Denton ISD Our Impact In Your Community Magazine Spring 2016 | Page 15

MAKING NUMBERS MAKE SENSE IN ANY LANGUAGE Educator exchange program helping district, Guatemalan teachers grow relationships to boost math learning W KHQ'U-HDQQH7XQNV WUDYHOHGWR*XDWHPDOD LQVKHQHYHUHQYLVLRQHG starting a teacher exchange SURJUDPEHWZHHQWKH &HQWUDO$PHULFDQQDWLRQDQG 'HQWRQ,6')RXU\HDUVODWHU WKH,QWHUQDWLRQDO7HDFKHUWR Teacher Exchange program KDVGHOLYHUHGIDUUHDFKLQJ EHQHÀWVWRWHDFKHUVDFURVVWKH VWDWHKHOSLQJWKHPUHODWHWR Hispanic students and parents OLNHQHYHUEHIRUH 'U7XQNVDSURIHVVRUDQG GLUHFWRURIFRUHFXUULFXOXP DWWKH8QLYHUVLW\RI1RUWK 7H[DVEHJDQDVLPSOHVWXG\ in the methods of teaching mathematics and why Hispanic VWXGHQWVVWUXJJOHOHDUQLQJPDWK LQ'HQWRQ,6'FODVVURRPV)URP KHUH[SHULHQFHLQZRUNLQJZLWK WKHGLVWULFWVKHKDGDQLGHD WKDW7H[DVWHDFKHUVFRXOGRIIHU DVVLVWDQFHWRLPSURYHHGXFDWLRQ IRU*XDWHPDODQVWXGHQWV Marlon Jimenez, a second grade teacher at Colegio Boston Bilingue in Antigua, uses teaching VWUDWHJLHVKHOHDUQHGIURP Denton ISD teachers to work with KLVVWXGHQWV3KRWRFRXUWHV\RI International Teacher to Teacher “Even though [the teachers] don’t have each other’s languages, they have each other’s same sense of kids and same sense of purpose in teaching. That’s a teacher’s heart and that’s a beautiful thing.” 'U-HDQQH7XQNV ´,ZHQWWR*XDWHPDODWRVWXG\KRZVWXGHQWV OHDUQPDWKLQD/DWLQ$PHULFDQFRXQWU\ EHFDXVH,QRWLFHGWKDWKDYLQJVSHQW\HDUV LQ'HQWRQ,6'WKHUHZHUHWLPHVZKHQ/DWLQR VWXGHQWVZHUHQRWSHUIRUPLQJDVZHOODVWKHLU FRXQWHUSDUWVµVDLG'U7XQNV´6R,ZHQWWR ÀJXUHRXWZK\RUDWOHDVWJHWDQLGHDRIZK\"µ 'U7XQNVREVHUYHGWKDWZKLOHIDPLOLHVLQ *XDWHPDODDUHYHU\GHYRWHGWRWKHLU FKLOGUHQWKH\DUHQRWYHU\HQJDJHGLQWKH OHDUQLQJSURFHVV$WWKHVDPHWLPHVKH OHDUQHGWKDWWHDFKHUVSOD\DYHU\LPSRUWDQW UROHEXWDUHQHYHUWDXJKWWRUHDFKRXWWR VWXGHQWVWRHQVXUHWKH\DUHOHDUQLQJ7KH\ GHOLYHULQVWUXFWLRQLVVXHDJUDGHDQGWKHQ PRYHRQWRWKHQH[WOHVVRQVKHVDLG $VVKHVKDUHGKHUH[SHULHQFHVLQFODVV ZLWKKHUFROOHJHVWXGHQWVPDQ\ZDQWHG to accompany her and get the same H[SHULHQFHÀUVWKDQG$QGWKH,QWHUQDWLRQDO 7HDFKHUWR7HDFKHU([FKDQJHZDVERUQ 7KHSURJUDPLVVLPSOHLQIXQFWLRQZLWK'HQWRQ 13