Puerto Rico Day 5

Today was the most applicable day to education that we have had the whole trip. We spent time at the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Old San Juan. We were able to speak with teachers about the students and their structure of their day and classroom. As a group of teachers, we were able to make comparisions of our experiences and share educational ideas with each other. I really valued this time.

After spending time at the school. We were able to enter a community called La Perla. This community is a poverty striken area. It is forbidden to enter without the community leader. We learned about the background of how the community had been started and where it stands now in the new government. About half of the children in the community attend Abraham Lincoln Public School.

To end our day, we had a history of education. The most amazing thing that I had learned what the change of the dominant language in Puerto Rico over the years. There were times where English was more prevelant than Spanish and vice versa. Then we had our last language class, where we talked about gestures and body language of Puerto Ricans. This was a request from our class, so we can now differentiate between what is polite and rude. We have found that in different cultures that there are a few things that are communicated differently. But overall, we have found that the gestures and body language tend to be common among cultures.