Rome Student Teaching

Buon Anno!  Happy New Year!  What a year 2011 was, and what a semester Fall 2011 was!  After my last post, it seemed as if life went into hyper drive and the weeks flew by.  Crammed into the last 3 weeks of the semester was a study trip to Ireland, a talent show, the calcio championship, the end of the year banquet, and saying goodbye to the people and city that I have come to call home!

For Thanksgiving break, I signed up for the Northern Ireland study trip led by Dr. Jim Schwarten at the JFRC.  As much as I love Roma, I absolutely adored Northern Ireland!  What I loved about the trip was not simply that I had the opportunity to go to a terrific country and see some great sights, but that the entire trip was centered on the idea of the conflict and “the Troubles” in the past and present in Ireland.  We had a political primer and mini-lesson on a brief history of the conflict a day or two before we left for the trip and then I found that the theme (even unintentionally) of dichotomy and dialectic was woven throughout the entire trip.  We heard a dialogue between Catholics and Protestants; heard about local issues in Belfast surrounding education, unemployment, and discrimination; saw the Belfast murals on a guided tour by a local professor; saw urban Ireland with Belfast and Dublin and then rural Ireland as we went to Giant’s Causeway.  Overall, it was an incredible trip and I’m very glad I was able to attend!

Back at the JFRC, the talent show, calcio championship, and end of the semester banquet were the major tearjerkers at the conclusion of the semester.  The SLA’s at the JFRC organized a talent show and asked Sam, Rae, and I to be the MC’s of the event.  With all the stuff going on, we did not get a chance to rehearse or write down any material for the show, so we improvised it all!  It was a boatload of fun because we would think of a joke, try it out, and then feed off of each other’s material and energy.  Everyone who performed at the show was very talented—there were a number of original songs, poems, and skits; I thought it was just going to be a small show where a few people came, but pretty much everyone at the JFRC was there—Rinaldo’s was packed!  It was a wonderful evening and I was honored to be a part of it.  That week also marked the last week of calcio.  The week before, my team (Azzuro), advanced to the semi-finals against a team we had lost to earlier in the semester; luckily, we pulled out a 7-6 victory in the semi-final!  We were all exhausted, but it meant that we had a chance to play in the championship game 15 minutes later.  We won!  It was a tremendous experience and I cannot thank everyone on Team Azzuro enough for having so much fun every week and not worrying too much about the score.  Lastly, the JFRC hosted the end of the semester banquet on December 8^th near Largo Argentina in downtown Rome.  It was a fun night, but sad at the same time.  Many of the administrators gave great speeches, along with a few students who read speeches, sang songs, and were honored for outstanding academic work (and the JFRC superlatives!).  After dinner and the presentations, we danced the night away on the dance floor.  It was a terrific end to my semester with the JFRC community and I really appreciate everyone’s hard work to make it possible.

In my last few days at Marymount, a number of teachers handed me cards and well wishes for my future.  My cooperating teacher and a few other fellow teachers took me out to lunch one day in my last week as well.  It is hard to describe in words the emotions and feelings that I felt at the end of my student-teaching experience at MMI.  On one hand, I was exhausted from an intense workload and the stresses of being an everyday teacher, and winter break would be nice to catch up on some sleep.  On the other hand, however, waking up every morning and heading to Marymount to teach my 7^th and 8^th grade students, catch up with fellow teachers, and engage with after-school activities in the middle school was my life for 3 months and I could not imagine not seeing everyone everyday.  As much as I enjoy history and social studies, teaching and interacting with students and other teachers in the classroom is my passion and what motivates me to wake up in the morning!  On my last day, Justyna presented me with my very own Marymount sweatshirt and a scrapbook she organized and made with pictures from this semester and well wishes and thank-you messages from every student in my classes.  My heart melted!  I was doing my best to keep up a brave face while full well knowing how much I was going to miss MMI and this pushed me over the edge haha!  I honestly cannot thank enough or show enough gratitude for the faculty and staff at MMI, Loyola, and the JFRC for making the opportunity to student-teach in Rome not only possible, but also so positive and wonderful!

