Internship Cover Letter

This doesn’t seem to fit elsewhere in the internship materials so I’ll put it here.

It is my opinion that SIT should not work any longer with Magdalena Chavez as the organizer, nor do I think the school should have accepted her irresponsibility this time.

I believe that SIT, despite its long-term relationship with Magdalena, and despite her many strengths and her historic support of the program, had a responsibility to make sure its students came first, and were getting what we were there for.

Because of Magdalena’s inability to communicate or make arrangements ahead of time, I missed out on opportunities I needed. I can’t speak for the other interns’ challenges as a result — and I know they had highly positive experiences in their own teaching situations — but the impact on my internship was profound. I spent fully a third of my internship teaching children, which has never been one of my goals.

I recognize that any experience — including teaching young children when I’ve specifically stated that does not advance my goals and interests — adds to our knowledge. I also believe that flexibility in international and teaching situations is key. But this situation was unnecessary and avoidable, and came at the cost of learning that I needed — and could have had. The MAT program is painfully expensive, and the internship central to my decision to come here. Yet because of botched plans, I feel its value was compromised.

I am grateful for the good things: among them, the wonderful students I did have, Elka’s keen observations, the warmth of the Mexican people, the safe journey of all of us, the positive teaching experiences of my peers, and more. I know that every intern is faced with challenges, and we learn from them.

But I am bitterly disappointed at knowing things didn’t have to be this way, and I could have grown far more had the management been better. The painfulness of my homestay situation compounded this feeling.

Best,

Ginna

Ginna Allison

What was the strongest aspect of the supervision?

• That it came early enough in the process that I could put suggestions immediately into practice.

• That Elka’s feedback was given immediately after teaching, before the sweat had dried and we’d forgotten details of the observed class

• That she emphasized making her observation and her feedback nonthreatening and nonjudgmental.

• That she was open to push-back or requests for clarification from us, and was never defensive.

• That she made the feedback setting pleasant, with something to munch on and drink, and a friendly environment.

• I appreciated encouragement and positive reinforcement as much as I appreciated the constructive, concrete “criticism.”

What changes would I make?

For some reason I felt the third observation was less constructive. Though I have notes of unique value from that last meeting, it seemed somewhat repetitive. Elka had asked us previously if we had any specific things we wanted our feedback on. I didn’t take her up on t

hat idea. In retrospect, I wonder if that should be required or strongly suggested for the final lesson, to give sharper focus to the closing observation.

What would I suggest the supervisor do differently?

I could have used (from somebody) more support in getting my internship underway once I was in Pachuca with all scheduled classes cancelled. Perhaps I could have taught at a different school. I felt on-my-own in trying to ensure my internship would happen. I was not reassured by the idea of “things have always worked out,” and I don’t think they did work out entirely satisfactorily. (See site report.)

Learning Objectives for the Internship

Student: Ginna (Virginia) Allison

Internship Supervisor: Magdalena Chavez

Academic Advisor: Elka Todeva

Site: ABC School of English

Write one learning objective for yourself for each of the six MAT Internship Goals

1. become an effective and appropriate part of an educational community and larger social context

Learn to adapt to school’s bureaucracy and administration without frustration: to feel confident in getting my ideas across and being heard, without being shut down and without becoming defensive.

2. observe and reflect on your work and make appropriate changes in your teaching

Make time for journaling and evaluation and “processing” with my MAT peers and supervisor, and try new ideas that result.

3. inquire into, clarify, and articulate your assumptions about the relationship between teaching, learning, and subject matter

Learn how to find a subject of interest — cultural and/or personally relevant — and drill into it to isolate the linguistic knowledge that needs to be explored for each group of students.

4. experiment with, implement, and evaluate teaching practices relevant to the needs in the student-teaching context

Learn to switch gears midstream when lesson isn’t working; be spontaneous when circumstances require it; modify or toss a lesson plan on the fly.

5. understand and mediate the inherent tensions between the demands of the context and your own personal beliefs about teaching, learning, and subject matter

Find the line between challenging the students — setting the bar high enough — and thwarting them with unrealistic expectations, and know how to vary these expectations according to individual student capabilities.

6. identify and establish ways of working on your teaching that can be used in the future as you continue to develop as a teacher.

Take full advantage of the opportunity to be part of another culture by getting to know its people — with exchanges limited by cultural mores on appropriateness.

SITE REPORT

Describe the curriculum/methodology (include texts and other materials).

