During this past year, we have focused on strengthening the teacher’s staff and ensuring the quality of the educational processes. Our aim is to improve the pedagogical methodology by creating content and materials contextualized to the cultural environment of our students.
Here is a little bit about what each of our teachers has been working on with the students:
Anderson Gómez in the areas of Spanish, visual arts, theater and music:
In Spanish class, the children are learning grammar, spelling, and reading comprehension, working with the books “Espiando Palabras 1,2,3,4” and “Comprensión de Lectura A, B, C, D, E y F ”. A playful pedagogical material that allows personalized learning. The Rainbow group (the little ones), are learning calligraphy and basic exercises for writing.
With the Yin Yang group (the older children) it was possible to write the project “Relatos de la Sierra“, a compilation of stories from their cultural oral tradition as well as literary creations made by the students themselves.
In plastic arts, they learned a whole range of different types of techniques including: stencils, vinyl painting on canvas, landscaping, portraits, collage, drawing with charcoal and chalk on craft paper, anatomy, color theory, making masks with organic materials, construction of scenery, illustration, ceramics etc.
In theater, the Rainbow group performed, “Kaldyicucuy, the spirit of the masks” , an adaptation of the book “Thus the ancients dreamed”. Where by means of scenic representation the students learned different corporal techniques like yoga, mime, oral and corporal expression. This process contributes to emotional and social development, allowing trust, overcoming fears and co-creation among peers.
With the Yin Yang group, we worked on oral expression through the representation of characters that they themselves developed for a radio theater podcast project.
In music class they explored different rhythms from their territory. They learned basic concepts of music theory and how to work together as a fundamental factor for a collective musical experience.
Mitzi Castañeda in mathematics, literacy reinforcement, music and audiovisual classes:
In math, children autonomously solve their individual processes with Nicole Picard’s series of mathematic books: A different methodology that helps them develop logical numeric thinking. Complementing this process, activities such as “The little store” were carried out in the Rainbow group and tailored workbooks for the Yin Yang group.
For the Rainbow group, a space was opened to reinforce aspects of literacy, essential to be able to develop all other areas of theoretical knowledge. The students deepened their research methodology, learning to use the library and obtain relevant information of their interest. On the other hand, writing was encouraged by working on thematic texts such as letters, recipes, news, songs, etc.,
In music class, with group Arcoiris, we worked on the development of auditory capacity and selective listening. Along with the development of memory and vocal expression, through a music repertoire focused on addressing important social and emotional aspects. The children also composed the musical pieces for the play earlier mentioned, a group project that made it possible for the children to work with several languages (In our school we call areas of studies “languages”) and creative practices during its execution.
With the Yin Yang group, a workshop was developed where students learned basic audiovisual production, photography and graphic design. The objective is to create cultural content made in its majority by the students, and for this content to be used to sustain Lobitos del Selvatorium.
One of the relevant achievements was the participation of the students in the first photography contest of the municipality of Dibulla. They won with first place and received as a reward a day trip to a beach hotel for all of Lobitos del Selvatorium.
Alexis Lozano, at Social And Natural studies :
With the Arcoiris group social and natural studies were expored through activities and booklets developed by the teacher himself and contextualized to the social and natural environment of this territory. Several field trips were also organized, as a fundamental exercise in the experimentation in the teaching-learning processes.
With the Yin Yang group, the students developed theoretical and practical research projects, encouraging different complementary skills and activities typical of the region. For example, projects in beekeeping, cocoa production and medicinal plants identification and uses were developed.
Guided by the teacher, some students participated in the “A possible climate” contest, where they narrated solutions to climate change with comics. They were among the top 10 finalists nation wide.
Workshops:
Every Friday, we had Workshop Time
– Vanessa Gocksch, during the first semester gave an extensive recycling class to both groups. In this class the different materials used by the industry were studied in order to understand what happens to these materials when discarded and how to recycle them properly. Vanessa also gave an introductory class in ancestral pottery techniques for the children who wanted to participate.
– Gregorio Villafañe, a young Arhuaco teacher led some classes on ancestral culture. The classes were based on conversations, which is the traditional teaching technique in their communities. The young people also learned to build traditional flutes called charutos
– Fanny Rueda, guided the little ones in the corporal and choreographic preparation for the staging of the theatrical work “Kaldyicucuy, the Spirit of the Masks”, an adaptation of the book “Thus the Ancients Dreamed”.
– María Nariño, carried out a series of workshops on emotionality and basic sex Ed. Very important topics for a holistic training of our students.
How did we end the year?
We are very happy and satisfied to have had a year full of challenges, with a lot of work and with the certainty that the path we are taking will bring positive results for the 25 students we had this year.
We closed the process with the evaluation activities. This year we had a special surprise and together with the children’s families, we were able to announce the delivery of official study certificates, valid for the Ministry of Education in Colombia. This will be possible thanks to our agreement existing with the FACE Cúcuta school, who serves as our mentor, helping us to improve the quality of our educational project.