While the craziness and pandemonium of the end of the semester made writing a concluding blog post nearly impossible, I have also been delaying this post for another reason:  it represents the end of my semester of student-teaching and living abroad.  As silly as it may sound, it is true.  It has been an absolutely unimaginable and unbelievable semester!  Going into this fall, I was excited about student-teaching at Marymount, living in Rome, and meeting people at the JFRC, but I had no idea how much of an impact it would have on my personally and professionally.  It was incredibly difficult to leave both of the amazing and welcoming communities I was a part of this semester—Marymount and the JFRC.  I could not have asked for a better school, cooperating teachers and administrators, and students to student-teach at!  From the first to the last day, everyone at MMI has been friendly and inviting in every possible way.  At the John Felice Rome Center, I know that I have made friendships and relationships that will last a lifetime.  From helping fellow students with Italian homework to sharing a meal at Mensa together to getting lost in the middle of Rome, it was an honor to spend such quality time my fellow Jesuit college students.  It may be cliché to say, but I truly do believe that this semester has changed me, both the student-teaching and studying abroad aspects, in profound ways.  It has not changed me in 180 degree or completely radical ways, but rather has confirmed and reinforced what I value, my passion for teaching, and the way I live my life.

After the semester ended, I traveled for a couple weeks to London, Paris, Colmar, Sevilla, and Granada partly by myself and partly with some members of my immediate family; now, I am back in the States, getting ready for my last semester of undergraduate studies.  It still has not hit me that when I wake up, I will not be able to walk around the corner and grab pizza to-go or a whole host of delicious gelato flavors.  Although I will deeply miss the people, experiences, and Rome itself, from this semester, I know that by living in the moment I made some incredible and unforgettable memories and made the most of my experience!

Last week and last weekend were absolute pandemonium, but I have grown to expect nothing less from student teaching and living abroad!  Last week, my Loyola advisor, Dr. Brigid Schultz, visited from Chicago to check in with how Polina and I are doing and to observe us officially for our student teaching course and grade.  It was wonderful to see her and talk with her in-person rather than Skyping every week; it was much easier to discuss lessons, classroom management ideas, and the experience as whole when she was observing my classes and debriefing after lessons because the information and experiences were fresh in my mind instead of having happened the week before.  I am not going to lie, I was nervous on Sunday night when I knew that Dr. Schultz was going to be observing my lessons.  I was not worried that she was going to be upset that I was slacking off or worried that my students would be difficult to work with (because they have been great all year), but I was curious about her feedback and how exactly I was progressing and doing as a teacher this semester.  In the end, however, it was all for naught!  Dr. Schultz was incredibly supportive and helpful the entire week, as she has been all semester, and it was a rejuvenating experience to hear her critiques and reflect more on my own teaching skills and practices.

As this semester as a student-teacher has progressed, I have really enjoyed getting to know the students.  I have mentioned in earlier posts about how one of my favorite parts of this experience has been meeting and talking with students, teachers, and other faculty members at Marymount and the John Felice Rome Center.  At Marymount, it has been wonderful to form positive relationships and connections with the students.  I feel that now, at this point in the school year, the students understand what my cooperating teacher and I expect and are comfortable with our rules, sense of humor, and general procedures.  I was nervous for about the first month that I was either being too harsh and robotic or not strict enough in enforcing rules and procedures; but as the semester has progressed, I am much more comfortable in running the class and interacting with the students.  Not that it was not great to teach and come to school everyday before, but I am significantly less stressed about the actual class lessons because I am comfortable with the students and I know that whatever happens, I will be able to handle it.  It is a terrific feeling to walk into a classroom or around the halls and see the students respond positively to your jokes, instructions, and class lessons!

Another reason why last week was a little bit out of the ordinary and added another twist to everyday life was the President’s Medallion Award Dinner.  I was selected as the recipient of the Loyola School of Education’s winner of the 2011-2012 President’s Medallion.  I am very honored to accept the award and humbled to have been chosen.  On Thursday, I flew back to Chicago, landing at O’Hare around 3 pm.  The award dinner was not until Friday night, which meant I had Thursday night and Friday during the day to visit with my family.  My mom prepared an early Thanksgiving dinner for me when I got home on Thursday night and it was so great to catch up with my family (and dog!) and hug them.  Friday morning I went to breakfast with my grandmothers and relaxed at home with my brother and sister.  The ceremony and dinner that night was tremendous; I was able to invite my immediate family and one of my professors, Dr. Ann Marie Ryan, as guests at my table, and we sat with Dean Prasse and his wife.  The food was delicious, the conversation was exceptional, and nothing could have been better!  The visit was a bit surreal—I have been in student-teaching mode and living in Rome mode since the end of August and to head back home, I almost felt like a completely different person.  It was also surreal to receive the award.  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the award and the honor and the occasion on so many levels; but at the same time, however, I never consider myself someone who deserves special recognition or an award.  At Loyola, everywhere I look I see extraordinary people doing extraordinary actions—from professors to students to administrators to staff.  As hokey as it sounds, Loyola inspires me to do my best:  when you know everyone else around you is working so hard for an important goal, you work hard as well.