I taught three classes:

• Five children (ages 10 to 12) from the textbook Backpack 4 by Diane Pinkley and Mario Herrera, Longman, 2005
• Seven teenagers and adults using Spectrum 1: A Course in Communicative English, 1993.
• A conversation class of eight students

For the two textbook-focused classes, the school’s methodology was to drive the students through the workbook as quickly and directly as possible, with the goal of completing an entire unit in three to four classes, at which time the students underwent an intensive oral and written pretest on one day, and a similar final exam on the next.

I was given freedom to develop the curriculum for the conversation class: the high point of my time in Pachuca.

With respect to the educational philosophy and procedures, I often received mixed messages and unclear instructions. Two of many examples:

• I asked Magdalena if it was necessary to use the audio tapes that accompanied the textbooks, or if I could handle the listening sections on my own. “Whichever you want,” she said. A week later I realized my students were accustomed to the audio tapes because it was on these that they were tested, so I started to use them. When I told Magdalena of my decision, she said something like, “Yes, that’s why I told you to use them in the first place.”

• I asked her how much time I was allowed to teach each textbook unit. Five sessions, she said. That seemed very fast to me, but I was willing to try. Just before bed on the night before my fourth session with the children, after many hours of putting together a lesson plan and creating visuals and other supplementary materials for it, Magdalena told me: “Tomorrow, bring the children right to the language lab for their test.” I was shocked, and lobbied for more time. She consented to give me one more class session (but not two more, as originally scheduled) to complete the entire unit. It was not enough time but there was nothing more I could do.

These point to a fundamental difference between us in philosophy. It was ironic, because to hear her speak I thought she would be a proponent of a learner-centered approach. The Backpack textbook specifically states that it subscribes to that idea.

But in fact, getting through the books as fast as possible was the focus. The children I taught had worked their way to the fourth book in the series, yet they one couldn’t answer “How are you?” Trying to teach intermediate content-based material when they barely had rudimentary English skills was, in my opinion, a waste of their time and money, and destructive to their self-esteem. One child was singled out by Magdalena as pretty much hopeless. Of course, that prediction will come true, though the child is perfectly capable of success.

Parent pressure was one reason Magdalena gave for going quickly through the books, and making sure exercises are filled out. “The parents have paid a lot of money for the books and they want to know they’re being used.” It was a losing battle for me to try to teach what I believe, as I struggled to equip the children with basic skills while trying to prepare them for the material they’d be tested on without having the foundation to understand it.

2. Describe the school context (facilities, general atmosphere, cooperation among faculty, administrators).

The school facility is humble but functional (though chilly) with a number of classrooms of various sizes, each with a white board and power outlets.

The atmosphere was like a private club at which I was a guest. The other teachers and the administrator were always friendly to me, but beyond that I never felt any camaraderie. The life of a teacher in Pachuca is hard, and I think all of them had two teaching jobs: one in the daytime and one at night. They probably had little energy to strike up a conversation with a temporary resident, and for my part I didn’t push the matter. I was sorry to miss the experience of community and exchange of teaching ideas and experiences.

The adult and teenage students were a joy. The young children were individually charming, but disruptive as a group, and I couldn’t blame them. They were at their parents’ insistence, and they were lost in the curriculum.

Supplies: The school supplied a few white board markers, some pegamento, an eraser, the assigned textbooks and some letter-sized paper. Twice I printed something for the students using the school’s archaic computer, but mostly I paid for copies myself at an Internet cafe. I bought other supplies: markers with fresh ink, tape, paperclips, stapler and the like.

3. Describe the community the school is in and the function the school serves in it.

I can’t address the function of the school within the community, because I don’t know how many other private English schools there are in the area (I didn’t see any, but heard they exist) or what locals think of it. The school is close to the center of town, where narrow streets and small shops (including bakeries and funeral parlors) abound. It’s a nice area. I also can’t say for certainty what the demographic is there. It seems largely working class. There is visible poverty and dirt, which is always painful to see, but it is not dominant to the environment as it is in other cities. People on the street are warm, helpful and friendly overall, and the downtown is bustling and cheerful.

4. Describe the physical aspects of the community.

Pachuca, while not a pretty town, has an interesting town center and fascinating sights nearby. It is quite large and sprawling but I felt safe where I was, the people were friendly, and it was a treat to be in a town with no tourists.

5. What advice, information, and suggestions do you have for interns who follow you to this site?

Please see # 7.

6. Please estimate the financial expenditures you incurred during the internship: list separately airfare, transportation, housing, food, other/miscellaneous.

