Tag: school

Travel with mamawolfe: Cementing Friendships in Nicaragua

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

Cameron and Lily on the first day.

The first day in Nicaragua is often a blur. Between the red eye flight, the road travel from the airport to Managua, and then arrival at the Seeds of Learning Resource Center midday, it’s hard for me to tell the date or time. All I know is I’m feeling a strange blend of exhausion and adrenaline that helps me stay awake for nearly 36 hours.

Nicaragua’s landscape is amazingly green and tropical. The sky today is overcast and the scent of smoke hovers in the air as we load the Toyota truck and head off for the worksite. Twelve kids and seven adults, coated with sunscreen and loaded with backpacks and water bottles, took off down the dirt road for the first day of our adventure.

The back of the existing school, where our building begins.

The children and teachers greeted us in Casas Viejas. Currently, the community has a two room schoolhouse for preschool through 6^th grade. Our job is to help construct a two-room annex to provide a space for high school students. In Nicaragua, high school is grades 5-11. For the kids of Casas Viejas, the nearest high school is over several mountain passes, about a 90 minute walk. This addition will provide high school for not only kids, but also adults in the community.

Teacher Ana (left) and Ize, our host at SOL (right)

Yuri teaches 17 preschool students, Ana teaches 22 primary students in 1^st-3^rd grades, and Marisa teaches 22 4^th – 6^th graders. The teachers also serve as liaisons for the community to provide information about the school building project.

Nicaraguans are incredibly hospitable, and go to great lengths to make us feel welcome and comfortable in their community. As soon as we arrived, Carolina, a 6^th grader, quietly came up to me and waited for me to speak. She had a sweet smile, and was excited to get to know the teenage girls and me. After a prayer and singing the national anthem, she proudly danced for us.

Our work task for today was to prepare to start building one of three walls for the school. First, we had to create a human chain to move bricks from the front of the school to the back area where the annex is being built. It was a great way to get to know some of the kids, and we were able to move hundreds of bricks fairly quickly. Cameron managed to turn it into a game, while getting to make some new friends.

Cameron begins to build a foundation.

To the kids great delight, the wall building began a bit early! Lily took right to the bricklaying, while Cameron helped build a cement foundation.

This trip, I decided to be much more organized about getting to know the kids’ names, so I took a photo of these girls and asked them to write their names and ages in my notebook. I’d forgotten that photos are a huge treat in Nicaragua.

It snowballed, and soon I had nearly every child wanting to write in my notebook.

After a few hours of brick laying, we tumbled into the pickup and headed for home. We knew we’d sleep well, with the work of cementing friendships in Nicaragua has begun. The awkward introductions were over, and tomorrow the real building would begin.

Cameron covers his face from the dusty ride home.

How can you resist these smiles? Not bad payment for a long day of work!

Julito

Josselina

Jose Manuel

primark

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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Unlocking Her Personal Code For College

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

13 1 Lily lake

It’s February….the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping, and…the mailbox is overflowing with college recruitment letters?

Her weeks are spent in a juggling act between school, skiing, and a social life. Training on snow four days a week requires discipline and dedication, not to mention time management. Student first, athlete next.Wait – how can this be? She’s only a junior! She doesn’t even know what she wants to be when she grows up!

13 2 L and Dilara

I’m proud of her.

It wouldn’t be so bad if they were letters actually recruiting her-offering her money, I mean. These full-color mailers are an advertiser’s best effort to capture everything good about their college-and to make it personal.She’s working towards her future, but the mail is getting ridiculous.

She took the SAT in October, and now we’re inundated with offers from the east coast, the mid west, the northwest, and even some more ‘local’ California schools. All the flyers boast offers of a ‘personal code’ that is sure to provide prospective students with the persuasive elements to convince them that this school is the one. Even when the prospective student has no clue?She’s our oldest, so this is all new territory for us. I’m a teacher-I know all about admissions: test scores, application essays, and a-g requirements. Last fall we enrolled her in an SAT prep class-that’s something we never did back when I was in high school. Twice a week she went to an SAT tutor who helped her with test preparation, study skills-you name it. Kind of like the endless other self-help type of classes designed to get kids ready for life after graduation. Our plan was to have her take the SAT first before ski season, then again afterwards.

I remember feeling that way. I was more focused on completing high school than enrolling in college; I simply couldn’t see that far into my future. It took me a few years, a few failures, quite a few part-time jobs, and changing majors multiple times. How can a seventeen-year-old possibly know what they want to do with their life?

Sadly, the college stakes are much higher now. Kids need to have a plan. They need to have a strategy. It’s not enough to just muddle your way through high school and expect that there will be a multitude of colleges opening their doors to you.

Right now, all I can do is encourage her. Make good choices. Study hard. Think about what you like, what you’re curious about, what gets you excited about getting up in the morning. I’m pretty sure that’s how I chose my college and my ultimate major, English.I wish I knew what to say to her. I wish I knew how to help her see all the options she has in life. I don’t want to be the mom that plans out her kids’ lives by filling out their college applications and holding their hand until….that’s the problem. It never ends.

I can do all that, and keep a box with all the personal codes that may help her unlock her future. Once she gets off the snow, of course.

Jennifer Wolfe

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What do Kids, Parents, and Dreamers Have in Common with MLK and President Obama?

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

12 10 trip DC 100

I’m sitting in my study on an overcast Monday morning. The sun came up a while ago, but went unnoticed by me as I busily wrote in my new journal, sketching out writing goals for 2013 along with ideas, hopes and worries. I’m trying to move forward, you see.