I flew back to Rome on Saturday at 5 pm and got back to the JFRC at Sunday around 2 pm.  It was a rapid-fire, turnstile weekend, but I enjoyed every minute of it.  Monday at Marymount was stressful as I balanced jet lag, new lessons, and preparations for parent-teacher conferences, but I loved seeing my colleagues and the students again; even in those 2 days I missed the week before, I missed my students so much!  It was a bit overwhelming to jump back into school after heading back to Chicago and returning in a few hours, but on Monday night, Fr. John Chandler from the JFRC took a few students and I to a dinner in downtown Rome.  We went to this tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant that looked as if it used to be a catacomb!  The food was delicious and we all had a great time sharing food, wine, and more delightful conversation.  The more time I have spent in Rome, the more I have found that the moments and experiences I cherish the most are those in which I share a meal, time, and talk with good friends.

Everyday I look at the date on the whiteboard and everyday I think to myself, “How is it already __________?!?!”  It feels as if I just arrived at Marymount and the JFRC and now I am getting settled and comfortable and I have only a few more weeks till the semester and this student-teaching experience is over.  I know that it has to come to an end at some point, but it is difficult to think that that end is approaching rapidly.  I am excited to see my family and friends and travel around Europe in December, but I can’t help thinking that I will miss these two amazing communities and people.

Remember when I mentioned how redunkulous it is that I have the opportunity to teach history, and especially the history of Rome and the Roman Empire, in Rome?  Well, on Friday I led a group of 6 students around Rome for a historical scavenger hunt field trip!  This experience is seriously out of this world.  I do not think I am doing an adequate job of describing how amazing it was to give students clues about various monuments, locations, and buildings around Rome and watch as they worked together to locate the site and figure out the directions to make it there.  When we would get to a site, I would talk to the students about the significance of each marker and the history behind the buildings and monuments.  At the end of the scavenger hunt, the entire 8^th grade gathered together for gelato and waited for the bus in Villa Borghese.  It was a terrific day and I was so blown away to be a part of it!  Although I do miss my family, friends, and Chicago a great deal, as the months fly by I can’t help but think that the time is going by way too quickly.  I feel as though the students are comfortable with me as their teacher and now that I am starting to form the connections and relationships with the students and other teachers, part of me really wants to stay for the spring semester (even though I need to graduate)!

The night before we had a Middle School Halloween dance.  It was fun to see the students outside of the classroom!  I did not have to harp on them about not talking or where their homework was or remind them about upcoming assignments, but instead I could relax a little bit.  It was nice to do the decorating and help with the set-up and see the students really enjoy the dance and all the work we put into it.  It also took me back to my middle school and high school days!

On Friday night, I ventured into the heart of the city with a few friends from the JFRC.  We went to a scrumptious dinner at a German restaurant right off of Vittorio Emmanuele and Via Corso.  It had a great atmosphere and after a long week, it was the perfect way to unwind and catch up with my friends.  On Saturday, I slept in—glorious sleep!  Then, Thomas Jones and I wandered around downtown Rome.  We saw some churches, but mostly we weaved and wove our way through tiny alleys and authentic Italian backstreets while window-shopping for clothes, Rome art prints, and antiques.  Getting out of the JFRC and spending an afternoon relaxing, taking in the sites, smells, and sounds of the Eternal City was unexplainably perfect.  I have my list of sites and restaurants I want to go to before I leave in December, but the more I am here, the more I enjoy the spontaneous, relaxed and unorganized events and opportunities that crop up day-to-day.  On Saturday night, a group of JFRCers went to pizza with Fr. Alberto, or as I like to call it, “Za with the Pa”.  He took us to a great, homey pizzeria in Trastevere and I really appreciated the fellowship and community that Loyola and everyone at the John Felice Rome Center work so hard and diligently to create to enhance our experience!

Ciao!

Last week was fall break for everyone at the John Felice Rome Center, which meant the hallways started to resemble a ghost town somewhere in the middle of the week.  But it was all good!  SLA’s Cristina, Brian, and Gina were awesome and it was a ton of fun to spend time hanging out and talking with them and a few other JFRC students who kicked it around Rome for the week.  I’m not going to lie, it was not always easy to imagine everyone tanning in Greece, hitting up open-air markets n Morocco or walking the streets at night in Paris while I was prepping for class the next day, but it really was a great, refreshing week and a chance to get to know a few people much better.  Plus, Roma is not a terrible place to spend a week in, eh?

