Viniendo a la Casa – Coming Home

I am a person who sets goals and I work hard to achieve goals (las metas) that I believe will help me both personally and professionally, but mostly I am a person who wants to learn and achieve at a high level.  A goal of my experience here in Santiago has been to gain in learning and knowledge (aprendizaje y conocimiento), but also to achieve a new level of discernment in my professional and personal life.  I certainly want to contribute to the success of both la UMCE and UTEP, as well as enrich the lives of those around me and myself (a mi mismo).

Recently, I took part in a series of workshops with teachers in local schools in Sede Graneros of our university (de nuestra Universidad) that resides in Region 6  (que queda en la VI Región) of Santiago. It was my first real experience in the field with teachers in Chile, those that wanted to increase their understanding and abilities in science.  In many ways, I have been a teacher of teachers for some time, and I work with teachers and students who want to be teachers (estudiantes que quieren ser maestros) in El Paso.  To date, in Santiago, I have had the opportunity to work with science education faculty, university students and local high school staff and students. Yet, until today, I had not had the opportunity to work with a group of local teachers, and I found myself in a engaged in a series of workshops in a hands-on (manos en la masa) lesson that featured inquiry lessons.

It was great to work with teachers in activities (en actividades) designed to engage and allow learners to explore in science, and to exhibit the innate curiosity that their students will as well, as I moved around the room with my colleagues. We facilitated the lessons, asking questions (preguntas) to the teachers and getting them to explain their understandings, and finally, I felt as if I had come full circle and was suddenly interacting in the same way that I do as home as a professor (un professor), but now of course, in Spanish.

I guess the message (el mensaje) that I took away is that teachers are awesome people, whether they are in Chile or the US or anywhere in the world (en el mundo). But, I could also see that slowly (lentamente), but purposefully, I was progressing in my abilities, in my pace, in my tone, in my manner, in my knowledge, in my learning and ultimately in my discernment.