Since our work with the schools last week, we have learned about the Yachay Wasi method, hiked Colca Canyon, recycled paper, visited schools, and pruned trees…
It was a treat to hear about the Yachay Wasi method from one of its creators. Juana told us that she, along with James Glos and Betty Barbachan, developed a teaching method in the early 1980´s. The Yachay Wasi method involves group work, active participation, and access to easy-to-use materials which allow students to construct their own knowledge. Juana believes that students should work 70% of the time while the teacher works 30% of the time. This idea is refreshing to me since, being used to attending classes where the teacher lectures the whole time, I feel like I might have learned the material better if I spent time figuring or trying to figure things out by myself. Juana compared learning to riding a bike, which I think is a perfect analogy. She says that you can´t learn how to ride a bike from looking at pictures or listening to someone teaching you only. “Para aprender, hay que hacer.” Though you will most likely fall several times when you first try, you will eventually learn how to ride a bike through those mistakes and through practice.
Colca Canyon was an experience! We stopped at the Cruz del Condor and guess what we saw…a condor surprise, surprise!!! I think we saw more than one, which is wonderful, since sometimes they do not fly past the view-point. After that, we took an hour-long bus ride to the place we would begin our hike into the canyon. On the way down, my body felt as flimsy as a wet noodle! The sun was shining bright before we finished our descent, and with the altitude, man! Talk about exhausting! We ate lunch once inside the canyon and had to hike a couple more hours to the oasis where we stayed the night. Everything was beautiful at the oasis – the silhouettes of the mountains, the palm trees, the stars, everything! We woke up before 5am to begin our return hike to the top of the canyon. It was bearable for five minutes… okay a little longer than five minutes, but hiking uphill is challenging, especially when you´re not feeling well. Chelsea and I took so many breaks that our guide strongly suggested we ride mules the rest of the way up. lol. This was fine with me, because at the rate we were going, we would have missed the ride back to Arequipa! Riding the mules wasn´t as frightening as I thought it would be, and the mules hiked at a fairly steady pace. The young boy who guided the mules kept yelling “MULA! MULA! MULA!” The views were beautiful, and we passed through a village that was full of flowers, pastures, and livestock. Chela and I saw a chubby little boy holding the leash of a sheep. When we arrived in the town, we ate lunch at a restaurant that played Bob Marley music! Some of the French tourists from the trip recognized it too. On the ride back to Arequipa, we stopped at the hot springs in Chivay. The water was relaxing after our exercise in the wilderness. We also stopped at a viewpoint that had rock figures in the shape of volcanoes. The names of surrounding volcanoes were marked along with their altitude. Our guide told us this was highest point in the area, and it was freezing though the sun was out.
Monday, we learned how to recycle paper. This is definitely an activity I will bring home with me. It´s fairly easy and you can do so many creative things. Susan, a lady that works at Yachay Wasi, showed us how to give the paper a certain tint using spices and how to give it a certain texture using onion peels or cinnamon sticks. The paper that we recycled will be used for a painting activity for students planned by Red Educativa Ambiental. We also made frames for the paintings the students will make on the recycled paper.
Tuesday, we visited two different schools to observe the Yachay Wasi Method firsthand. The first class we visited was taught by a professor named Hugo. The students used molecular models to form the structures of different alcohols. It reminded me of when I was in O-chem! The students were very knowledgeable and it was obvious they paid attention to the lesson. They learned the nomenclature, structure, and molecular formula of the different alcohols, and all of the students were very active in the learning process. They helped each other understand the material better through discussion and participation. We observed a similar learning process in a different classroom that afternoon. In this class, the students learned how to classify elements according to their physical and chemical characteristics. This was similar to a button classification activity Juana had us do when she introduced the Yachay Wasi method. I love that all of the students are involved and that when something is unclear, they are able to help each other. I went around to the different groups and asked them to explain to me how they determined the different classes. Each group was able to explain to me how they came to their conclusions. Wonderful!
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