Our Visit to Telesecundarias in Michoacán
Visitar dos telesecundarias públicas de Michoacán fue una experiencia inolvidable para mí. Como futura maestra, me interesa saber cómo es el sistema educativo de otros países, los métodos de enseñanza que otros maestros tienen y qué se esta haciendo para satisfacer las necesidades de aprendizaje de los estudiantes.
Visiting two public high schools in Michoacán was a life changing experience for me. As a future educator, I am interested in learning about other countries’ educational systems, different teaching methods, and about what they are doing to meet the learning needs of every student.
Cuando llegamos a la primer escuela, la telesecundaria de Rondanilla en el municipio de Angangeo, me di cuenta de lo que en realidad es una telesecundaria. Yo había escuchado este término antes pero no estaba segura de cómo funcionaba. Aparentemente, este método de enseñanza predomina en las zonas rurales donde hacen falta maestros y a veces también estudiantes. En una telesecundaria se recibe una señal televisada por satélite. Esta señal transmite clases por una televisión que corresponden al primer, segundo o tercer grado de secundaria; hay un horario donde se transmiten diferentes materias. Los alumnos que asisten a estas escuelas tienen entre los 13 y 15 años de edad. En estas escuelas, el maestro refuerza por medio de actividades y ejercicios escritos lo que los estudiantes aprenden por medio de la televisión.
When we arrived at the first school, Telesecundaria de Rondanilla in Angangeo, was when I really understood what a telesecundaria was. I had heard this term before but I wasn’t sure about how it worked. Apparently, this teaching method is mostly used in rural areas where there’s a need for teachers and sometimes for students too. In a telesecundaria, a television gets signal through a satellite, the students learn different subjects through a TV channel. There is a schedule for each subject and there is a channel for each grade level. First, second and third grade are equivalent to ninth, tenth and Eleventh grade in the US. Students who attend these schools are usually 13 to 15 years old. In a telesecundaria, the teacher reinforces with activities and written exercises what the students learn through the TV.
En la primera escuela que visitamos, hay aproximadamente 45 estudiantes solamente. Recuerdo que el director mencionó que los estudiantes de segundo y tercer grado están juntos en un salón porque no hay suficientes alumnos para contratar a otro maestro. Solo hay dos maestros y uno de ellos es el director. Al principio, los estudiantes estaban muy tímidos y les daba pena hablar con nosotros, así que les pedimos que nos enseñaran su escuela. Después de ver los tres salones y el laboratorio que se esta construyendo, los estudiantes nos llevaron a la parte de atrás de la escuela. Ahí, nos mostraron unos pinos que sembraron para reforestar. Me dio mucho gusto saber que se les inculca a los estudiantes la importancia del bosque y a querer a su tierra.
The first school that we visited has a population of approximately 45 students only. I remember the school principal mentioning that students from second and third grade are sharing a classroom because there are not enough students to hire another teacher. There are only two teachers and one of them is the school principal. The students were very shy at the beginning and so we asked them to give us a tour of their school. They showed us their classrooms and a science laboratory that is under construction. They also took us to the back of the school where they had pines growing to reforest. I was very glad to know that the students were learning about the importance of the forest, how to take care of it and the importance of the land where they live.
Visiting two public high schools in Michoacán was a life changing experience for me. As a future educator, I am interested in learning about other countries’ educational systems, different teaching methods, and about what they are doing to meet the learning needs of every student.
Cuando llegamos a la primer escuela, la telesecundaria de Rondanilla en el municipio de Angangeo, me di cuenta de lo que en realidad es una telesecundaria. Yo había escuchado este término antes pero no estaba segura de cómo funcionaba. Aparentemente, este método de enseñanza predomina en las zonas rurales donde hacen falta maestros y a veces también estudiantes. En una telesecundaria se recibe una señal televisada por satélite. Esta señal transmite clases por una televisión que corresponden al primer, segundo o tercer grado de secundaria; hay un horario donde se transmiten diferentes materias. Los alumnos que asisten a estas escuelas tienen entre los 13 y 15 años de edad. En estas escuelas, el maestro refuerza por medio de actividades y ejercicios escritos lo que los estudiantes aprenden por medio de la televisión.