Something that made the week even sweeter was that on Saturday I went to Perugia for a European Chocolate Festival with some colleagues from Marymount.  What a day! We left early in the morning and our trains arrived in the centro storico of Perugia around mid-day.  We immediately grabbed a chocolate disk from the nearest stand and munched on its deliciousness as we surveyed the packed streets of the city.  Lunch at a small trattoria was great and then we checked off Italian hot chocolate (pure chocolate syrup, unbelievable), a piece of chocolate cake, and some chocolate presents for friends back in Rome.  It was a great day and I really enjoyed the time out of Roma (as much as I love it, the small-town feel was precious) and the chance to spend time outside of work with my fellow teachers from school.

The chocolate festival trip to Perugia was the first time I’ve been outside of Rome since our Orientation trips, and while I enjoyed it a great deal, I am excited about spending my weekends in Rome.  I am already signed up for the Thanksgiving study trip to Northern Ireland, but other than that I really want to invest in my time here in Roma.  I have a 3-page list of museums, ancient ruins, sights, and restaurants to see before I leave!  I enjoy hearing about everyone’s travels around Europe, but I can’t help but relish the opportunity I have presented to me and make the most of it.  Marymount is off October 31^st and November 1^st and I am psyched to spend a couple days concentrated in my city and keep checking places off of my list.  With that being said, however, one of my favorite parts of this weekend was greeting everyone the past couple days as they returned to the JFRC from their Fall Break travels.

Last week I took over both of the 8^th grade classes to increase my workload up to the full load.  It was a bit hectic since last week with the seventh grade I also started my the unit for my Impact Project, but it ended up being a good sort of pressure.  I like teaching all the classes I am in each day and I can’t help but feel that I get better at running the class and keeping things running smooth.  And to be honest, I wanted to jump in and work with the eighth grade as soon as I could because they are studying the Roman Republic and Roman Empire and when will I ever be able to say, “You guys remember seeing the Colosseum? Well, that’s today’s lesson!”  I am very grateful for the opportunity to live and explore Roma while also exploring and honing my craft as a Social Studies teacher.  The teachers, administration, and most of all, students at Marymount have been encouraging and helpful to me every step of the process and as committed to urban education and social justice as I am, I cannot imagine getting to know, working with, and bonding with another school on the same level as I have with the Marymount community.  Along those same lines, I am excited to chaperone the middle school dance this Thursday!  It is Halloween-themed and I am pumped to be a part of the school community in every way I can.

The more I teach, the more I realize how much of a scramble everyday in a school is (in the best way possible).  There is always something new happening—a new student, a substitution assignment, after-school activities, assemblies, meetings, lessons—and I love the hustle and bustle.  I know that I am inexperienced and new to the experience, but it gives me energy to know that the students are coming into class and the day is starting!  Last week I had a lot of time to think and reflect on a number of things, but one of the biggest thoughts I had was on my development as an educator.  I know that I am not where I want to be in my teacher development; I am getting better and more comfortable everyday, but at the end of the day I know that I am not the teacher I want to be.  It may sound a bit disappointing or pessimistic, but I take optimism in the fact that I everyday is a new chance to reflect and reform!

Hello everyone!  My name is Mike Levasseur and I am an undergraduate senior, Secondary Education and History major at Loyola University Chicago.  This fall semester, I am student teaching at Marymount International School in Rome and I could not be more excited about it!  I am living at the John Felice Rome Center with the other study abroad students from Jesuit universities all over the United States.  I will get into Marymount and my student teaching experience in a bit, but first I want to share bits and pieces from my first few weeks in Rome!

We arrived on the morning of August 31, 2011 at Fiumicino Airport.  It was a busy day with paperwork, tours, meetings and general business; Thursday during the day was much of the same—necessary time for such an exciting semester!  Thursday night, Polina and I (the other student teacher here) walked around Piazza Navona, Via Vittorio Emanuele, and went up into Castel Sant’Angelo for a gorgeous nighttime walk.  The view from the top of the fortress was breathtaking and the cool breeze was a nice change from the heat of the day.  The next day, Polina and I visited Marymount!  It was great, to say the least.  As we were walking up the drive, we kept asking each other, “Is this real?!  Are we really student teaching here?!”  It is an unbelievably gorgeous campus and meeting my cooperating teacher and other members of the staff was a very welcoming experience.  We stayed for a few hours and while I can’t remember what else happened on Friday, I do know that I crashed Friday night for some much-needed sleep.  Saturday was a classic day in Rome for me—a JFRC-sponsored Roman Forum and Colosseum tour, walking around and eating great food, and then relaxing in Montemario at night with even MORE amazing food.  I am a huge history dork, so seeing all the ancient Roman ruins and buildings was right up my alley!  And I certainly cannot complain about plates upon plates of out-of-this-world food.  On Sunday, the JFRC took us to a beach for a relaxing end to our weekend—surf, sun, and food (of course!).