As I covered the fresh, lined pages with scribbles, clusters and words coming from deep inside, the pre-inaugural images played alongside, just intriguing enough to catch my attention occasionally. I watch video from FDR, Reagan and Obama’s past inaugural addresses, and the words, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” catch my ear, just enough to cause me to leave my dreams and listen more intently. JFK flashes, his memorable, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

And then President Obama, reminding us that, “This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence. The knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man, whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served in a local restaurant, can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

These great statements came from men of differing backgrounds, political parties, races and religions. While they varied greatly in their presidencies, they all share the common message of ordinary, everyday courage. I drift away from my own goals, and begin to toss this idea around in my mind.

As today’s American parents, we grew up in the shadow of these words. We trust our children will be safe and return to us as they leave the house each day. We agonize over how to handle their failures and successes in order to nurture them into compassionate, confident human beings. We work hard and try to make good choices to steer our children in the right direction.

Daily, we ask our children to do their best. We ask them to go to school, follow the rules, and face down peer pressure. We believe they will handle puberty, relationships, and their sexuality with maturity. We expect they will work with all teachers, complete projects and assignments with above-average scores, and show their inner warriors on sports teams. They will go to college, graduate and have a career.

And the dreamers – the writers, the musicians, the artists that enhance and elevate our thinking through their imaginations. We are in awe of those spirits who have the audacity to believe that someone else will listen to them, read their words, or look at their dreams as they lay them before us in all their unprotected glory.

As I walked Capitol Mall in 2012 for the first time in my life, images from history books swirled through my mind. I became lost in the stories, the events, and the courage of so many men and women who had stood precisely in my location. Their stories are not all famous, and many have gone unknown amidst the pomp and circumstance of our nation. As I gazed up at the MLK Memorial and read the inscriptions of hope, I realized that they are all there with me, really. Their desires to live and die for their convictions. Their courage in the face of unknown consequences. Their belief of living in the present, and their audacity to hope that somehow, their very existence in this world could bring change and move us forward as a country and a people.

Turning back to the news, I realize I haven’t missed much. The rituals continue, the reporters recall each move of everyone-who-is-anyone in Washington. The people along the parade route cheer, wave, and smile as they catch a glimpse of the President as he drives by. This time, they vow, we were not going to miss it. We will do whatever it takes to be a part of history.

What I think they’re missing is that they already are. Kids, parents, and dreamers who line the Mall today are not only the past, but also the future. FDR, JFK, MLK and Obama are simply the embodiment of the collective courage of America. They are one of billions who walk out their door each day and face extraordinary, everyday courage. It is what we have in common, and what will move us forward as a country.

Have courage. Do what Martin Luther King Jr. asked, and remember, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

Have courage. Make history. Move forward.

Jennifer Wolfe

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Education Reform: Three Ideas for the Next Four Years

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

There is no doubt in my mind: the American education system is in deep trouble and needs reform. According to a recently published report of the world’s best education systems by the education firm, Pearson, the US ranked 17^th of 40 developed countries. Finland and South Korea, leading the study, received high rankings because they “tend to offer teachers higher status in society and have a “culture” of education.”

As a 22-year veteran California teacher, I live this every day. In recent years, I have witnessed the decline in the culture of education in my community as well as nationwide. While some might think funding is the root of all problems, I have some other ideas about how we can start to tackle education reform in America:

Put students first. We need to start every discussion around the concept of what students need, not what the district needs, the state needs, or the federal government needs. Students are our clientele, and we need to make decisions as if we were creating reform for our own children. Thinking about kids first, and creating reform that is best for educating, nurturing and protecting ALL students is the first step.
Create opportunities for student engagement. America needs to reform our thinking about the primary purpose of schools: is it to churn out a citizen who is proficient at bubbling in answers on a test, or to develop creative, innovative, collaborative citizens? By prioritizing the arts, humanities, and sciences equally, we allow children opportunities to learn in a variety of disciplines. Honoring student exploration and discovery alongside standards will help develop confident, creative adults who can tackle the global issues facing their generation.
Invest in teacher training. Like any profession, teachers need relevant, high quality training to move forward. America needs to support teachers by providing professional development as part of a teacher’s contract, with time to implement and refine throughout the school year. Training that is focused on student-centered strategies, led by qualified educators with like-minded goals, will strengthen our workforce and help bring American schools back to the top of the world’s education systems.

So what can we do? Do we sit back and watch our systems disintegrate, watch quality teachers leave the profession, and see our students stifled, bored, and falling behind? I think not. Now is the time to let your voice be heard. Stand up for education reform – our children deserve it.

*image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Jennifer Wolfe

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Teach-That’s What I Do

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

I’m really getting tired of education being a dumping ground.

I’m tired of politicians who think that money doesn’t matter – we can decrease funding for schools, freeze teacher salaries, or worse – impose salary cuts because there isn’t enough money in the budget.

I’m tired of class sizes getting larger and faith in schools getting smaller.

I’m tired of hearing about all the things teachers should do instead of hearing about all the things we actually do.

I’m tired of unpacking standards during the only free time I have in my day.

I’m tired of staying late for meetings, or eating lunch over a stack of papers.

I’m tired of ‘officials’ who get paid more than me but know less about what really goes on in the classroom.

I’m tired of thinking about everything else except the children.

What I’m NOT tired of is the children.

I’m excited to see their faces every day, looking to me for a plan.

I’m excited to help them with their challenges and watch their success unfold before our eyes.

I’m excited to show them a new book and talk about what they love.

I’m excited to laugh with them, learn with them, and send them out into the world.

I’m excited when the fire is ignited, their passion is found, and it shows.

I’m excited to teach.

That’s all.

Jennifer Wolfe

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