Make no mistake though, I am far from fluent.
We began in Lima and over the course of the first few days we worked our way to Parancas, Nasca, Abancay, and Puno. We spent lots of time crammed together in our RAV4. Those are the times you are thankful for several things: (a) You are not on a bus; (b) you know your travel partners well; and (c) being the smallest, and therefore least uncomfortable, person in the car.
As we travelled and were amazed by things constantly, I began to think about the experiences my students have in my classroom. I was also reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and The Dissertation Journey by Dr. Roberts, so thinking about my teaching was not far from my mind - regardless of the excite my of the Andes mountains and seeing llamas roaming free.
Like my students, I got frustrated when trying to accomplish a task and had additional requests made by my travel companions. I was not angry, just felt I had to do it all at once and effectively. Needless to say, it was not always effective.
As I waited in a rotisserie chicken place in some little town in the mountains, I mused at the little boy who seemed to run the restaurant. I watched as he took orders and ran for change. When he asked me where we were from and where we going, I told him. Then I noticed him talking to his aunt excitedly. I can't be sure what he told her, but I think it was that he was excited to have met someone from Texas. That moment was purely authentic for him, and one we hope he will share with his classmates - assuming he has the opportunity to go to school.
That experience is something I hope I offer my students, and each summer I find myself reworking things to try and make my class more authentic.
Last year I had two sections of senior English students who had not yet passed the state assessment test or tests. After lots of hard work I was able to get almost all of them past it so they could graduate. What I noticed, however, was the ones who struggled most were primarily my native Spanish speakers. No matter what we did, they struggled with the test because of the reading. I should have read more stories with them, after all they clearly had not gotten what they needed from their previous English classes.
So as I continue is to trek through Peru and be amazed at what I see, do, and know, I will continue to think about what my kids need for their learning to be more authentic next year. We will read more stories, some I will read with them and others I will have them read in class. They will have to reflect on those stories and think about them. My hope is that exposing them to more varieties of literature will help them not only pass the test but have authentic conversations about ideas and texts.
