Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Experience that I had
This morning I had a meeting at school with a group called our " school climate team". It's a committee in which promotes character education throughout the school. We were discussing a few ideas on what to do for our next pillar (citizenship) and all I could think about was our activity we did last night with the 4 most important things to you and the garbage can. I actually had to interject into the conversation and say," Let's not forget the population of our school and their cultures and beliefs." After I said that, everyone stopped for a moment and then the whole conversation we were having went into a totally new direction. I just wanted to share this with you because it was definitely a great activity we did and as you can tell it had impacted my thinking in some way.
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4 comments:
I have to agree that the activity with the four most important things to you and the garbage can done in class was a good activity. It was a way to have students experience how difficult it can be for immigrants migrating to a new country and leaving most things that are meaningful behind. I came to America at the age of 8 and I had to do the same. I had to leave a life I was used to behind and begin a new one in a new place. Everything thing was so different. I had to make new friends and I was so scare that I would become an outcast. Luckily, I had a lot of cousins over here. They showed me and my siblings around and even introduced us to their friends. I was thankful for that. Unlike most immigrants, I was fortunate to come to America with my entire family. I cant imagine how it would have been if we were separated.
This was a great activity, I thought about it today while writing a paper for an English class concerning "needs and wants"! My husband's father is Romanian and he tells me stories about coming into the States with literally nothing and working his way up. Not understanding a word of English he and his brother both came over and left their parents and sister behind. Finally, after two years of sending money home to their parents they were able to make the migration to Boston.
Part of the activity that really touched me last night was when some of the classmates children's names were thrown away. At the time it seemed extremely harsh but in reality it happens all the time...
I have to also agree, this activity served of great experience, specially for those that are not ELL, it is very hard to understand something you never experienced but this activity helped everyone see the things that many of us have to leave behind when we come here, it helped understand others and even create a sense of wanting to help others to make the transition easier.
I also agree with the activity that we did in class. I think it really shows what immigrants do give up in order to come to this country. It really had an impact on me as well. I found that I could relate to that activity in some way because my mother and her family came from Cuba. Although I was not born there, it still effected me. I realized how priveleged I have been because of her and her family. My mother had to give up everything to come here and it is just so amazing that she gave up everything and now she has been able to give my brothers and I a life filled with oppurtunities. It is extremely hard for me to even imagine giving up everything and risking everything. I could never leave my family or friends, it just really makes you think.
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