Midyear Meeting

23 February 2012

The Fulbright Midyear Meeting began this morning with breakout sessions based on grant type and region. I got together with the 9 other teaching assistants placed in the region of Valencia--all of whom are working with primary school.

We had a really fruitful conversation about our individual experiences.

Working with primary school has presented it's own set of challenges for each person. Personally, it's taken me a while to figure out how best to work with each grade level--6th being the easiest and 1st being the most perplexing. I've had to use a variety of methods to work on classroom management--all focusing on reinforcing positive behavior.

Some people have been placed in schools where the Valencian language (a cross between Spanish and French) has a real presence. They've had to pick up some Valencian on the fly--since their kids sometimes speak to them in Valencian! But they've been able to figure out ways in which to use Valencian in order to teach English.

Mostly, people have been trying to figure out their own role within the classroom. As teaching assistants, we aren't the teacher, but we do have a certain expertise that we bring to the classroom. Each Fulbrighter has worked with their teachers to determine how this expertise is shared.

I've been fortunate that my teachers give me a lot of freedom in planning communicative activities for the kids to do. My activities involve a little more "controlled chaos" than the kids are accustomed to, but the activities give them an opportunity to communicate in English in a meaningful way. 

Later, we had free time to enjoy lunch in the city and a chance to walk around the city. We wondered around the Campo grande for a while. It was beautiful--even though it's technically the middle of winter and nothing is growing. There were peacocks (!) roaming the park as well as various gardens.

I wish that I had more time to explore the park. I think it would have been relaxing to wonder around the park con calma (without rushing).

A couple of peacocks decided to hang out on top of a fountain. I'm, shamefully, going to admit that I thought that peacocks couldn't fly--like penguins and ostriches. Apparently, I was wrong.


Check out this artsy photo!

Later, I met up with a group of Fulbrighters for a private tour of the University's library. It contains all of the University's oldest documents and books. 

It was founded by Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza and was intended to be a school for students from economically-disadvantaged families. Unfortunately, that mission didn't last long and soon boys from the aristocracy and rich families attended the school. 

 The library's collection includes some really interesting books. The page in the book below shows a map of the world from the period.

 Here are good old Ferdinand and Isabel--los Reyes Católicos.

 This was an anatomy textbook. Seems pretty meta to me--the skeleton contemplating the skull.

 This is a censored book. Apparently, during the period, there were various tribunals that censored books before they were available to the public. However, I guess different tribunals had different criteria. There are multiple copies of the same book in the library that are censored in different ways.