Friday, October 26, 2012

Women’s International Day Workshop at UDB


Here is the facebook announcement for my very first Women’s Workshop at the University of Don Bosco:

En el marco de la conmemoración del mes de la mujer, la Escuela de Idiomas invita a todas las mujeres estudiantes de ingles de las licenciaturas en idiomas, a participar en un taller en el que podrán practicar el idioma a través de:

        Diarios personales.
        Visualización creativa.
        Afirmaciones positivas.
        Definición de metas e intenciones.
        Tiempo para nosotras.
        Sueños hechos realidad.

El taller será impartido en inglés y dirigido por la profesora invitada de los Estados Unidos, Lauren Zaira, de Oakland, California


  It had been over five years since I taught an English class and I felt a little rusty standing at the front of the classroom with a marker in my hand.  The participants at Don Bosco were a mix of foreign language students, administrators, researchers, and professors of English and Graphic Design.  The participants’ level of English proficiency varied greatly, but we managed to understand one another and have a good time doing so.  For me, the highlights were seeing the participants share with each other their thoughts and ideas.  As a teacher, it can feel very powerful when you set students up to engage with one another and they do it! 
  Everyone could relate to the topics.  One of the participants had recently read Shakti Gawain’s book “Creative Visualization” so she was able to share with us her insights from reading the book.  Despite my initial uncertainty in how the workshop would progress, I felt encouraged by the participants.  Some of the students went out and purchased their own notebooks for journal writing and affirmations.  Another found and recommended some online sites for secure journal writing (i.e. no one in their family could find their journal and read it!).  The students were ready to write.  They were willing to express their feelings, their hopes, and their dreams.
  Cultural differences came up regularly in our discussions, related to religion and Latin America’s “fatalistic” perspective.  How can we plan things if we might die tomorrow?  How can I imagine what I want if God has already planned it for me?  Ultimately, we were able to bridge the ideas together so that we could understand them through these differences.  One woman made a nice correlation between prayer and positive affirmation.  How are they similar and how are they different?
  With teaching, you have to be willing to learn.  I found myself making more effort to practice what I was preaching.  In preparing for the workshop, I had to delve into the topics.  For each class, I assigned homework to practice what we had learned.  I challenged myself to follow along with the students and do the homework too.  This meant that I spent one month happily visualizing what I want, writing in my journal, and clarifying my goals.  It also meant that I focused more intently on where and how I could use Positive Affirmations.  I enjoyed the process greatly and made plans to lead another workshop in the summer.

The participants try out different styles of journal writing.


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