Hearing Impaired School 1: The Kids

Hello again!  It's been almost 4 months since I've written.  In that time, I've fallen into a job at a school for hearing impaired students.  I feel so welcomed and so fortunate to have found it. Since I had absolutely zero experience with hearing impaired (HI) kids before, it's been a learning experience.  I work with 2 & 3 year-olds in the morning, kindergarten-ish kids in the afternoon, and translate for Spanish-speaking parents on occasion.  I was too overwhelmed for a while to decide what to write, so I've decided to split it into 3 topics (kids, parents, adults).  It's detailed, but since I'm just here for another month-ish I want to make sure that I remember everything.  Up first - the kids.

So, I love the kids.  Short Version - I love working at the school and have learned a lot about how the program is structured and the support the kids receive. I've developed habits to encourage their listening and speaking abilities. It's been interesting to see their language develop and is incredibly rewarding. If you're curious to know more, read on. 

Rambling: Hasta Luego, España

Well I had this post 90% done before I left Spain, but then the holidays happened and I avoided doing anything mildly productive.  Late is better than never, so here is my trip summed up in 24 bullet points:

Things I Will Miss About Spain
1) Meeting up with the girlies, especially for churrrrrros
2) My Spanish family :) And being silly with Chiquita
3) The 20-second commute to work (downstairs to upstairs)

4) Cheap travel - I bought a round-trip plane ticket for $48 total, and one of my fave hostels was $9. And you never go through customs!
5) Being in a constant state of awareness and learning in Spanish. (Current favorite word? Elfo. It means elf) 
6) Feeling like a superior expat or traveler when annoyed at American tourists 
8) 40 degrees is "freezing cold" 
9) The family's massage chair. I will buy one someday
10) Driving the SmartCar.  And just how cute it is. And surprisingly, round-abouts
7) Patatas bravas, fried eggplant by the housekeeper, the kaki fruit, and frozen ready-to-heat crepes
11) So. much. free. time.

Things I Am Looking Forward to in the US

Rambling: High Speed Trains

Alright this post is random but I just have to share.  A friend of mine who is currently living in Taiwan recently blogged about how awesome the high-speed trains are (you can drive 2+ hours or sit on a train for 25 minutes).  I had been thinking the same thoughts and wanting to write about it here, so decided just to share my response:

OMG I've fallen in love with high speed trains. Barcelona is about 400 miles from Madrid, so about 6 hours by car. OR you can take the train and be there in 2.5 hours. How awesome.

Since the distance from Chicago and NYC is about double, how cool would it be to get on a train in Chicago and be in NYC 5ish hours later, rather than driving 12+ hours. It would make business sooo much easier. And visiting people. We would just be so much more connected. I would do it all the time, unlike driving 12 straight hours, which I'm never going to do. But taking a train for 5 hours I would definitely do.

Rambling: Thankful

Alright, well I wasn't going to write anything for thanksgiving. At first there was just too much to choose from and I couldn't pick just one or two things for, say, a facebook post.  Besides, it sounds less meaningful and cliche today since everyone else is saying the same things - family, friends, food, health, etc. And plus I feel like it's obvious what I'm thankful for, so what's the point of writing it out (side note - I've actually been doing this thing for a few months where before I eat when I have food in front of me I take a deep breath and mentally list 3 things I'm grateful for - it's calming and reflective and stops me from just scarfing down my food without tasting it - woo!). But as I'm heading to bed, I'm still thinking about what I am thankful for, so here goes:

Rambling: US Politics in Europe

I was surprised to see that Spaniards follow US politics as much as Americans do (I'd say as much as they follow futbol!).  I found that in London, Italy, and here, people are really interested in talking about US politics with me and are REALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE about it.  The presidential debates were all featured on the news, and I get the impression that US politics in general is highlighted even when an election isn't coming to a close.  A Londoner told me, "the way that the US is featured here, you'd think we're the 51st state.  In fact, some people call it that."  I can't say we follow much about the UK, besides Kate's fashion choices.  A Canadian in London informed ME of things I didn't know about US campaign funding, and I saw a Brit school an American on candidate policies.  This is a sharp contrast from our general awareness of other countries' politics - I wasn't even sure about the structure of Spain's government until I had been here a week.  I still can't remember the name of the Prime Minister of the UK.  Wah wah.  

