06/03/2026

Dear reader, 

Today was my last day at Verdi Primary School, and it was bittersweet. Of course, there were lots of hugs, cards, and smiles, but I was so happy to share about my state, Kansas, with the class. In 4b I prepared and shared a presentation that was "In Kansas I will see." I told them about 8 different things they will see in Kansas. (The Great Plains, sunflowers, buffalo, squirrels, the state fair, tornadoes, jayhawks, casseroles, and Main Street). Before presenting, I created a list of all of the things the students thought they might see in Kansas, and after presenting, we compared their list and my list. 

Similar to when I taught the big trip, I provided a sentence stem and a space to draw. The students wrote "In Kansas I will see_____." and then once I approved their writing, they could draw inside the outline of Kansas what they chose to see. The students were so kind and excited to ask questions. 

In 3a, we talked about the four animals inside the book "The Big Trip." After listing the animals, we talked about what sounds they make and how they impacted the story. The students chose one of the four animals to create when making their puppet. Once they were finished coloring, they could have 2 googly eyes.  This was a perfect craft because they are so creative and love hands-on activities. 

06/03/2026

Dear reader, 

In 3a, Emanuela integrated STEM into ELA by using the sequence from the book "The Big Trip." She gave me a blank grid on where drew the modes of transportation, so the bee bot could move through the sequence from the story. 

Outside, we set up a table where students could try to make the bee bot go where they wanted it to go. As the students learned how to program it, I would ask questions like, Can you collaborate with_____?  Can you make the bee bot first stop at _____ and the end at ______? As the students became more confident, I would have them work in pairs and made sure to advocate that EVERYONE got a turn and was capable of programming the bee bot. 

 I really loved seeing how the class worked with Mekeh and included him. He absolutely loved watching the bee bot move around. When it came time for his turn, I really had to explain to the others that he was okay to do it alone and that he might not have understood my directions in English, but he did by watching. He amazed everyone by making the bee bot move (which makes me wonder if they underestimate him). 

I absolutely loved getting out of the classroom and integrating STEM into what started as an ELA lesson.  

06/01/2026

Dear reader, 

This past week, I taught inside both 3a and 4b using the book The Big Trip. I am proud of my ability to be flexible and pivot as needed because I only planned for 30-45 minutes of teaching and Caterina insisted I have the WHOLE time after the break... I immediately started throwing ideas together in my brain and in my journal to lengthen the lesson, and it worked! In 4b, I used the vocabulary cards from the reading event and held them up to the matching sides of the room for them to move to. (This was a game we played in many study abroad meetings and in my inquiry block this past spring.) Then I re-read the book to the class. After reading, we talked about where we think Pig & Goat ended up, which led to our writing activity. I provided the sentence stems of the board, and the students were able to fill in what they would travel by and where they would go. The class loved this writing activity and were very excited to draw their travel plans once I approved their writing. I then gave students the brown paper sack and 2 googly eyes to create a puppet. If they did not receive this in class, they were given it to take home. The class was very happy to take it home as a craft and not for a grade. 

In 3a, I taught a shorter lesson because they have a lot of content that is still being taught. I started by reviewing the modes of transportation and explaining first, next, then, and last to them. While reading the book, the class would shout STOP if we needed to pause and paste one of our modes of transportation into a box. I was very proud of how this worksheet turned out because I made it myself on Canva in about 15 minutes! For the writing portion, I prompted the students through the writing, and we wrote a summary together. Then we did some choral reading and kissed our brains, patted ourselves on the back, and gave ourselves a big hug! 

On Friday in 3a, I was asked to create a path for a Bee Bot to travel through that represented the big trip. I was slightly confused, but once I saw the kids in action, I understood. It was a STEM activity that related to the sequence of events from the book. The students at this station seemed very happy with it, and I even drew in pencil so Emaulea could erase and reuse the grid for another story or game. 

I was very happy with how these lessons went and am beyond proud of how I adapted. Jordan 4 years ago as a summer camp counselor would have denied the extra time to teach or need a indepth explanation of what the heck a bee bot was... but now I am rockin and rollin. 

