Nicki Calabrese, PhD, associate professor of teacher education, is currently in Oviedo, Spain with students who are interning as English teachers at Colegio de San Ignacio for three weeks.
The students host 65 fifth graders for a three-day English-immersion camp. However, this camp was hardly roughing it! Students are staying at a 70-room Jesuit compound in the lovely town of Celoria on the northern coast of Spain, complete with a private beach and forest. Canisius students plan the entire agenda, which is filled with creative indoor and outdoor American activities. The students are utilizing best practices by identifying target vocabulary for each activity while using props, body language and repetition to reinforce oral language skills.
Students play football on the beach, bake cupcakes complete with U.S. flag cupcake papers and play “pin the tail on the state,” among other language- rich activities. Each Canisius student was responsible for a group of nine students and each group is named after a USA state. There is lots of good-natured competition between the states! Afterwards, Canisius students are responsible for completing assessment pieces which they helped design. This internship is sponsored by the Office of Study Abroad and International Partnerships.
Submitted by: Nicki Calabrese, PhD, associate professor, teacher education
