Technology Transports Students to Other Cultures
A TSA Story—Teaching during COVID-19
The Sharon Academy has a particularly strong culture of community. Perpetuating this sense of community while isolated from one another during the Coronavirus Pandemic has been the overriding focus of administrators and teachers this Spring. Teaching and learning have continued, often with silver linings to sustain us. This is the second of a series of TSA Stories focused on these glimmers of light during COVID-19. Read the first in the series, Creativity Gets the Space It Needs to Thrive.
Technology Transports Students to Other Cultures
In addition to having to learn in isolation, students and teachers have had to cope with the limits and complications of technology. Sometimes, however, technology presents opportunities to expand horizons, enhance learning, and foster connections. The trick is in recognizing those opportunities.
Spanish teacher Rachel Milito had always, half-jokingly, told her TSA high school students that it’s impossible to learn a language only in a classroom setting, so an exciting trip to Guatemala during Spring Break of 2020 was to be their opportunity for cultural and linguistic exchange. “There’s no way to simulate the simultaneous terror and sense of accomplishment that comes from an authentic interaction with a native speaker. It builds confidence and understanding in a way that makes the language feel tangible and natural, as if it is part of you.” When the pandemic hit in late January, it quickly became clear that travel was no longer an option for students. So where and how could students now have opportunities to engage with native Spanish speakers?
Milito had spent much of her formative language-learning time in Nicaragua and had visited the country many times. To continue to practice her own Spanish skills with a native speaker, a former colleague connected her with Rolando Estrada of Dariana Spanish School. Because increased political violence in Nicaragua had diminished tourism in 2018, Rolando had already transitioned to online instruction via Zoom. Milito started online classes with him in March, 2020, and learned about his children, who were the same age as Milito’s students at The Sharon Academy and studying English. “One afternoon the idea dawned on me: since all of these students were stuck at home, why not plan a way for them to connect and practice speaking their respective languages?” Milito reached out to her TSA students and Rolando reached out to his children’s classmates, and they came up with a list of roughly 12 students each to engage in a language exchange.
Under normal circumstances, Milito doesn’t like to have students spend too much time on their computers during classes at school. But, with the coronavirus Stay-at-Home order, she recognized that the computers were their lifelines to the outside world and could be a vehicle to take them across the continent to connect with other young people in Central America, without having to leave their homes, let alone the country.
The students met weekly on Thursdays during May. Milito divided the participants into small groups for smaller conversations in Zoom “breakout rooms.” Each student was paired with a partner from Nicaragua and assisted in their conversation with specific questions and prompts. The technology and internet connectivity were sometimes challenging, for both the US and Nicaraguan students, but as a “pilot” program, the results were very encouraging. Aside from the linguistic challenges, it can be tremendously awkward and challenging to meet new people, especially people from another country and culture. “I give all of the students so much credit for sticking with it and developing connections despite all these challenges,” Milito enthused.
One student, Abby Gross ‘21, observed, “My partner was great and I had the absolute best experience! Since we were both learning, we understood when the other person was confused or didn’t know what to say. That was the best part about it. I felt okay making a mistake or simply just not knowing how to phrase a sentence. I learned more Spanish by speaking with my partner than I have learned sitting in a classroom. I think it’s just the act of wanting to speak to someone and not worrying about your conjugations of a verb that really made my speaking and understanding of Spanish improve.” Weekly meetings wound down in June, but many of the students exchanged contact information. “I am still speaking to my partner even now that this experience has come to an end for the year,” noted Gross.
Milito is bringing the results from her pilot project to the rest of the World Language team at TSA, in hopes that there may be a way to include connections like this as a part of the regular curriculum going forward.