what that means for their parent-teacher conferences. How will I communicate with my students’ parents if they speak a language unfamiliar to me, like Hmong? Does the school provide a translator? Or does the student have to attend and act as a translator? It is very fascinating and an important thing for me to start thinking about.

I also realized how much work goes into preparing for conferences. Teachers spend days grading and putting together report cards. In class, teachers also provide time for students to put together work to showcase. Jen helped students organize their work into portfolios, which is a collection of work that tracks their progress throughout the year. Even though it was a lot of work, I think it will be worth it at the end of the year. 

Punta Sayulita Surf Competition

Our last weekend in Sayulita also happened to be the Punta Sayulita Classic, a paddle boarding and surf competition. It’s supposed to be a really big deal and surfers come from all over to participate. Even though I’ve seen a lot of surfing (and even tried it) during my time in Sayulita, it was really cool to see an actual competition. Luckily there were lots of waves on the competition days!

The competition on Saturday!

A high tech video camera mini helicopter.

I have no idea what they do with the video, but how cool!

CVIS was also involved leading up to the competition. James Pribram, a professional surfer, is so passionate about the environment that he has founded his own foundation, ECO-Warriro. His foundation brings about awareness and change in the environment through education and participation in preserving the environment. The day before the competition, James Pribram came to CVIS and led the school in an effort to clean the beach. We walked up and down the beach for 2 hours. It was hot and brutal at times, but the students got really into it. Towards the end when the beach was pretty clean and trash was hard to come by, one of my students started walking up to beachgoers asking for garbage. Now that’s dedication!

Students gearing up for a fun day of beach clean up!

Even though it looks pretty, this is sewage water 

and leads to the beach. You don't want to step in it!

Every year ECO-Warrior also holds a contest. This year all of the students in 4^th grade and up participated by writing essays answering the question: “If you were president what would you do to bring about to keep our oceans and beaches clean from pollution?” The ideas students had were absolutely amazing. And the question was so relevant to them because they all see the pollution problems first hand living in a beach community. On Saturday night the winners of the contest were announced at the beach party and G-Love and Special Sauce concert, and the students got to come up on stage in front of everyone. All of the students were overjoyed and it was so great to see them recognized for all of their hard work.

ECO-Warrior contest winners soaking up

the glory and recognition before the concert!

Erin, Alyssa and I enjoying the 

G Love and Special Sauce concert with

American and Jessica, w'ere going to miss them!

G Love and Special Sauce

Sahara Nights

I am constantly amazed by CVIS. It is a community school at its finest. The school puts on a huge fundraiser every year. This year’s theme was “Sahara Nights.” It’s an adult only party, where parents, locals, and more come to support and raise money for the school.

A panoramic view of Sahara Nights.

It was a beautiful night outdoors to 

raise money for a great cause!

At the event money is raised for the school through admission tickets, beverage sales, a silent auction, and live auction. All of the auction items were donated by local artists, businessmen, and even CVIS students. At this year’s auction there was something for everyone. Artwork, clothing, accessories, gift certificates, and even a surfboard and car!

Some of the artwork at the auction--student made!

More artwork donate by the students!

Sahara Nights was held at Don Pedro’s, one of the finer restaurants in Sayulita. Many couple hold their wedding receptions there. There is no need to wonder why, its beachfront location makes it an amazing venue.

People dress up for the event and just have a great time. Some people chose to get into the “Moroccan” theme, while others just wore fancy attire. The food was also to die for. There was couscous, hummus, and all sorts of meat. There were also some experimental food options such as the “rose martini” and “rose ice cream.”

Cynhia and I enjoying a moment with our good 

friend Servando. He works hard at the school and

helped set up the event!

The four of us attended Sahara Nights with our

amazing neighbor Lynne as our special guest. 

She has been like a surrogate mother during our time here!

Even though it was a party with fun, dancing, and food, the highlight truly was coming together in an effort to support education, and specifically students at CVIS. CVIS is an international school. In the community it has a false reputation of being a “gringo” school. A lot of people assume that it is a “rich American” school, when in fact TWO THIRDS of the student body are Mexican students, and HALF of the students are on scholarship. But scholarships don’t come easy, the school has to make a conscious effort to raise the necessary funds. Sahara Nights makes that possible. I am grateful for all of the people who made this night possible and am so happy for the school!

Bridgi and Adela, sisters who both work at the school

Looking lovely as they gather donations for the

school lunch program.