When we arrived at the first school, Telesecundaria de Rondanilla in Angangeo, was when I really understood what a telesecundaria was. I had heard this term before but I wasn’t sure about how it worked. Apparently, this teaching method is mostly used in rural areas where there’s a need for teachers and sometimes for students too. In a telesecundaria, a television gets signal through a satellite, the students learn different subjects through a TV channel. There is a schedule for each subject and there is a channel for each grade level. First, second and third grade are equivalent to ninth, tenth and Eleventh grade in the US. Students who attend these schools are usually 13 to 15 years old. In a telesecundaria, the teacher reinforces with activities and written exercises what the students learn through the TV.
En la primera escuela que visitamos, hay aproximadamente 45 estudiantes solamente. Recuerdo que el director mencionó que los estudiantes de segundo y tercer grado están juntos en un salón porque no hay suficientes alumnos para contratar a otro maestro. Solo hay dos maestros y uno de ellos es el director. Al principio, los estudiantes estaban muy tímidos y les daba pena hablar con nosotros, así que les pedimos que nos enseñaran su escuela. Después de ver los tres salones y el laboratorio que se esta construyendo, los estudiantes nos llevaron a la parte de atrás de la escuela. Ahí, nos mostraron unos pinos que sembraron para reforestar. Me dio mucho gusto saber que se les inculca a los estudiantes la importancia del bosque y a querer a su tierra.
The first school that we visited has a population of approximately 45 students only. I remember the school principal mentioning that students from second and third grade are sharing a classroom because there are not enough students to hire another teacher. There are only two teachers and one of them is the school principal. The students were very shy at the beginning and so we asked them to give us a tour of their school. They showed us their classrooms and a science laboratory that is under construction. They also took us to the back of the school where they had pines growing to reforest. I was very glad to know that the students were learning about the importance of the forest, how to take care of it and the importance of the land where they live.
Los alumnos también nos enseñaron un salón donde tienen algunas computadoras y una librería. Ahí procedimos a enseñarles un libro pequeño donde los estudiantes de la academia de ciencias de El Valor les mandaron cartitas a ellos. Los estudiantes de la telesecundaria estaban emocionados de leer que muchos niños que asisten a El Valor tienen familia procedente de Michoacán o que incluso algunos de ellos nacieron en México. Terminamos nuestra visita a esta escuela con un partido de Básquetbol amistoso. Y aunque nos hubiera gustado quedarnos mas tiempo, nos tuvimos que ir.The students also showed us a classroom where they have a small library and some computers. We handed them a small book where students from Urban Academy at El Valor wrote notes to them in Spanish. The telesecundaria students were excited to read that many students from El Valor have relatives in MIchoacán and that some of them were even born in Mexico. We finished our visit to this school with a friendly game of basket ball. Even though we wanted to stay longer, we had to go; but we definitely learned a lot from them.
La telesecundaria Benito Juárez del municipio de Zitácuaro, fue la segunda que visitamos. En esta telesecundaria había más estudiantes, de hecho nos comentaron que había aproximadamente 50 estudiantes por salón. Nos dividimos en grupos de dos y fuimos a cada salón. A Manuel y a mí nos tocó hablar con los estudiantes de segundo grado. Mientras estábamos ahí, nos dimos cuenta de su entusiasmo y sus ganas de aprender ingles; de hecho, les dimos una pequeña lección. 
Benito Juárez, located in Zitácuaro, is the name of the second telesecundaria we visited. There were many more students in this school; approximately 50 students per classroom. We were divided in groups of two in order to visit every classroom; Manuel and I visited second grade (equivalent to ninth grade in the US). While we were there, we realized that the students were very enthusiastic about learning English. Since they really wanted to learn, we taught them some verbs and basic phrases.
Estuvimos platicando sobre sus planes para el futuro y desafortunadamente no muchos planean continuar con sus estudios. Muchos dijeron que no pensaban ir a la preparatoria porque les quedaba lejos, porque no tenían ayuda financiera del gobierno o porque tenían que trabajar para ayudar a su familia. Manuel y yo estuvimos hablando de la importancia de la educación y de los mitos de emigración. Les dijimos que no tenían que irse a otro país para seguir en la escuela o para buscar un buen trabajo. También nos dimos cuenta de que algunos estudiantes tienen planes de irse a las ciudades grandes a buscar trabajo. Fue interesante platicar con ellos y saber lo que piensan de su escuela y del gobierno. Les pregunte si les gustaba el sistema de telesecundarias y la mayoría respondió que preferían que el maestro les enseñara porque se prende más. Definitivamente prendimos mucho de ellos, nos tomamos fotografías con ellos y también terminamos jugando básquetbol.We were also chatting about their future plans and we learned that unfortunately, not many were planning on continuing studying. Many said that they couldn’t attend a university because it was too far, because they couldn’t get financial aid from the government or because they had to start working to help their families. Manuel and I tried to emphasize the importance of education and we tried to address misconceptions about emigration. We told them that they didn’t have to go to another country to continue their education or to find a good job. It was interesting talking to them because we got to know their thoughts about their school and even the government. I asked them if they liked the telesecundaria learning method, the majority answered that they would prefer having a teacher for every subject because they think that they can learn better that way. Definitely, we learned a lot from them, we took many pictures and we also ended our visit with a basket ball game.
