MayaWest Writing Project

Host: Good morning.  How are you guys today? This morning we have the honor of having among us a teacher from the southern part of the island who is participating in the MAYAwest Writing Project.  Here to tell us about this and what happens in a normal day in this summer institute is Abimael Rivera.

Guest: Good morning Professor Ellen Pratt and students.  It is an honor to be here.

Host: So tell me, what is the MAYAwest Writing Project?

Guest: Well it’s a group of teachers that have gotten together to learn how to implement writing in English or Spanish in the classroom as a means of communication.

Host: That sounds interesting.  Can you give me details about the group?

Guest: Well, as you should know we are all teachers do it is fun.  There are people from all areas, but the WALKS gang is what most stands out.

Host: What is a Walks Gang?

Guest: Trust me you don’t want to know.

Host: Well moving along, how is a normal day at the workshop?

Guest: Very intense and enjoyable.  We learn so much.  I arrive their like at 8:30 am with my wife, but it is already full.

Host: Why do the teachers get their so early?

Guest: Honestly to eat breakfast and see each other’s sleepy faces.

Host: After breakfast what is next on the agenda?

Guest: That’s where the fun starts.  The Professor in charge tells us to be at the table by 9 in order to discuss the plans of the day.  Then a scribe is named to keep a log of all that happens during the day in the workshop.  I was scribe yesterday for instance.

Host: So that means that means that every meeting is written about with details?

Guest: Of course, all depends how the scribe observes things. 

Host: What are usually the first things you do?

Guest: Well, we hear what the scribe has to report from the previous day and then feel intimidates, because the scribes keep on raising the bar of perfection.

Host: This is a good way to start.  I suppose feedback is given.

Guest: Well yes.  For instance, Alma was our bilingual scribe reader yesterday and it was a masterpiece.  So much was being said I lost track of scribing.

Host: What things are said there?

Guest: Amen! Hallelujah! Praise be to the almighty scribe, etc, etc…

Host: What did the group learn from this?

Guest: We learned that it could be used in the classroom.  Have students practice being scribes whether in English or Spanish.

Host: After this activity what does the rest of the morning consist of?

Guest: Let me see…we finished at 9:35 and got ready for a Cedric’s Hi-Tech presentation about Hi-Tech in the classroom.

Host: You mean the use of technology in the classroom?

Guest: Yes I do.  The guy is lucky indeed.  He has many ongoing projects where he works, too many computers and two classrooms.  That is having it all.

Host: But I suppose that your other colleagues have the same he does?

Guest: You are wrong.  Many of us have nothing.  Some of us use prehistoric artifacts: take for instance Angela.  She is a dedicated teacher that does anything to get the students motivated, but she needs a computer not a cassette player or VCR.

Host: That is sad to hear, but getting back to the presentation.  Briefly tell us what was it about and its purpose.

Guest: Well he talked about how a student can use technology in the classroom for the purpose of writing.  It is an autobiography students create using Power Points.  This is also known as an E-Autobiography.

Host: But, wait a minute is this allowed to be done?

Guest: Of course it is.  It is called E-Literacy and is an example of a higher level of literacy.

Host: What activities did he suggest be done?

Guest: Well we worked as mini-power point presentation on our computers.  Well some of us did, because I didn’t have a working computer neither did my neighbor.  So we did it on a white piece of paper, but we never finished because she was distracting me too much.

Host: What did the rest of the group do?

Guest: A college professor said she was not tech savvy, but loved the activity.  Another teacher said he had no computers in his classroom, but then Roselyn suggested that students could make a scrapbook.

Host: Do you think it is a good project to do in a classroom?

Guest: Yes it island you can actually use this format for any other class.  You know what is weird, if you want to learn you will learn if there is interest.  Cedric learned English imitating MTV long hair rockers. Imagine that!

Host: That is very good so what happened next?

Guest: We had a teleconference with teachers from Texas and it was interesting.  The odd thing about this is we had to go on a 7-10 minute walk to another building.

Host: That shouldn’t be any problem for your group.

Guest: You would be surprised.  There were complaints, people worried about sweating and people using the bathroom before the walk.  It was nice to see us walking in a single file.

Host: Describe for us if possible the group reaction when getting there?

Guest: The group was amazed at this, because many of us had never seen this type of conferencing style.  The tech specialist seated us all and some people came in late and were seated in the front like little kids.  Jajaja.

Host: How long was the tele-conference?

Guest: Well it was actually from 11-12 and it went by quickly.  An hour seemed like 15 minutes.

Host: I assume then it was interesting.  Can you briefly point out some of the important aspects discussed there?  Try to keep it short if you can, because we only have 5 minutes and I want the group to comment.

Host: Wow, I will do my best:

a.       Janice and Ariana said that the 2 weeks of the workshop had been worthwhile.

b.      The teachers from Texas discussed their plan of how they were creating a curriculum for early transition for Spanish speaking students in the elementary level.  They also stressed that most of the success of these programs have to have the support of the administrative part of of the school.

c.       The role of the family is to share the responsibility in the educational process of their kids. 

d.      The usage of technology in the classroom is mentioned and how Puerto Rico and Texas share the same situation.

e.      A comparison is made of rural and urban education that really led to the idea that it is determining factor in the life of hype student.

Guest: We got to speed it up, because we have something in 2 minutes.

Host: All right. The usage of both Spanish and English is accepted in their elementary level classrooms and they refer to it as Poncho or Texmex.

Guest: What happened in the afternoon session?

Host: Let me see…god excellent lunch….nice conversation about food, the teleconference, people’s writings, etc…at 1:06 we started again arranging the menu for the next day: pizza.

Guest: Did anything happen with the morning discussion?

Host: Oh I almost forgot, some of the students read their E-Autobiographies which was very cool.  Then a guest speaker, Dr. Cathy Mozak, came in to offer a brief presentation of how she as an educator teaches low College Board English scorer how to write.

Guest: What examples did she discuss?

Host: She talked about how her students read a graphic novel and used that to write summaries and answer basic questions about content with her students.  At this point I had to stop being a scribe and be a teacher.

Guest: I can see we are over the time limit, but can you share some of your concerns?

Host: Let me just say I got heated, because I accept that I talk with passion and could be misunderstood.  You see I love my job and try to be involved as I can with my students.  I asked how to she does she teach isolated grammar, since I am not recommended or allowed to do so.  I had to shut up, because I had to get back to scribing.

Guest: What did you gain from this?

Host: Actually I am confused and have decided to talk to her and look for some advice.  But I did conclude that some of my colleagues were pissed at me.  So I have to let them know that it wasn’t my intention to be like that, but I am so passionate sometimes I just lose it.  Guess I am going to have to tone it down.

Guest: That sums it all up pretty much.  Now we will let the students address you and have comments.

Host: It’s been a pleasure being here and I will gladly respond to any questions.