Also interesting is that not only does Europe know what's up in the US, they pretty much all want Obama to win and think Romney is terrible.  According to this super interesting survey, Romney is favored by ONLY 9% IN 21 COUNTRIES (Obama's average is 50%).  A Brit told me, "I just CAN'T understand what could be going through Romney's head when he says those things." (in reference to women's issues and human rights).  This article makes the bold statement that "wariness of Romney is widespread," and my experience here has confirmed that - a Spaniard told me that much of the world fears that the US will start wars when we have a Republican president.   

 

It's been crazy to see the extent of America's influence abroad.  Someone here told me "I won't vote, but your vote will affect me."  It makes me value my vote that much more, and hope the US people choose a president that will not only have positive benefits for our own country, but for the world.

Rambling: Settling in Madrid

Well, FINALLY I'm actually posting something.  Basically the past couple weeks have gone like this: something interesting/fun/insightful happens, I jot down a couple things in a draft post or notebook, I don't have time to finish it, something else interesting/fun/insightful happens, I jot down a couple things about that but don't finish it, repeat over and over, until finally I'm overwhelmed with how many things I want to capture but haven't finished.  I'll try to do a recap here without getting super long.

Where to begin!  My family here is great. I'm lucky that I really have no complaints.  I've gotten together with some of the other au pairs a couple of times and it seems that I'm the only one with nothing to vent about.  My main responsibility is to take care of the 7 year old, who I'll call Chiquita, and help out a little with the 13 year old, who I'll call Chica (but is obviously much more independent).  For a glimpse at Chiquita's personality, see this short post.  Here is where I live:

The suburb where I live - Villavisiosa de Odon.  It's like Forest Hills except a little bigger and its history dates back to the year 939.

Rambling: Things About Spain

A list of things I've learned so far:

 

- Gay marriage was legalized about 7 year ago - woohoo!
- It barely rains here, but randomly has been raining all week (first rain since May-ish!).  So of course, people freak out.  They drive at a snail's pace.  I hear sometimes schools close!!  In the mornings, there weren't worms on the sidewalk, but huge CARACOLES  :-)  (snails)
- There is no MSU alumni association here :-( 
- College is free! For everyone!
- Synchronized swimming is a popular, respected, media-covered sport.  Who knew?
- The economy sucks right now.  Like, a lot.  They use the term "eurozone crisis" to refer to the recessions in most of Europe, and Spain has the worst unemployment of all. (More stats here).

I did not take this picture

- Knowing English is SO IMPORTANT (there are many bilingual colleges but you have to already know both, there are many opportunities to study abroad if you can speak it, obviously jobs, etc).
- A problem: you need to know English, but up until recently you only learned English if your parents could afford to send you to a private immersion school (or abroad).  So, there is a whole generation of people about my age who can't get a job because of the economy AND locked out of other opportunities since they were never taught English much in school.  Wah wahh.

Rambling: A Weekend in Venice

FINALLY I have time to post the last of my pre-Spain travel pics.  Jeepers it only took forever.  After Molly and I parted in Cinque Terre, I headed to Venice by myself for the weekend.  It took four trains and a lot of lugging my suitcases up and down stairs (on one I accidentally ended up on the first-class car, then while trying to move got stuck in the part between cars because I couldn’t figure out how to open the door... turns out there was a button, as the conductor showed me. Wah wah, embarrassing).  Venice was just like everyone describes it – beautiful, but full of tourists.  It feels like it’s two places competing for the same real estate – historical Venice, with gondolas and art and Venetian masks, buried under the money-making hot spot of today, which lures in 17.5 MILLION tourists a year.  My favorite part of Venice was when I woke up early to watch the sun rise - the city (besides the delivery men, street sweepers, and early-bird locals) was sleeping so it was actually relaxing.  Pics: 

About 6am and the city is still sleeping :-)