On Monday, September 5^th, I started my first day at Marymount!  While Monday and Tuesday were just syllabi days and Wednesday through Friday were Middle School Orientation days, it was a great first week.  I loved meeting all the students and seeing my cooperating teacher interact with them on the first day.  The Middle School Orientation days were a great way to start out the year as well—the three grades alternated between a beach clean-up and elderly home location, a high-ropes adventure course, and a day of team building at Marymount.  It was a great chance for the students to re-connect and for the teachers to see the students in a different way than in the classroom.  Seeing the students talk with and help the elderly people at the beach was heartwarming when I saw the smiles and laughter from the senior citizens as they talked with the middle-schoolers.  And the high ropes course was definitely challenging!  The students loved the three days and it was a nice opening to the school year.

On Friday, I got to go to Umbria as part of the JFRC Orientation to living in Italy.  What an amazing three days!  We stayed in a small town, Spoleto, and visited Todi, Gubbio, and Perugia on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  We took guided tours in each of the cities and then we ate like royalty at various hotels and restaurants across the region.  As beautiful as Roma is, the scenery of Umbria is even more so; hills full of trees and tiny towns propped up into the side of a mountain.  My favorite part of the entire trip was on Saturday night we went to an olive oil factory; we not only got the chance to learn how they made the olive oil, but we had a delicious dinner that seemed to b 15-courses!  I ended up buying a couple different types of their homemade olive oil (mandarin orange and onion), but there was no way to thank them enough for all their hospitality.  Overall, it was a great first 2 weeks in Rome and I’m glad that I had the chance to be a part of the welcoming ceremonies at both Marymount and the JFRC.

As far as student teaching is going, I absolutely love it!  It is crazy, stressful, frustrating, rewarding, enlightening, humbling, and so much more all wrapped into one experience.  The students are amazing and the biggest classroom management issues are getting students to raise their hands rather than call out and completing all their homework and studying.  My cooperating teacher has been terrific in every way—giving me constructive feedback and support after every lesson, tips and tricks for handling different situations, giving me the opportunity to teach early and often, and even supplying me with different restaurants and activities to do while I’m in Roma!  I started teaching the 7^th grade social studies classes around September 20^th and it has been a blast.  I feel as though I am always a little bit behind in either my grading or lesson planning or student teaching and independent study assignments for Loyola, but at the end of the day, as Italians say, “Va bene.”

                Tomorrow marks the last day of my student-teaching experience at Marymount. I suppose tomorrow marks my actual graduation. Without an actual graduation ceremony for ed. undergrads finishing in December, the day I technically graduate seems slightly nebulous and anti-climactic.  Nevertheless, in my true fashion, I am spending my spare moments simultaneously reflecting on the past four months and trying to calculate one of a million steps I may take next. For as overwhelming and sad as it is to leave and move on, it is equally as exciting. Last night, when skyping with my University Supervisor, Brigid Schultz, she asked me if I had any regrets in coming to teach in Rome. Without missing a beat, I replied, “Absolutely not.” My only regret may be that I couldn’t experience more in the last four months. When you are abroad and working, it’s a constant balancing act between work, rest, and exploration– prioritized in precisely that order.

                I have found that Rome is a place that grows on you while you are sleeping. I often complain about the traffic, the sometimes icy attitude of Romans toward foreigners, and the Monsoon-like winter that has settled over Rome. However, for every negative experience I have had here, there have been five positive to counter it.

                To be perfectly honest, I came into this experience with low expectations- of myself, of teaching, of living abroad. I had no idea what I was doing majoring in education– I only knew that I loved learning, generally got along with kids, and that I loved playing basketball.  Surely, teaching was not a strength of mine.  I loved history and I loved literature, but the things I liked were far beyond the elementary level. I had already dismissed my undergraduate years as a wash, comforting myself that I had at least gotten a full-scholarship and would not be in an insane amount of debt after finishing graduate school (what I’d major in was still a huge question mark).