06/01/2026

Dear reader, 

On Tuesday, Verdi had an event called Reading Under the Trees, where they invited community members to come read picture books and celebrate literacy. All of the books shared the same theme of friendship, and for grades 3rd through 5th, they got to listen to a read-aloud in English from yours truly... I reviewed the types of transportation and animals inside the story before each reading and even got to play some Jordan says... AKA Simon says with 3a before their read aloud due to the amount of free time. I really loved watching the students' faces while I read, and I was able to tell which students were actively listening, daydreaming, and maybe very confused, trying to process English & what the heck this goat had against the pig going on a big trip. I would also like to note that this book was not given to me in English but in Italian. I used sticky notes to write a simplified version that was direct and had a pattern. 

I loved seeing community members come in and read for the children. I think community involvement is so important because learning goes beyond just the classroom. I have seen similar events in the states like Mystery Reader and Read Across America Week. Growing up, I do not remember any events like this through my public school, but my mom took me to the public library all the time, and I went to similar events through there. I am a strong believer that children's literacy is so important, and it shapes how they are able to grow as adults and their role in society. This is because knowledge is power, and if you can read (even at a sixth-grade level), you are fully capable of reading the news, voting ballots, prescriptions, bus maps, sale tags, and even important legal documents. 

I went ahead and nerded out and looked at it Italys literacy rate, and WOAH, what is the USA doing because Italian public schools are killing it! In 2024, 0.5% of Italy's population ages 6+ is illiterate. In 2022, America's adult population is 21% illiterate... and we average a sixth grade reading level (notice how above I mentioned sixth grade level...) I wonder what Italian schools are doing with literacy and how their relationship between literacy and poverty is? I wonder if American schools doing inquiry based learning and allowing students to drive their own success would help? No idea, all I know is that schools should do more events like Reading Under The Trees! 

https://www.istat.it/en/publication/the-long-road-to-education/ 

https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/2024-2025-literacy-statistics 

05/24/2026

Dear reader, 

When the weather is nice, and the students need to get out of that classroom, go learn outside. This week, I was able to watch an Italian lesson on poetry was taught. After the lesson the students were given poems about nature to inspire their writing. They sat outside and independently worked. They read and annotated the provided poems and then wrote their own. I noticed that, depending on the student's proficiency or reading ability in Italian, they were given a poem that was the appropriate level for them. 

This was very sweet to watch, and the students were relatively well behaved because they did not want to go back into the hot classroom. A challenge I noticed was that students were staying on task, and that there was only one Italian teacher to check everyone's work. The children were so spread out that it was definitely a challenge for her to power walk from student to student. I used my thinking brain and decided to start helping by using Google Lens, where I can take a photo of writing, and it uses AI to translate it.  This made it so that I could at least understand the context of their questions and comprehend their work. In all, if a school doesn't have a formal outdoor classroom, remember that anywhere where learning happens can be the classroom, including a field next to the building. 

05/24/2026

Dear reader, 

This past week, I said YES to something new and was a part of this spring's VLC Falco Magico performance of Are You My Mother? By Dr. Suess. This was really sweet, and I loved watching the kiddos' faces as we all came out and dance n sing! I was the pig, and I did many jigs. We also sang a color song (that went out of rainbow order), head, shoulders, knees, toes, and happy and you know it. 

Yes, I know this wasn't explicitly teaching English, but by modeling it, we were able to share our native language with the Carpi community. 

Honestly, this play really showed the importance of hearing patterns in the language that is being taught. For example, each animal said Hello! I am _______. and ended with Goodbye. Our amazing narrator acted as a great DORA, which really helped. I think IF I ever had the chance to do this or something similar again... I would really make sure that all characters stick to the script so that the non native speakers can truly pick up on the patterns being said, because it truly does provide an oral sentence stem for them. 

Goodbye! 

-Pig that dances a jig

05/14/2026

Dear reader, 

In the four days I have been at Verdi, I have fallen in love with the school culture and how the students care about each other. It is clear that the educators, paraprofessionals, and school staff deeply care about these students and want to meet all of their needs. Throughout this week I have seen how Verdi cares for students with special needs, physical diffrences, and non native speakers. 