Rambling: A Week in Northern Italy

Ok, I know this post looks super long, but there were just too many pictures to choose from!  What a beautiful country.  I was ushered out of London by a plane full of chatty Italian teenagers, and my arrival to Italy was marked by their joyful clapping and cheering when we touched down – two things I haven’t seen in the past week (people being loud ??).  This set the tone for a week in Italy.  Since I had done my homework, I knew a train leaves from the Torino airport to the city center every half hour.  However, when I found the train terminal, it was completely deserted and actually eerie (which made me calmly freak out for about a minute).  A couple of conversations in English/Italian/Spanish later (I’m dubbing it Spanglishtalian) and I stepped off the bus, checked in to my hotel, and met my friend Molly!  She’s one of my best friends from high school and made all our plans - she’s currently on a 7 week trip (China, Vietnam, Italy, and Israel) after taking the BAR exam and before starting at her law firm.  Not only does she love all things Italian but studied in Florence for a semester in college and speaks the language well – helpful things for me!

We toured around the northern part of Italy over 5 days – Torino, Genova, and Cinque Terre (near La Spezia).  After the busy sightseeing of London it was nice to spend more time eating, sitting, sleeping, wandering through random churches, etc.  My first night we had the bessssst dinner – the cheese course and pasta was perfect, the setting outdoors in a local piazza was awesome, and our server made us a sampling of 3 desserts because we couldn’t decide!  We started talking to two girls our age next to us and I learned a lot about Italian life, mostly about how different the people, food, and dialect are from one area to the next (makes sense, since Italy used to be a bunch of separate city-states.  They don’t celebrate Independence Day, but Unification Day instead).  One girl even invited us to the bar she works at the next night, but we were leaving in the morning – my first invitation from a new friend abroad!!  

Piazza full of restaurants

Rambling: A Week in London

Well, after spending a week in London, the easiest way to summarize is that I could definitely live here.  I was too busy to write during the week so now, waiting at the insanely crowded airport at 5:30am, I’ll try to recap:

First pic on the new cam!  At the top of St. Paul's Cathedral, which is unbelievable.

 The craziest thing happened on the flight from Chicago – it turned out that the girl sitting next to me not only was going to the same hostel as I was, but invited me to join her in the cab she had arranged – for free!  She is a PhD student at Northwestern on her way to do research at the British Library archives so the university is paying for her trip, including her cabs (and mine!).  It seemed like the best luck I could have and instantly assured me that things always work out (for any readers of The Alchemist, I’d call it ‘beginners’ luck’).

Rambling: The Alchemist

Alright, how weird and coincidental is it that I just randomly started reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho today.  My heart already loves it.  Let's review the facts:

- I'm borrowing it from someone - I've skimmed through her bookshelf tons of times and just now noticed it today, even though it's been there the whole time.

- It's about someone deciding between comfort and taking risks for your dream - MY LIFE lately.

- The boy's dream also just happens to be travel.

- It is set in Spain, where I will go next month.

The story is simple and written in a lovely style, but the analogies to life and the wisdom of life are both subtle and powerful.  Below are some of the best quotes of the introduction and part one.  It's long, partly because it's beautiful and clearly true, and partly because I think I might want to look back on it in the future:

Rambling: Meeting with a Mother

I'm sitting at Panera, fresh from a job interview.  I saw a posting on a local website from a mother who is looking for a tutor for her 2 boys for two months in August.  They will be in 1st and 4th grade.  I was excited about the possibility and curious to see if they were behind in class and their mother wanted to remediate them a bit, or if she simply wanted them to get a head start heading back into a school year.

It turns out that she has actually hired a full-time tutor for ALL summer, who simply can't cover those two weeks in August.  Her boys are successful in school and in fact, bored because they are not challenged.  They also attend Kumon (private tutoring company) regularly during the school year AND over the summer.  Whew!  A far cry from being behind and wanting to spend a couple weeks catching up.

It got me thinking about the effects of how parents intervene in their childrens' schooling.  These parents clearly have high expectations for their childrens' education and when it wasn't going as well as possible (aka, not being challenged), they did something about it.  They make it such a high priority that they're willing to post a job ad, interview, hire, and pay someone for those 2 weeks, rather than simply take 8 days off of learning.  That is dedication.

I wonder what inner-city education would be like if private tutors were a common feature of family life.  I was reminded of the book Home Advantage, which details how families' socioeconomic standings affect their ability to navigate (and fund) the education system.  I was also reminded of a conversation with a Peruvian friend who is concerned that American education isn't as rigorous as countries abroad.

