What are you trying to prove?

I had dinner with some friends last night, one of which is student teaching this semester. She was telling me all about her experiences in preparing her 2nd graders for the Arizona standardized testing. As an education student I have learned so much about the inequalities of education especially towards ELL students. But after talking with my friend it really took meaning.

She was describing one of her students who is categorized as an ELL student. She is one of the highest performing students in the class but because she is ELL she needs assistance with reading directions. The rules of the standardized test is that the teachers cannot read the questions or directions to the students. For this one student, this means that she will perform much lower on the test because she will not be able to understand what the question is. In turn her low test scores will reflect poorly on my friend as a teacher as well as the school's overall performance grade. The school's grade will be published in the newspaper which will greatly influence public support. The truly unfortunate part of this is that all of the numbers reported are highly inaccurate since the test does not properly convey the student's knowledge.

This made me so frustrated! I feel sad for the student because she is being told that she is failing when in reality she is the top student in her class. The more I learn about standardized testing the more angry it makes me. What I don't understand is why there needs to be standardized testing at all? I can see the benefits of conducting an assessment exam to see where students are at the end of the school year in order to tie up loose ends but I don't think that it should have as much value as it does. The scary thing is that schooling is becoming more and more about testing rather than classroom experience and learning.

Semana Santa

So during my time living in Guatemala I always said that I wanted to experience the world renowned Semana Santa festivities in Antigua. My friends Lydia and Mike both wanted to visit Guatemala as well so we decided to make it happen. $300 later we were in Guatemala about to embark on the greatest Spring Break ever. Our logic was that since it was our last spring break (Lydia starting med-school in the fall, Mike starting law school and me finishing my thesis) we should throw ourselves as far into debt as possible and have the best time. We did just that and we didn't get into too much debt either!

We arrived in the afternoon and my friend Alvaro picked us up. He made us an amazing dinner that night and then we went out to catch up with some old friends of mine. The next morning we woke up to catch our shuttle at 4am. Ouch!! We were a little groggy but slept the entire 1 hour to the city. The shuttle first dropped off some women at the airport and then he headed to our bus station. When we arrived I realized that my backpack, containing everything I owned (including my passport and credit card), was gone but there was a similar looking backpack left behind. We realized that one of the women took my backpack by mistake when we dropped her at the airport. HEART ATTACK!!!!

So we wove in and out of traffic to get to the airport. We ran inside and after 30 minutes or so airport personnel were able to locate the woman. She had checked my backpack to go to El Salvador with her. They had to pull my bag off of the plane! With only 15 minutes before our bus left we sped back across town to the bus station. Miraculously we made it in time and to this day I wonder how we got onto that bus before it left. 2 different buses and 7 hours later we were in the beautiful Semuc Champey. I knew exactly where to go thanks to my previous travel experience. I led us directly to El Retiro, a travelers paradise widely unknown by American travelers but quite popular with the numerous European and Australian backpackers. A true bohemian hideaway with bungalows dotting the hillsides surrounding a rushing river tucked away within the jungle, El Retiro offers the most diverse travel experience.

Sadly after 3 short days but many new friends from Germany, Holland and Ireland, we headed back to Antigua to partake of the festivities. It was an Antigua I did not recognize. It seemed that 1 million people were crammed within a town that is approximately one square mile. Insane! Nevertheless, Semana Santa was better than anyone had explained to me. Beautiful processions lasting for 13 hours consisted of entire neighborhoods walking the streets dressed in black robes, burning unholy amounts of incense and carrying 2 ton, hand created floats while somber music bellowed from the trailing band. Between the passing of such processions residents created "alfombras" or carpets in the streets. The designs usually religious in nature are made of any available materials normally fruits, vegetables, flowers and colored sawdust. I was in aw of the intricate details these alfombras contained. Yet it was sad to watch as the processions destroyed them in one quick sweep. Even more surprising was the speed in which residents began a new design once the procession passed.

In an attempt to maximize our time in Guatemala we decided to take a day trip to Lake Atitlan. I couldn't have wished for a better day to show off the lake to my friends. There was not a cloud in the sky and the weather was just cool enough to spend some time kayaking in the warm sun. On our final nights we spent some time with my Guatemalan friends and family. However, one week was definitely not enough time to show off this country that I love. Still I believe that my friends got a great taste of the magic that Guatemala possess and I hope that this will only encourage them to return and explore its treasures further.

During our time there I couldn't help but reminisce about my time there and share stories about my experiences. My friends quickly started referring to me as their tour guide and when answering the popular question "What brings you to Guatemala?" they lovingly turned to me. Over hearing one of our conversations, one woman suggested I write a travel book with all of the information that I have collected through my own experience. A funny joke indeed but it got me thinking.... why not?