My life as a teacher

We are both students and teachers throughout our life. I have always felt more as a student, but recently I have been working on developing my teaching skills. My first teaching experience was probably when I was a teenager and decided to organize a show with my cousins for Christmas. It was a show of one song performance, in which each cousin sang a solo that they made up for a Christmas carol. Good memories!

When I was 15 years old, I went to Kajuyali, a summer camp in in the south plains of Colombia. I really enjoyed the experience and I decided to work as a counselor the next year. I was part of the first CIT group (Counselors In Training) and I worked there the following years until I was 21 years old. It was a great teaching experience. It is facinating that I was part of the first group of campers in the history of Kajuyali who became a counselor, transitioning from being a student to become a teacher. I worked with children from 6 to 17 years old. Because of this experience, I had the opportunity of attending several trainings about experiential education and work with kids of different ages. I loved it!

During college, my house was the place to go to study, especially for the final exams. One time, we had to use a blackboard since there was almost 10 people in my dinning room. Good times :D.
After I graduated from college in 2000, I worked for Compaq Computer in Colombia in the Marketing and Sales Department (I majored in Industrial Engineering. In Colombia Industrial Engineering is considered a Business Administration degree with a good understanding of the manufacturing process). I worked there for 2 years and we had quarterly product trainings for the local and regional distributors. Since I worked as regional manager, I had to do some training while I was on the road. I took a public speaking seminar during this time that was very helpful.

After my experience working at Compaq I moved to the US. I went to Grad School and lived in Boston for 2 years. In 2003, I moved to Los Angeles, California. In 2005, I created a marketing consulting company called Crest Creative Strategies, Inc and has been operating since. To be honest it started because a friend of mine needed help with his business and I said…why not? It was a source of income at the time, but now that I think about it, it was my way of sharing my business knowledge with the world. I did business consulting, coaching, and training for 4 years and a half.

After a long process of self discovery/auto-analysis and some other events that occurred in my life, I realized I was not completely happy, the reasons were not very clear at the moment. So, in an act of bravery and impulsiveness, I decided to do something different. Many times in my life, I said that I would love to have my own preschool but I never did anything about it. I went to the library and read about Montessori Education (I was not ready to BUY a book at the time ;), and I had heard many things about the method recently. As I read the book, I loved the idea that children can learn to be independent at a young age and being able to make choices. That was not what I learned at school. I noticed that the author was a volunteer before becoming a teacher so I decided to give it a try. I went online and found a wonderful school called Montessori One in Thousand Oaks. I went there and Mrs. Silva the owner was standing at the door (Coincidence?). We talked briefly and I was a volunteer 2 mornings a week for a year. In 2008, I decided to go back to school and learn more about Education. It was a great experience and the fact that I was volunteering at the same time gave me the opportunity to apply what I learned and observe the children and myself from a different perspective.

I like the Montessori philosophy but now that I have learn about different philosophies and methodologies, I am very interested in the Reggio Emilia approach and constructivism. I think it is very powerful that the curriculum is developed based on the children's interests and that there is a high involvement of the parents and the community. I also like the fact that it uses the classroom as a place of research and encourages children to find the answers to their questions and the teachers are learners in the process. I think it has a good balance between internal and external motivations which is desperatly needed in our education system.

I want to work in something that I am passionate about, that has purpose. Life works is unexpected ways and puts right in front of you exactly what you need. Starting in January 2009, I will be working as a teacher at the Evergreen Community School in Santa Monica. I am very exited about this new journey and where it will take me. The school has a social constructivist approach, it is Reggio Inspired and has an amazing staff. What else could I ask for?

I am a human being, friend, teacher, marketing consultant, student, and a passionate philosopher living the moment. It might look like an odd combination from the outside but it makes sense to me. I think if black or white does not work for you, it is OK to create a gray joyful life.