Basically, today was an interesting window into how culture, standing, expectations, and perceptions of the parents' role all affect student achievement.

Rambling: Letter to Myself

Reflection activity we did as a team: 

Dear Nicole,

            Today is Wednesday, May 16, 2012.  My last day at Collins Academy is Friday, and next week is the end of my City Year experience.  It’s strange to be ending something that has consumed my life for the past 2 years.  I’m not sure that I’ll ever be a part of something that fosters such a deep transformation in such a short period of time.  Right now, my basic emotions are overwhelmed, grieving, and excited – it’s bittersweet.  I’ll try to capture all of my feelings and memories in this one letter, but know that it won’t be sufficient and I won't get the language exactly accurate and it will only be a glimpse. 

            Some of my favorite memories are those that involve just hanging out with kids when there’s a carefree, loving atmosphere in the air (Yaree, Trevon, Eli Bunny, Marvin, Tyshawn, Denikko) Some of them are those really deep, intimate conversations with kids when they open up and you know that they know you won’t judge them (Jerome, Vincent, Justin).  Some of them are time spent with the team (sparking champagne, Hannah ribbon dancing, ridiculous emails from Phil, sleeping on the train with Andrea, my teams’ Life’s Work,  the end of the team supercharger at Robeson, team days at Phil’s, Dan’s, Jade’s, Senait’s, and my place).  Some of them are events planned for the students (Camp Duncan, Career Day, Tyshawn’s poem at Word Warriors, the last day of Spring Break Camp, Manny doing the cat-daddy at the talent show). Some are the magic that can happen with the corps (every talent show, the quality community meeting moments, Ripples of Hope satisfaction, playing Base Defense during Camp).  And some of them are time spent with my Senior Corps family (IJ with Carly and Dan, the day our life’s work banners were on display, the entire summer training out of uniform, South Haven, Boston training, bars, and travel).  I’d like to look back fondly on the sillyness and culture, too – PT, ABCs, BTA, really acronyms in general, email etiquette, dosage, Bobb Darnell, trackers, voting, and first circles.   I always get get weird during times of change about worrying that I’ll ‘lose memories’ and that the value they give my will decrease over time – I think that’s why I get so nostalgic when things are ending.  However, the memories, the ways the impacted me, the photos, and the people involved will never end.

            I never want to forget what I learned here – treat EVERYONE with respect, resist gossip and negativity, collaborate as much as possible, seek out feedback, value diversity, over-communicate, remember that the people are the job (not the tasks), and spend the time necessary to build and rebuild your team.  I’m glad that my experience confirmed what I already thought to be the key to life – everyone is a good person, and when treated with respect and provided with the right environment, will make the right choices.  The most important thing in education is love.

            I’m proud of the structure I provided for our team – our 3 non-negotiables (open communication, 100% effort, and see the best in every child), our visual ways to manage tasks, the norm of asking for feedback, and excessive positivity.  I’m proud that I was able to earn the respect of my team and the organization almost all of the time.  I’m proud that I was able to put the needs of my supervisor and the team above my own complaints.  I’m proud that I worked really hard, not just the minimum.  I’m proud that we earned the reputation of caring, welcoming people in the building. I’m proud that everyone at school and CY knows who I am.  I’m proud that I allowed myself to listen, change, and be impacted. 

            I’m worried that I inadvertently left some kids behind along the way during the past 2 years.  Everyone needs so much, and I don’t have time to even identify all of the needs, let alone meet all of them.  I hope those students still felt my love and will for them, even if at a greater distance. 

            When I look back at myself on Day One, I see myself as a nervous ‘newbie’, not sure how kids would respond to a “little white girl,” complaining about the ugly uniform, and asking so many questions.  I love that now I feel more at home in North Lawndale than in Uptown, kids greet me with hugs and fist bumps, they stop themselves from cursing in front of me, and I can understand (most of) the slang.  Now my attitude is protective mama bear - “yup, those are my kids, I can roll my eyes and laugh with them but YOU BETTER NOT.”  I’ll go into my next inner-city job with context and confidence.