 In 3a, I was welcomed by a guessing game. The students wrote short bios in English, and I had to guess who was who based on their bios. I was very animated and made all of the kids giggle.  Once I guessed right, I would hand them the name tag with their name. I have observed a lot this week and have had amazing conversations with Emanulea. She reminds me of Miss. Honey from Matilda. I am very lucky to be with a group of very curious students who are beyond empathetic. Inside the class, there is a boy who receives support from a paraprofessional and struggles with touching others. Many of his classmates hug and kiss his cheek when he starts to get too touchy with them. They all want to include him at recess and are amazing at ignoring unwanted behaviors. Today I went with Emanulea to see the classroom for students who have special needs. We were able to have a great conversation about his learning and how she supports him while he solved puzzles, built towers, and explored in kinetic sand. Although we both had to use different words than we wanted to say, we were able to connect with how beautiful it is to support all learners. 

In 4b, I was very active in the classroom learning. Caterina wanted to compare American English and British English, and the students wanted to see how their daily schedule compared to a generic American student. Their minds were blown when I said 9 yr olds in America go to bed at 8:30 pm.  After this, they practiced math and even solved a problem about fractions in English. They are learning about fractions and decimals. At the end of the day, I was able to give my presentation about myself. The students were very curious about why I have two moms and why I am not catholic. I explained.... then Caterina translated...... then they would ask Dové papa? And I would say no, Papa.... Genuinely might end up doing a lesson on how all families look different. 

Also! Verdi is doing a school wide baseball tournament, and I spent ONE AND A HALF hours watching baseball, and let me tell you... These kids need it. They need to learn how to collaborate, team work, and most of all how to lose. 

05/27/2024

Dear Reader, 

Today was my last English lesson at Collodi and I wanted to cry (just a little) I have grown to love all of these students and their personalities. I wanted to end the year with a BANG! So I decided to do Coke and Mentos. Although the students most likely had already seen the experiment done, they were so eager to learn about how the mentos caused the coke to do this and why. We did lots of reading and discussing in English today which made my teacher heart happy. We watched a video about the scientific method (slowed with subtitles) and then summarized the video as a class for comprehension. I started by having a different student each time read each vocab word and then a new student read the definition. I created this worksheet based on something I saw online and added my classic fill-in-the-blank sentences. We read our sentences aloud too. The experiment went well and the kids had a great time. Watching their faces as I shoved ALL the Mentos into the Coke bottle was so fun and just made me want to melt. It was 100% worth the sticky cola hands. 

Advice for future Jordan or others: sticky cola hands are ALWAYS worth it if it makes the students smile. 

05/24/2024

Dear Reader, 

This past week I was asked to teach another lesson. If you know me, you know that I plan like crazy and do NOT like being put on the spot or given short notice. For example the first two lessons I did I packed all the materials needed, printed the copies before leaving KS, and had backup ideas just in case. So when they asked me to teach something new and "fun" with one day's notice my jaw dropped. I went home and tried to come up with something but I couldn't. Nothing came to mind, I talked to my host family, my mom (KS), and looked all over Pinterest and teachers pay teachers for something. NOTHING... I found nothing. but then, IT HIT ME. The Wizard of Oz! Luckily I was able to find a shortened version of the movie to show the children for context. Then I connected the activity to something they were learning in school, Italian grammatica. We used the prompt "If I was able to as the Wizard of Oz for one thing it would be a..." We started by coming up with a word bank of adjectives (aggettivos) and nouns (nomes) on the chalkboard for them to use. We paired one adjective with one noun to create what we wanted to ask the Wizard of Oz for. 