                Four months later, I cannot say that I have everything figured out, but I can at least say that I had many misconceptions about myself and about this profession.  Once I got past those first extremely awkward days when I was new in school and fumbling through lessons and planning, curious things would occur. Laughing with my students, seeing a kid accomplish something he didn’t think he could, and engaging in meaningful conversations with my students, I felt this supreme sense of satisfaction. There would be days when I would walk home thinking, “I can see myself doing this.”  Of course, everyday is not like that, and like any profession, you have your bad days. It is in the shouting, the questions, and the surprisingly thoughtful remarks of my students I have taught that I am reminded of the importance of what I am doing.

            It goes without saying that living in Rome has been a challenge and the experience of a lifetime. Though I’ve always been outgoing within familiar social circles, being thrown clear out of one’s comfort zone upon entering this country, I quickly learned to get over my self-consciousness. My Italian is still terrible, but I do try, and when all else fails, I answer, “certo”, meaning “sure”…which is probably not the best idea, but so far it’s worked. I’ve learned so much from my students. Initially the diversity of the school was so staggering that it seemed hard to find common threads that ran throughout the entire student body. However, I’ve come out learning that there are some characteristics and experiences that are truly universal to all adolescents. I have no doubt that the truths I’ve learned about my students here can be applied to students everywhere though obviously within a different cultural context.

             I will not miss badgering my students to speak English in the halls, but I will miss watching them continue to grow and develop into fascinating, educated, individuals in this excellent environment. I will miss the teacher’s that have taught me so much and have gone out of their way to befriend me and include me in their lives. I will not miss waiting an hour and fifteen minutes for a public bus, but I will miss the unhurried, leisurely pace of a life lived in the Mediterranean.

             Beginning in January, I will be taking classes to receive my M.S. in Education in Counseling. In the meantime, I may begin coaching basketball at my former high school; I may work towards my certification in personal training. I will continue in my musical roots and continue singing in weddings and perhaps find additional venues. Maybe I will move to Roanoke, Virginia with my brother in the summer, and maybe I will apply for the doctorate program in historical restoration. Maybe, someday soon, I will teach again overseas. Regardless of where I live or what I decide to “do” with my life,  I am a teacher. For better or for worse, but now, I think, for the better.

Trajan's Markets in Rome

For those of you reading, welcome to my Rome Student Teaching Blog. My name’s Elyse VanBogaert and I’m a fifth year senior in the Elementary Education program.  Following in the footsteps of Sean, I am now the second education student from Loyola that has had the opportunity to do my student teaching at Marymount International School in Rome. For any student teaching candidates out there even thinking about applying for Rome, I have two words for you; do it! It seemed like it was only a few days ago I arrived in Leonardo da Vinci airport, but I am only 12 school days from completing my student teaching and undergrad and about 3 weeks from flying back to Chicago.

Main villa at Marymount International

I applied to student teach here in Rome last fall knowing very little about what would await me overseas. I’ve always wanted to travel, but that goal was downsized to the approximate dimensions of a basketball court (I was on the Loyola Women’s Basketball team for four years). Luckily, I had to wait until my NCAA eligibility was up after four years, to complete my student teaching. Voila, here I am!
It was indeed a culture shock moving here, though I have had my younger sister Colleen, a Loyola junior, here with me every step of the way. She’s a student here at the Loyola John Felice Rome Center along with approximately another 100 kids from Loyola Chicago and other Jesuit schools. It’s been strange not being a regular student and not having the ability to jet off every weekend, but I’ve found my very disciplined college- athlete lifestyle paying off.  Within the country, I’ve been able to go to Florence, Assisi, Ravenna, and the tiny country of  San Marino. I was also able to make a little side trip to the island country of  Malta about a month ago . Before my time’s up in Rome, I’m hopefully going to have made pit-stops in Venice and Barcelona. Though its disappointing that I  haven’t had the extensive travel itinerary of the regular students, the experience  has been no less rewarding.

Swimming off of Cosimo Island near Malta

The student teacher experience I have had at Marymount International School in Rome has been absolutely phenomenal. I’m teaching 6th grade English and coaching middle school basketball. My cooperating teacher, hails from Kilkenney, Ireland and the diversity of the teachers and students alike have provided me with a glimpse into a multitude of different cultures and teaching styles.

