Uruguayan Public Schools Welcome U.S. English Teaching Assistants The Fulbright English teaching
assistantship program provides native speaker presence in classrooms
English Teaching Assistants Samuel Downing, Catesby Holmes, Lisa Price, Jeannine Pitas and Cristina Sisson.
For the first time in Uruguay, public
schools are hosting a U.S. student teaching assistantship
program to help improve the quality of the English language
instruction given to elementary school children. Under the
program, teaching assistants provide support to Uruguayan
English teachers through native speaker presence in classrooms
and by creating activities to encourage students to communicate
in English. They also share American culture and way of life
with the students, and give presentations on different topics
related to the United States.
The five English Teaching Assistants (ETA)
assigned to Uruguay arrived in March as part of a comprehensive
program by the U.S. Embassy Montevideo and the Fulbright
Commission to support English teaching in public schools
and teacher development centers. The first stage of the
program took place in the cities of Colonia and Salto, and
the second stage is taking place in Montevideo. (See related
article.)
English Teaching Assistants are graduating
seniors and graduate students from major U.S. universities
and are proficient in Spanish. Their assignment in Uruguay
is for 8 months – from mid-March to mid-November. In addition
to teaching assistant activities, they may enroll in academic
courses at a Uruguayan university in order to obtain maximum
exposure to the Uruguayan culture and the education environment.
This year's English Teaching Assistants
are Samuel Downing from Bowdoin College, Catesby Holmes
from Wesleyan University, Lisa Price from Northwestern University,
Jeannine Pitas from Sarah Lawrence College, and Cristina
Sisson from Colby College.
A student draws the figure of one of the characters in a school play her class will be performing in English as their English teacher Valeria Gonzalez and ETA Lisa Price review some of script lines.
ETA Cristina
Sisson plays a game of Simon Says with a class of
second graders at public school No.35 "Guatemala"
in Montevideo. Cristina assists English teacher Annabella Haller.
English
teacher Cecilia de Nava works with a class of first
graders at public school No.35 "Guatemala" in Montevideo.
ETA Jeannine Pitas assists Cecilia with this class.
First graders at public school No.35 "Guatemala" write down a list of words in English in their exercise books during an English class period with ETA Jeannine Pitas and English teacher Cecilia de Nava.
Public school No.35 first graders give thumbs up to English teaching as they work on spelling a list of words during an English class period with ETA Jeannine Pitas and English teacher Cecilia de Nava.
![English Teaching Assistants Samuel Downing, Catesby Holmes, Lisa Price, Jeannine Pitas and Cristina Sisson. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-114.jpg)
![ETA Lisa Price received a big "Welcome" at public school No.31 in Montevideo as she began her English teaching assistantship. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_2.jpg)
![English teacher Valeria Gonzalez looks on as ETA Lisa Price gestures while she asks the class to repeat words in English. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_3.jpg)
![A student draws the figure of one of the characters in a school play her class will be performing in English as their English teacher Valeria Gonzalez and ETA Lisa Price review some of the script lines. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_6.jpg)
![English teacher Valeria Gonzalez and ETA Lisa Price help students read some of the script lines for a school play they will be performing in English. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_7.jpg)
![While rehearsing a school play, English teacher Valeria Gonzalez helps one of the students read her lines. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_4.jpg)
![English teacher Valeria Gonzalez helps the students read their lines while rehearsing for a school play in English. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_5.jpg)
![ETA Cristina Sisson plays a game of Simon Says with a class of second graders at public school No.35 "Guatemala" in Montevideo. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_8.jpg)
![ETA Cristina Sisson plays a game of Simon Says with a class of second graders at public school No.35 "Guatemala" in Montevideo. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_9.jpg)
![ETA Jeannine Pitas works with a class of first graders at public school No.35 "Guatemala" in Montevideo. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_10.jpg)
![First graders at public school No.35 "Guatemala" in Montevideo during their English class period. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_11.jpg)
![First graders at public school No.35 "Guatemala" work on a list of words in English during an English class period with ETA Jeannine Pitas and English teacher Cecilia de Nava. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_12.jpg)
![A first grader at public school No.35 "Guatemala" writes down a list of words in English in his exercise book during an English class period. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_13.jpg)
![A first grader gives thumbs up to English teaching as he works on writing and spelling a list of words during an English class period at public school No.35 in Montevideo. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_1.jpg)
![A first grader gives thumbs up to English teaching as he works on writing and spelling a list of words during an English class period at public school No.35 in Montevideo. [U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi]](../../imagenes/06-314_14.jpg)