Monday, July 10, 2006
Fund for Teachers: Yucatan Projects
This year I was blessed to have been awarded a personal grant from the Fund for Teachers. This grant has enabled me to travel to the Yucatan to complete a number of personal & professional projects.
During my five week trip to the Yucatan this summer I had the opportunity to study Spanish, strengthening my professional speaking skills. I took private lessons that have allowed me to focus directly on terminology needed as a special educator. I translated a set of stimulation activities that were given to mothers in the Early Intervention program at Centro de Atencion Multiple, the special education school where I volunteered my time. It was a pleasure working with this group of mothers and their teacher Liliana who is extremely dedicated to these children and their mothers. My hope is that the moms will be able to use the activities along with their physical therapy routines to continue working with their children over their summer break. In addition, I created and translated a list of interview questions that I will use when I go into the homes of children with disabilities during ongoing child find missions in coordination with the Angel Notion clinic.
I had the opportunity to work with each group of students and staff at Centro de Atencion Multiple. Getting to know the students and teachers was a rewarding experience. Directora Isabel set up a rotation schedule for me that began with the youngest students (infants & toddlers accompanied by their mothers) and moved up grade level by grade level. This allowed me to get a good understanding of the skills focused on at each level and the set up of their programming.
I have used the blog to document my experiences and the ongoing projects that I will be working on in the region. A huge thank you to the Fund for Teachers and their sponsors for providing me with this great opportunity.
// posted by Carrie's Heart @ 6:34 PM 
