Life After Notre Dame

While the Brazil Program at Notre Dame was an incredible experience for all people involved, we cannot forget that this Program goes far beyond the walls of the University of Notre Dame. The work performed during those six weeks of the program is multiplying exponentially as we speak. Right now, all throughout Brazil, English teachers are reshaping the way their students learn English. Let's take a look at how a few of the teachers from our program are using the lessons they learned in their Brazilian classrooms.

Carina Carvalho da Silva has incorporated a word wall into her classroom to give students a reminder of key words and phrases they learn during a class.

She also used the 8-flap foldable we made in class to practice asking and answering introductory questions with her students. Her students used these foldables to interview different people at school.

Anderson Galdino Vigneron also used the 8-flap foldable with his class! 

However, the fun didn't stop there. Anderson also used St. Patrick's Day to teach English both grammatically and culturally. His students got festive with the many St. Patrick's Day decorations that Anderson brought back from the United States. He also challenged them to present on Saint Patrick and the significance of St. Patrick's Day both in the United States and Ireland. 

Cristiane Santos also used the St. Patrick's Day celebration to teach her students. As she teaches younger students with lower reading and writing abilities, she was able to use the cultural aspect of St. Patrick's Day to motivate her students during class. At the end of class, her students used shamrock shaped exit cards to say a little bit about themselves and their thoughts in Portuguese. 

Moyses Brahim Neto created a formal assessment from his unit plan that tested students on their ability to introduce themselves, fill out a form, list school rules, and identify idioms. 

Neusa Cherutti Galindo used the jigsaw method we learned in class to have her students break down a text and present smaller parts of it to one another. 

Her students also made adorable mini-books to showcase their use of English. 

Roberta Rosetti says she uses different foldables almost every day in her literature class, and the students love them.

Even her students got to take part in the St. Patrick's Day fun with some English word searches to practice their new vocabulary. 

The Brazilian teachers are doing incredible work at their schools in Brazil. They have incorporated aspects of everything they learned at Notre Dame into their teaching, and we can't wait to see what else they show us in the months to come!

Saying Goodbye to Brazilians

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the day came when the Brazilians were leaving. We visited the South Dining Hall one last time for a delicious brunch, and then frantically worked to make sure all bags were packed before the bus to Chicago arrived. The good news was that everyone was packed and ready to go when the bus got to the hotel. The bad news was that almost everyone had bought an extra suitcase to take home with them, and the bus didn't have quite enough room for all those extra bags. However, after some hard work and organization, we managed to stuff all the luggage and all the Brazilians on the bus. A few laughs later (and one very patient driver) we were on our way to Chicago.

 

Once we arrived at O'Hare Airport, only a tearful goodbye stood between the teachers and their plane to Brazil. While, our experience at Notre Dame was coming to an end, the Brazilian teachers were on their way home to put all of the new techniques and lessons they learned to use. Though they may be far away, they will always be part of the Notre Dame family. 

Closing Ceremony

While this blog cannot adequately describe the hard work done by the Brazil group during their time at Notre Dame, their dedication should be understated. They attended workshops and presentations for six weeks, producing lesson plans, projects, and activities that they would be able to take back to their classrooms in Brazil. They worked to understand the culture of the United States on a new level, and they connected with the South Bend community through their host schools.

To honor the work and participation of the Brazilian teachers, Notre Dame held a ceremony celebrating their accomplishments. Joined by so many friends they had met along the way, the teachers received certificates of their achievements and enjoyed a night of fellowship and fun.

 

We would like to give one more HUGE thank you to everyone who made the group's time at Notre Dame so special. Thank you to the South Bend Community School Corporation and all the teachers who welcomed the Brazilian teachers into their classrooms. Special thanks to Karla Lee for making that partnership happen. Thank you to the Brazil Club of Notre Dame and to Sandra Teixiera for her support to the teachers. Thank you to the numerous departments at Notre Dame that helped us with problem solving before and during the program to make sure everything went smoothly. Thank you to Stew Markel and Anne Bolster for their classes. Thank you to the language coaches for your hard work and friendship. Thank you to Katy Lichon, Clare Roach, Jenny Dees, and Joyce Johnstone for making this program possible. And thank you to everyone else who did so much to help us out along the way. We will be forever grateful.

Lake Michigan

Ever since they arrived in the United States, the Brazilian teachers were hungry for places to visit and sites to see. Near the top of their list was St. Joseph's Lighthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan. Naturally, the language coaches scheduled the outing on one of the windiest days of the program. As we winded down the roads toward Lake Michigan in St. Joseph, we crossed our fingers, hoping for the best the weather had to offer.

Despite the frigid temperatures and sand-blasting wind that greeted us on the shore of Lake Michigan, the Brazilian teachers, now almost immune to the cold weather, traversed the dunes to see the impressive lake.

 

To reward the group for braving the wind and sand, we stopped at Kilwin's in St. Joseph on the way home to get some hot chocolate to warm everyone up.