Just last week, I chaperoned a trip to Pompeii with the secondary students on the first day of the JUMP program– where 5 days a year, international schools in Europe pack up their classrooms and visit other countries and cultures. Moscow, Dublin, Tunisia, Berlin, Abruzzo, and Sicily were just a few of the choices that students had.

Pompeii field trip

Adjusting  to the different and sometimes extremely strange and frightening cultural differences in Italy took some time. The lack of lines anywhere you go and the insanely dangerous way that they weave, park, and speed their Vespas and Smartcars around (which, by the way, you can legally drive here at the age of 14) and the absence of my beloved Starbucks drive-thru (or any drive-thrus) were just two of a plethora of differences between our American culture and the Italian or more specifically, Roman culture.

View from St. Francis in Assissi

The biggest challenge I’ve faced so far as a student teacher at Marymount has been teaching students with a completely different frame of reference and mother language than I have. Most students have learned English as their second or third language. As an English/Language Arts teacher, this creates a unique set of problems that as a teacher I must address. Students’ background knowledge is completely different from my own. Forza Roma and half a million other colloquialisms meant nothing to me when I arrived here. Just as Walter Payton, a Radio Flyer, and the Fourth of July do not hold much significance to my students. I sift through curriculum materials and readings looking for traces of Americanized tidbits that will need to be explained and my students are often correcting my pronunciation of an Italian word or some obvious Roman know-how. It’s been a wonderful learning experience for me and I hope it has been for my students.

Forza Roma!

I look forward to blogging again and hopefully I can share some pretty hilarious anecdotes, pictures, and some pretty cool things I have learned student teaching and living in Rome.

Throughout the student teaching process, and eventually in our careers as educators, we are taught that flexibility is the key to success as a classroom teacher.  There are constant interruptions by bells, announcements, late students, media glitches, and the list could go on (feel free to add your own from experience). Nevertheless, this flexibility is a learned trait that teachers master over their careers from trial and error, success and failure.

Flexibilty has turned into my middle name while teaching abroad and being the “guinea pig” for this new program.  However, I did not realize how flexible I would have to be in this process.  First, I originally found it very difficult to be the only one with my schedule.  In other words, while many study abroad students may have gone out on Thursday night because they don’t have class on Friday, I have to resign myself that I have responsibilities not only to my students, but also to the legacy of this university (no pressure!).  As more people understood what exactly my purpose here was, this schedule difference has gotten easier.  Other JFRC students ask about how my day was, how my students are, and other insights into my world.  At first, this experience felt lonely, but now it feels more like a privilege that none of the other 140-odd JFRCers get to experience.  I enjoy sharing my experiences with them as many continue to live in a bit of the safety bubble of Loyola.

Another example of how flexibility is the key to success as a student teacher in Rome is through finding a balance between what is possible and what is not possible.  For instance, it is not possible to be gone every weekend for the whole weekend!  With Europe at my doorstep, I thought that I would be able to jet off to some beautiful locale every Friday at 5pm, and return on Sunday night in time for class on Monday morning.  Not quite possible!  The student teaching position not only requires massive amounts of your time, but it leaves you feeling a bit exhausted and overwhelmed by the end of the week.  While traveling is possible, it must be done with great planning and efficiency.  Additionally, the wonders of Roman public transportation will not allow this efficiency to happen very often.  (I frequently get home closer to 6 on some days with bad traffic).   If you are student teaching, I highly suggest researching day trips or overnight trips that you can do on Saturdays and Sundays.  Rome has several hill towns (or Chicago’s equivalent to a suburb, but trust me it is not the same as going to Arlington Heights for the weekend) that are all within an easy train ride.  In fact, I took the train yesterday from Rome to Naples, and spent the day wandering the ancient ruins of the Roman city of Pomeii.  We then hoped on another train that evening and were back in Rome before 9pm.

The final issue I have had that has tested my flexibility is with technology.  The internet at the JFRC is questionable at times especially on Sunday nights when you are rushing to finish your lesson plans, but everyone else is just getting back from Germany or Florence or Paris and needs to check their e-mail and update their Facebook statuses.  Additionally, let me give one piece of advice to any student teacher out there: BACK UP EVERYTHING!!  Less than 12 hours before I was preparing to go on my first real vacation to Switzerland for five days during our fall break, my computer decided it had had enough and died.  I may or may not have lost everything I had been working on including my Impact calendar and several lessons (that will be decided tomorrow when I pick it up from the computer guy), but the emotional impact that this has on you is profound.  Not only is this a major setback, but it has the added difficulty of finding a place to go get it fixed (that speaks English!) since I can’t run to Best Buy or the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue.  As a student teacher, you know you are hanging on by a thread, and a blow like this can effect you exponentially more than it would have two years ago.  Nevertheless, you have got to roll with the punches as a teacher.