            I hope I remember the community feeling that City Year has given me and take that where I go.  It’s cool to feel like I’m joining an invisible group of alumni who share the same bond, mission, and spirit.  Even if it doesn’t remain a part of my every day life, I will keep City Year, the values, the students, the people, and the lessons with me; even if I don’t know that it’s impacting my actions, it’s become such a part of me that it always will. 

Yours in Service,

Nicole

Rambling: Cop Profiling

I was so struck by a story that someone on my IJ team shared recently.  Rita* is the sweetest person you've ever met, tough on the outside for about a milisecond until she smiles or talks and you see that she has the warmest heart in the world.  She grew up in a 'rough part' of LA and said once she was outside, sweeping, while her brother and some of his friends were hanging out in the lawn.  Cops that were driving by randomly stopped, got out of the car, and made them all line up with their hands up while they searched them.  The whole experience and attitude of the cops was degrading, rude, and humiliating.

When Rita told them that she was back visiting from a college (a 4-year liberal arts college in Iowa, not community college, she corrected them) the cops were shocked.  Rita also went on to say that they had no reason to stop and search them and that they acted simply on the appearance of her, her brother, and his friends.  The cops apologized and left.  I imagine it as a a cat chasing a mouse who would stop and leave, surprised, when it realizes that the 'mouse' is also a cat, an equal.  

It makes me angry to think about someone passing judgements on Rita or acting like she's scum, and it makes me angrier to think about the fact that this happens all the time.  Rita said she was particularly struck by how her brother and his friends acted - totally not surprised, they knew the routine as if it happens to them regularly.  We need cops patrolling areas of violence, but their attitude should be pride in protecting and uplifting the people, not pride in having power over the people.

Rambling: Homeless

The homeless people in the city have been breaking my heart more than usual lately. Every time I just think about how that could be my kids' future, after years of poverty, dysfunctional school systems, possible neglect or trauma at home, no substantial health, sex, or technology education, a lack of career counseling, and generally feeling that society does not respect or want them.

Most memorable was the man on the train recently who was not asking for money, but asking for people to take and read his resume.

Rambling: New White Kid!

Breaking news: there is a new kid at our high school, and he's white.  This seems so bizarre, then it seems bizarre that it seems so bizarre.  So far we know that he wears braces, is very polite, and "had a good first day."

I cannot imagine transferring into a school where you are the only one of your color.  Everyone is curious to hear 'his story' about why he's attending our school, as if he needs a reason.  I'll be keeping a close eye on how the other students receive him... hopefully they'll embrace the move toward diversity ?

March Update:  I never heard about any conflicts between him and other students.  However, he has transferred. 

Words: Testing Scores

"This freshmen says that he isn't being challenged in class, so he's failing.  Ha.  Have you seen his ISAT scores?  They're dismal... don't let him fool you, he just thinks he's pretty so he doesn't do his work."

Why are test scores more of an authority than the student himself?  There could be a million reasons why he has low test scores that have nothing to do with his intelligence.

Rambling: See People How They Want

I had a thought during Bea Young's diversity training at ATR.  We were writing 'Personal Vision Statements' and I had to finish the phrase "I am a person who..."

My first thought was I am a person who sees the best in people.  However, I think it's a beautiful thing to see the worst of people, too, and still love them regardless (which that doesn't capture).  Since we were talking about culture all day, my next solution was I am a person who sees people's strengths weaknesses and appreciates their culture, but that's kind of weird, and some people would value their culture more than others anyway.  Then I realized that really how I want to see people is how they want others to see them.  The perception of ourselves that we strive to project to others is really the best of ourselves, the weaknesses we're willing to expose, and has the elements of our cultures that we want others to appreciate.

So, I am a person who sees people how they want to be seen.  It's not rocket science.  Example - seeing 'the best of' Student Darious would mean focusing on his potential and resiliency (not his evident negative qualities that others tend to focus on).  However, seeing Darious 'how he wants to be seen' equates to the same thing - because deep down, Darious wants to be known as someone with potential and resiliency.  Everyone does.  There's something lovely about acknowledging the fact that we both want the same thing.    

Really, it should come naturally - just put yourself in other people's shoes to determine how they want to be seen, and that's the answer.