Country Dancing

After the Brazilians had a night of Samba to remind them of home, they were placed in an atmosphere that was completely new: the world of country line dancing. However, this was not your average country line dancing. The team from Tu Sei Bella Dance Fitness Studio gave us a crash course in contemporary country line dancing. Not only was it a great workout, but it was a ton of fun!

Carnaval at Notre Dame

Although it was a couple of weeks early, that didn't stop Notre Dame's Brazil group from celebrating Carnaval with style. The Brazil Club of Notre Dame went all out planning festivities to bring a little piece of Brazil to campus, and, of course, we had to take part in the fun! The first event was a showing of the film "O Samba Que Mora em Mim" (The Samba Within Me).

The next evening, the group joined the Brazil Club and many friends they made during their stay at Notre Dame for a Carnaval Celebration at Legend's. Complete with delicious food, great music, and even better company, the entire evening was a blast. After watching performances by the Flores do Samba Dance Company, based out of Bloomington, Indiana, everyone had a chance to join in the fun and get their groove on.

An enormous thank to the Brazil Club for everything they did for our Brazilian visitors during their stay at Notre Dame. The world is as small as it is large, and it was wonderful for them to have a taste of home so far away from it.

Workshop: Language Acquisition

How does a person learn a language? What is the difference between learning a language from birth or starting at a later age? How can we overcome the struggle of learning a new language? For the final week of workshops, the teacher learned about the stages of language acquisition and myths and misconceptions surrounding second language acquisition.

Click the links below to see the resources used in class: 

• Five Stages of Language Development
• First Language Acquisition
• Communicative Competence 
• Do you Speak American?

Better World Books

During the last week of our stay at Notre Dame, we were invited to visit Better World Books. This company, started by a pair of Notre Dame grads as a small fund-raiser, has grown into a world-wide business that has donated almost 12 million books, has raised nearly $16 million for literacy and libraries, and has reused or recycled 126 million books.

The global impact of this company cannot be understated. They allowed us to take a small tour of their facilities in addition to letting the Brazilian teachers go home with some books for their classrooms. We'd like to send a big thanks to everyone at Better World Books!

 

I Walked a Mile in her Shoes

During their stay in South Bend, the Brazilian teachers were welcomed into the community with open arms. Whether it was at Notre Dame, at South Bend schools, at local restaurants and shops, or even at their hotel, the outpouring of love and support offered to the group was incomparable. While it would be nearly impossible to express how thankful the group was to all those who had a hand in making them feel so welcome, they did have an opportunity to give back to the community in a small way.

For more that 20 years, St. Margaret's House in South Bend has walked in solidarity with women and children in order to make a difference in their lives. St. Margaret's House is a day center devoted to improving the day-to-day lives of women and children through meals, workshops, and community.

Each year St. Margaret's House hosts a Winter Walk called "I Walked a Mile in her Shoes." This one-mile walk brings members of the community together to show solidarity with the women and children in the community that need their help. The Brazil group was honored to take part in this walk.

During the walk, the group had the opportunity to meet Senator Joe Donnelly, who was also there to show support of St. Margaret's. 

Penn High School

In addition to the incredible welcome we received from the South Bend Community School Corporation, we were also invited to visit Penn High School in Mishawaka. The size alone of Penn High School is enough to leave an impression, and the Brazil group was able to take a tour of the school and meet some of the students who attend it.  

The technology available to students at Penn High School left the group wanting to see more of what the school had to offer. Below you will find links to some of their student activity groups and the work that they produce. 

For more information about the Penn HS robotics team, the Black Knights, visit their website at: http://robotics.phmschools.org/

They also have a rockin' YouTube Channel! 
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUaKS4EYNThuMYrY1gk_I9Xw

Also, the Penn HS news network, PNN, has loads of stuff for you to check out:

• Their main YouTube Channel where they post their show
• https://www.youtube.com/user/PennNewsNetwork
• Their main news website where they post stories written by students - 
• http://massmediastudies.net/
• Their Twitter profile -
• https://twitter.com/pennnewsnetwork

Valentine's Day

While missing a holiday away from family and friends can be a difficult experience, the opposite also can be true, as the Brazil group learned on February 14th. Valentine's Day, a holiday very unique to the United States, greeted the Brazilian teachers with open arms. Celebrating a new holiday in a new land can be a lot of fun.

The anticipation actually started weeks before as the advertisements and build-up to the holiday appeared in stores and on television. And so started the questions: What does this holiday mean? What should we expect? How should we celebrate? As the week grew near, Jenny was able to give a little lesson about what Valentine's Day means in the United States: a special day to show people that we care. During Jenny's lesson, the Brazilians made their own homemade Valentine's Day cards to give to people they appreciate.

Later that day, the group received a tour of Notre Dame's Snite Museum. To celebrate Valentine's Day, the Snite Museum of Art offered a special exhibit showing different types of love through paintings, sculptures, and abstract art. In addition to viewing the amazing art exhibits offered by the museum, the Brazil group also learned how to make foam Valentine's Day prints to paint and transfer onto paper. The curators, guides, and education staff of the Snite were so helpful and informative during our visit.