Long story short, I had two fantastic posts saved on my old computer all about Marymount and the fascinating intricacies of working at an International school.  I was just waiting to add some pictures I had taken of the campus.  Unfortunately, those went up in smoke.  If I do get them back, I will be sure to add them.  However, what this whole experience, from the day I arrived and a cabbie that didn’t know where he was going to this latest technology ordeal, has taught me is you have to be flexible.  Furthermore, you have an obligations and priorities to set for yourself before you even begin.  One of those should be an aim to keep your cool under pressure.  I believe this has tested my will and patience beyond recognition.  However, it has taught me how to improvise as a teacher, and how to maintain a flexible attitude towards anything that is thrown at me.

A little more than midway through this whole experience if someone was to ask me, “Would you do it all again?”

Without hesitation, I would reply, “Absolutely!!”

More to come soon!

Mr. Carlson

PS. Since all my Marymount pictures seem to have gone up in smoke, I can leave with one from a great potential day trip to Pompeii…enjoy!

Welcome to my Rome Student Teaching Blog. I hope to keep everyone updated on my student teaching experiences at Marymount International School, as well as the advantages (and maybe some disadvantages) that come with living and working abroad. Over the last month, I have had some of the most challenging, affecting, and unforgettable moments of my life. Loyola University Chicago has blessed me with this unbelievable opportunity and I have been making the most of it! Now it’s time to catch you all up on “mi dolce vita en Roma…”

After traveling for nearly 24 hours and numerous delays, flat tires, novice taxi drivers, and many tests of my patience, I arrived at Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center on August 27, 2009. My fellow “study abroaders” and I were exhilarated, exhausted, and full of anticipation about what the coming semester may offer. We quickly (or not so quickly) learned each other’s names and various university allegiances. I had the confusing and memorable bonus of explaining my purpose in Rome as a student teacher. (“So wait, you aren’t taking any classes?”) Nevertheless, LUC and SLU hold the clear majority, but the JFRC Class of Fall 2009 hails from all over the country including California, Idaho, and New York. Over the next ten days, the JFRC staff pulled out all the stops and gave us an Orientation Tour that we will never forget!

The Orientation Trip began with a day trip to Maccarese and the Roman seaside. We spent a great and relaxing day in the sun, bonding with our classmates and, of course, enjoying some Roman cuisine (this will quickly become a theme!). Our next adventure was to the historic Colosseum and Roman Forum for a local excursion. We had the added adventure of finding our own way back to the JFRC as a test of our ability to navigate the city. Fortunately, we all managed to find our way around the confusing, complex labyrinth that is ATAC, or Rome’s public transportation system, that winds throughout Rome’s ancient roads. My piece of advice when dealing with Roman public transportation: All roads may lead to Rome, but not all Roman roads will lead you home! (They end, turn, or switch directions or names for no apparent reason.)

The following day we all piled onto charter buses and headed out of town to the south of Italy. After an amazing seaside stop in Salerno for lunch, we arrived just in time for dinner in Matera, Italy. The beautiful mountaintop city served as the backdrop for Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Featuring unique architecture that includes homes carved directly into the rock of the mountain, the city offers visitors views of the beautiful connection between the canyons and the picturesque qualities of the town. After two memorable days and nights, we headed back to our home away from home in Rome.

At the end of our extensive and exhausting week of Orientation, we had a few days to relax and explore the city on our own. I took this opportunity to visit Marymount for the very first time…

Our beachside lounge chairs and the Mediterranean Sea!

The mighty Roman Colosseum on my third day in Rome.

Just another beautiful sunset in Rome along the Tiber with St. Peter's in the background.

Hello, cyberspace!

Welcome to the Rome Student Teaching blog!  My name is Sean Carlson, and I hope you will enjoy reading about my experiences.  I am currently living at Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center, and completeing my student teaching at Marymount Internation School in Rome, Italy.  This private school was founded by American nuns more than half a century ago.  The student body hails from every corner of globe.  In one class alone, I have Americans, Italians, Sri Lankans, Koreans, Chinese, Germans, and Brazilians. 

This once in a lifetime opportunity has already changed my life in so many ways.  Over the next few days, I will share with you some of my experiences so far to catch all of you up on my first six weeks abroad!