My life as a student

My name is Cristina Barvo (My full name is Maria Cristina but since I was 3 years old I decided to go by Cristina since my mother’s name is also Maria Cristina and I wanted my own identity. :)) I live in Woodland Hills, CA but I am originally from Colombia. I have been living in the states since January 2002, when I came to Boston to graduate school (Administration and Management with a Marketing Management Concentration), I moved to California in 2003, after I got married.

I lived in Bogota, Colombia until I was 23 years old. I believe we are all students since the day we are born. I feel that the fact that I was surrounded by adults during my fist years of life helped my language and cognitive skills. It also affected my social skills since I felt more comfortable socializing with adults than children when I started preschool.

I went to three different preschools and I remember all of them except the first one. At the fist one “Mi pequeño Mundo” (My little world), I did not stop crying the whole day. The second one was called “Petaquitas” and I liked it but it was closed shortly after I was accepted. Finally, I went to a wonderful preschool called “Periquito” (Little Chick). I believe, I suffered from separation anxiety and transitions were hard for me as a young child. I remember that my mother stayed in a room next door reading a book some days, I can picture her in mi mind right now. After a while, I felt at home and I remember the directors and my teachers with lots of love. My favorite challenge in the playground were the monkey bars and my favorite activity was feeding “Pepe” and “Pepa”, two rabbits that lived in the school and as you can imagine had a serious obesity problem.

I also remember some negative experiences in kindergarten and first grade. My kindergarten teacher didn't let me go to the bathroom one time and I poop in my underwear. I stayed with the same set of clothes until I went home because I was so afraid to tell her. It was not a pleasant experience. My first grade teacher told two classmates that were very close friends that they could not play together because they were not playing with other kids in the group. The rule was you can play with one but not with both. It was something I did not agree with and felt wrong at the time. Still does. I had a hard time transitioning from preschool to school. Interesting moments that stick in your memory.

The public education in Colombia is very poor and unfortunately lacks the qualified personnel to teach future generations (that is the case in many rural and urban areas as well). I was blessed with the possibility of attending private preschools and Elementary schools, but unfortunately not everybody has the same opportunities. I went to an only girl’s Catholic school.
In Colombia you go to the same school from Kindergarten to 11th grade. So you spend 14 years in the same institution with the same class and the same group of teachers. There were approximately 30 students in my class.

Living in Bogota, attending private institutions, I was not exposed to lots of cultural diversity. In Elementary we had 2 students (one Japanese and one American) joining our school for a year but that was about it. There was a Chilean girl that joined our classroom in high school. I recently found two of them on Facebook (I was really exited!!!). There were very few African Americans in my school. Even though respect and multiculturalism was encouraged by the teachers, many girls will make fun of them.

Based on my experience, I think the education in Colombia at the time was “podium based” as I like to call it (in preschool, elementary and high school). The teacher will take the podium and tell you what you needed to know (90%, the other 10% where group exercises to discuss or apply the concepts that you learned). You will have some homework to review the concepts by yourself. Teachers were very strict and the academic exigency was high in private schools. There was a lot of emphasis in academic concepts and many of the tests were based on memorizing concepts (I had no problem since I have a good memory) buy I definitely enjoyed more the classes with the teachers that developed our analysis skills and our critical thinking. I hardly remember preparing a class even at the university, only a few. Since I was a visual learner, I had no problem but many people struggled with this method.

When I performed the Multiple Intelligences Test, my strongest intelligences according to the Multiple Intelligence test are: Existential, Interpersonal and Visual. I also scored high in Logical and Kinesthetic.

Since I was a little kid I remember that during a test, I will remember in which section of the page of the book the information was located (Visual) and I normally highlight or make summaries of what I read (Kinesthetic). I also think I learn better when I understand the context and application of what I am learning (Existential and Logical) and the teacher and comments or participation from others members of the class greatly contribute to my learning process (Interpersonal).

I have always enjoyed being a student and learning is a passion for me. I love to learn about different cultures, human relationships, economics, politics, understanding how the world works, understanding how the mind works and understanding myself. I always try to keep my mind open to new opportunities and new concepts.