Construyendo un gallinero….
Building a chicken coop….
En nuestro tercer día de trabajo con la comunidad, Helen y yo estuvimos ayudando a construir un gallinero. Aprendimos que es importante tener un gallinero en casa porque de esta forma las gallinas no se pierden y hay huevos disponibles para comer. Cuando no hay un gallinero, se roban las gallinas o vienen los coyotes y se las comen. Los huevos que producen no sirven de nada porque no se sabe donde esta el nido o porque muchas veces los perros se los comen. Esta vez empezamos el gallinero desde abajo. Don Juan, un señor de 84 años nos dirigió con las medidas y nos estuvo enseñando a pegar tabiques correctamente. Empezamos alrededor de las 11 de la mañana, ya para las 6 de la tarde ya llevábamos más de un metro de altura del gallinero.
During our third day of work with the community, Helen and I helped to build a chicken coop. We learned that it is important to have a chicken coop at home because this way, the chickens don’t get lost and there are eggs available to eat every day. When families do not have a chicken coop at home their chickens get stolen or the coyotes eat them during the night. The eggs also go to waste because some dogs eat them. This was our second time building a chicken coop during that week but this time we started from scratch. Don Juan, an 84 year old man was the one guiding us by teaching us how to measure and how to build the brick wall correctly. We started the whole process around 11:00AM and by 6:00PM we had almost half of the chicken coop.
During our third day of work with the community, Helen and I helped to build a chicken coop. We learned that it is important to have a chicken coop at home because this way, the chickens don’t get lost and there are eggs available to eat every day. When families do not have a chicken coop at home their chickens get stolen or the coyotes eat them during the night. The eggs also go to waste because some dogs eat them. This was our second time building a chicken coop during that week but this time we started from scratch. Don Juan, an 84 year old man was the one guiding us by teaching us how to measure and how to build the brick wall correctly. We started the whole process around 11:00AM and by 6:00PM we had almost half of the chicken coop.
Fue una buena experiencia trabajar con estas señoras. Aprendimos que la meta de este grupo de mujeres es construir un gallinero en cada casa, trabajan en grupo porque así es más fácil. Muchas de ellas son criticadas por otras mujeres de su comunidad pero a ellas no les molesta que les digan que hacen trabajo de hombre, a ellas lo que les importa es ver los resultados de su trabajo. Tener un gallinero significa tener carne disponible y huevos.
Working with these women was a very good experience. We learned that one of their goals is to build a chicken coop in each one of their houses. They work as a group because it is easier and because this way, they learn from each other. Many of them are criticized by other community members because they do what is considered to be a “man’s job” but it doesn’t bother them. For them, the important thing is the results that they get from their work. They know that having a chicken coop means to have available meat and eggs.
En esta ocasión, también tuvimos la oportunidad de hablar sobre sus familias, sus ideas y hasta sus creencias. Estando ahí, aprendí que algunas de estas señoras tienen hijos en la universidad y que trabajan muy duro para ayudarles a pagar sus estudios. También hablamos sobre la idea que tienen de que todas las personas que viven en los Estados Unidos tienen mucho dinero. Pudimos decirles que desafortunadamente no es así, les contamos que así como hay gente pobre en México, también lo hay en los estados unidos. La verdad, me hubiera gustado estar ahí mas tiempo y ayudarles a terminar todo el gallinero, no nada más una parte.
During this occasion, we also had the opportunity to learn about their families, their ideas and even some of their beliefs. While being there, we learned that some of these women have sons and daughters studying in a university and that they work very hard to help them financially. We also talked about a misconception that they have. For some reason, they think that everyone who lives in the US has money and that poverty doesn’t exist here. We had a chance to address this misconception; we explained to them the financial problems that many families have, including ours. Honestly, I would have liked to stay there more time and help them finish the whole chicken coop, not only a part of it.
-Rosa Campos
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