• Airfare: Approx $800 round-trip
• Housing: Free, except for side trips I took on my own
• Food: Included, except for the occasional visit to a restaurant or coffee shop
• Other: Mexico has beautiful handcrafts that tempted me (and I succumbed). But my biggest expense was copying, which was very pricy there. Since visual enhancements were nonexistent, I probably spent close to $100 on printed peripherals.

7. Would you recommend this site to future MATs? Why or why not?

I would not.

My adult and teen students were generally charming and committed, the small class sizes enabled me to give individualized attention to everyone, I learned a lot from them about teaching and culture, and though I love Mexico in all its diversity, but other aspects of my experience broke my spirit enough to compromise the quality of my internship.

Homestay

I’m guessing that at one time this might have been a good household to join, when Magda’s daughter was young and when the experience of having MATs was a new pleasure to them. It is no longer that way.

Magdalena has been the SIT connection in Mexico for something like 40 years. It seems as though she has reached her saturation point and the relationship is dead on the vine but no one knows how to cut it.

It is difficult to live and work with the same person under any circumstances. I want to say that Magdalena has good qualities: she is a fabulous cook who tried successfully to introduce me to a range of Mexican food. She has a good sense of humor sometimes. In many ways she’s generous, if sometimes a bit crusty and bossy.

I’d been hoping for a family situation with warmth and life: the exposure to local culture that the internship description highlights. I did not get that and was disappointed, but decided to make the best of what I received.

To a low-intermediate speaker of Spanish like myself, I think Magdalena prefers to speak English, so I didn’t hone my Spanish skills much. On the bright side, it was less stressful not having to communicate in a second language all the time.

The hardest aspect of the homestay was the housekeeper, Reina, who has lived with Magdalena for 35 years and is possessive of her and the house. She yelled a lot. She got irritated when I couldn’t understand her rapid (and quirky) Spanish. She regularly beat the dog, who cried in pain. She watched my every move like a jealous older sibling, and would then report to Magda my violations, like taking the blue instead of the yellow plastic cup up to my room. It sounds funny now. It wasn’t. She would knock at my closed door yet would already be inside by the time I answered. She insultingly called me Gringa, never bothering to find out my name. I could go on with small details that, compounded, made my life miserable. Instead, I’ll present one illustrative scenario:

One day at breakfast, when Magda wasn’t at home, she saw me surreptitiously trying to cut off  bits of mold from the papaya. Reina, as always, was scrutinizing me. Briefly she left the room so I raced to scrape the remaining fruit into the trash. On her return she went right to the trash and started scolding me.

The next day at breakfast, they were eating fruit but there was none at my place. “You can’t have any. You’re allergic to it,” Magdalena informed me.

“You know I’m not allergic to it. I’ve eaten it every day since I’ve been here,” I objected. “No,” she persisted. “You must be allergic to it because you threw it out yesterday.”

I had the choice either to eat no fruit for the rest of my time there, or try to explain. There was no polite way to say it: “I have an allergy to mold, not to fruit.” Magda was angry: “I’ve been having MATs here for forty years. I know what kind of food you Americans need. I would never give you moldy food.”

“It was probably my imagination,” I said politely.

This sort of juvenile power struggle continued throughout my seven weeks, at which time I was thoroughly miserable, and grateful to be leaving. I never understood why it was happening, I wasn’t able to resolve it with Magda, and eventually I gave up on caring what cultural lesson it represented.

Administrative Organization

I arrived to Pachuca on the appointed day, after having talked to Magdalena twice in the previous week to verify that all was ready, only to find that she had no classes for me to teach. Enrollment was too low, she said.

Low enrollment one can’t help. But when you’ve known all along that enrollment is low and you are the coordinator of a master’s internship program, you make alternate arrangements. On my own I looked into picking up a class at the university, but on Magdalena’s vague recommendation I waited a week, internship fate unknown. Finally, on a Friday night I was confirmed for a four-hour conversation class. Three days later I started a teenage/adult class. And because there were no other options, I took on a children’s class. I had specified in my application that  I didn’t want to work with children, but at the eleventh hour I felt I had no choice.

MAT Morale

I got no support from Magdalena or my peers there for my work. For one example: during my last class with one group of students, the regular teacher dropped in to observe. The teacher gave Magda a negative report: that I far I was behind schedule (not true) and the students didn’t seem to understand (true: a problem I inherited and was trying to rectify by reaching beyond the textbook.)

Maybe it’s just me, but it bothered me that the only comments I ever got were judgmental, not constructively critical or based on anything tangible.