I will admit that this activity was a bit harder for the students since it was more than just filling in a blank and coloring. It involved comprehending English grammar and using their imagination. PLUS if they hadn't seen The Wizard of Oz before it might've made zero sense. (Which I did not consider) I think the activity went well and once the students understood what was happening they were able to enjoy the activity. I could picture myself doing Wizard of Oz activities again in the future since the movie gives you endless possibilities and it is popular. (I would say 30% of my class knew what it was)

After being provided feedback from Dr. Bradley, I was able to make some small changes between the two classes. During the second classes lesson, I did a character review and summary before showing the video, and then after we did the same thing but as a class. If I were to make major changes, I would maybe do a simpler writing prompt or choose a craft. YES, this was a great activity and challenge for most of the students BUT for some(specifically the ILL learners), it was too much of a challenge. 

05/22/2024

Dear Reader, 

I have learned so much about myself as a future educator while teaching English in Carpi. I already knew I had a desire to teach ELL but teaching inside Colodi has just made me realize how rewarding it is. On a daily basis, I translate words on the chalkboard and teach them English games by playing with them in gymnastica class and during their breaks. I can tell that most of the students in classes 5A and 5B want to learn more English vs being forced to learn English. This is something that I value about my Italian students, and because of this, they have a special place in my heart. 

While traveling between the two fifth-grade classrooms, I have learned so much just from the environment. The first is that you do not need to spend $500.00 at the teacher store/Amazon to have a kick-butt classroom. As an American student who attended public schools K-12 I have only been inside overstimulating and decorated classrooms until I got to college/ came to Carpi. YES, decor and themes are so cute and nice but ideally, the classroom should be shaped to help the students learn best NOT to make Tik-Toks inside (although they are cute). Inside the 5A and 5B classes, there is minimal decor and 99% of everything that is on the wall(s) is to help the students learn. Inside classroom 5B there are a few maps, a timeline of Christ, models of a human/animal cell, and the alphabet.  I love how simple but enriching it is and this is something I will consider when starting to move into my first classroom. 

I love how the items inside the rooms are labeled for ILL students. Both classes have quite a few students learning Italian and I think this idea is something I want to model inside my future classroom. The basic items are labeled with paper and tape in Italian to help the students recognize these everyday words. I also love how the walls are labeled with the directions, North, East, South, and  West. I think depending on the grade level this could be perfect for helping all students recognize directions. When modeling the everyday words for students learning a new language, I think it could be useful to say the words out loud as well when giving directions. 

All of these things inside the classroom I value and I can't wait to implement them or something similar inside my future classroom. 

05/18/2024

Dear Reader, 

**I would like to start by giving credit to Pinterest and my childhood VBS camps for this idea**

I will admit I was nervous when realizing I have to share this book with fifth graders. I was worried they would think they were too cool or that it was for little kids. I ended up faking some confidence and told them how much I love this story and you know what? It worked. The students LOVED the book and making the animal noises. We even acted like animals, like swimming like a trout. I also was able to make connections from the previous English lesson and activity we did with emotions by asking how the old lady was feeling. I asked three times- beginning, middle, and end.  I would let multiple students answer and act out the emotions they said. (Happy, hungry, tired, frustrated, disappointed, etc) After that, we did some writing about the story with comprehension questions (that I disguised like a sneaky spy) and did craft that matched the book! This writing was mostly copying from the chalkboard and filling in the blank(s) one sentence at a time. We created a word bank by listing the animals from the book and the title.  This way they had a better chance at understanding what words to use for the blanks. The first sentence was "Today we read ______. " The students copied and filled in the title of the book. Then we added "First was the ________ and last was the________." Then we used "My favorite part was________." to guide the next part of my lesson. (For the record if they got a blank wrong I addressed the class as a whole by revealing the answer once everyone was done. ( I always do things like when you are done put your hands in the air or put your head on the desk, hands on hips. touch your knees etc.... so I can see who is done and who needs help. Plus it's silly and keeps them engaged) 

The students create a puppet as their favorite animal from the story. ( I am surprised nobody made the cranky old lady. ) I made an example to show them and it was a hit, I gave them about 25 to 30 minutes to work on them. The idea of creating puppets from brown paper lunch sacks came from a random dream I had about my childhood VBS. The theme was Wild About Jesus... and we made animal puppets from lunch sacks... So I woke up and immediately Pinterest searched and BOOM! I knew it was real. So I said hmmm let me make this happen and I did. 

Overall this lesson is something I was proud of and I think it went very well in both of my fifth-grade classes, if I had the opportunity I would 100% teach this again to another class and just alter the writing part of my lesson by changing questions or having them think and answer out loud. 

Side Note- Shout out to VLC/ KUSOEHS for choosing this book! 

05/13/2024

Dear Reader, 

I feel like a genius! Today during science I was sooo bored but then I had a reality check that I am very fortunate to get to observe inside an Italian classroom and be where I was at that exact moment. I decided to use my previous knowledge from when I was in fifth grade and 1/3 of my class was ESL. Our ESL teacher/para? would come in and write the translations of the keywords on the board for them to see so they could still make connections. So guess what! I did the same. I had some help from Google Translate and the spare textbook in the room BUT I successfully did it. I wrote the Italian word and then drew an arrow to the English word. (For example Sole---> Sun) I did all the planets plus stars and space. 

This helped keep me awake and engaged after Florence and helped the students learn more English vocabulary. I walked around and saw them copying it into their science notes and it made my heart happy. I never told them they had to, they did this since (I assume) wanted to learn more English. I think I will try this once or twice a day if I can and maybe follow along in the extra text books so I can help add to their English Vocabulary. 

05/10/2024

Dear Reader, 

My first week of learning is done, and I just packed for Florence! I am even more grateful for this experience now that I know what I can expect from my mentors, students, and peers from KU. This week I was able to teach two lessons, help with a mathematics unit test, and lead one gymnastics class (PE). My first lesson was based on the book Armadillo Antics. I did this lesson on the fly because I showed up on Tuesday ready to observe and my mentor said you teach with a big smile AND handed me this book. So I introduced myself and... read the book. We read the book as a class, I had the 4th graders act out the verbs like running, dancing, and digging while sitting at their desks.
I also asked, "What color is this?" and pointed to objects inside the book. This allowed students to practice identifying verbs and colors in English while hearing a silly story about an armadillo.  Then two students handed out blank paper so we "cop-ee-toe" the illustrations inside the book and the words that went with it. I was so proud I took a few photos of the students' work since this was my first time teaching a lesson that was inside a real classroom with humans NOT stuffed animals and cabbage patch kids on my bed.  

The lesson I planned was on emotions in English. I loved teaching this, it's just so rewarding to see the light bulb go off inside their little minds. We started by repeating the emotions (in English)  that were projected onto the smart board. Then I acted out the feelings and let the students guess by hollering out. We did this twice and then I used the emotion flash cards I printed out to do something similar. I wanted them to grasp the idea. A video from Sesame Street followed this (about 3 minutes) and they LOVED it. we watched it around 6 times? They got to the point where they were singing the emotions in English. Then we shifted focus to the chalkboard, we copied the sentence starter  I am onto the worksheet. Then I had the students close their eyes and imagine how they felt when they were done, I wrote down the different feelings onto the board for them to choose from AND told them to add a period. (My mother would be so proud) Then I played Happy by Will Pheral in the background while they colored self-portraits that reflected their feelings. I gave them a five-minute warning for clean up and then we were ready to move on.  I had the students stand up one by one and introduce themselves by saying "My name is _____. I am______." and showing the class their artwork. Every student got a sticker today, even the ones in 3rd grade who took the math test. 

For gymnastics class, I was told to play English game, so we started with red light green light and worked our way to other activities.  I had to use very exaggerated motions and examples BUT they picked up what I was putting down.  We played that for a while till they looked bored, then we spread out and played Jordan Says followed by FREE TIME. (which is my favorite because then I drink my water and supervise) Overall I learned a lot through observations and teaching English this week and I cannot wait to learn more next week after visiting Florence! 

Ciao! 

PS- This is called Silenzio and Si! Since I learned Silenzio this week and I've said it 1000000 times since my mentors at Coldi know little English. (Which I am completely fine with. It pushes me in new ways and forces me to think differently BUT  it does help when there isn't a language barrier)