It was really interesting for me to see the world that I live in every day through the eyes of people who have never seen it before now.
~ words from Cristhian that keep us thinking and wondering ~
Not hers. Not yours. People are always more than the chapters anyone could share. Hold what is here gently. Approach with curiosity, before judgment.
Notice what you notice. Wonder what you wonder. There is no quiz, no right way. Read until something stays.
this film has no words. notice what you notice. notice what you wonder. wonder out loud. and don't forget to notice what you feel, too.
Talking Trash
What are some of the values you are trying to incorporate in your life? What are you doing to make it happen?
Have you ever encountered a situation where you were afraid to speak up? If so, why did you feel that you had to remain silent? Do you have any advice for someone who may be afraid to speak up when they see something going on that they disagree with?
What does the phrase “leading by example” mean to you? Can you share a time that you lead by example? Who are some people that you know that lead by example?
“Leadership” can have a lot of different meanings, and people express it in different ways. Can you tell me 5 qualities that you think make a good leader? How about you explain to me some ways that those qualities can be expressed.
My parents and I always loved each other, but I didn’t always act in a way that was respectful to them. Now, I feel like I know how that made them feel, and I am trying to change. Have you ever changed in the way that you relate to others? What made you do so?
Have you ever being assigned a task you were responsible for because you are a trustworthy person? Did you think it was easy? Difficult? Were you able to finish the task assigned to you on time? What did you do to make sure you managed your time and that there were good results?
Do you feel that it is important for you to be assigned more and more responsibilities, or are you fine with the amount of responsibilities you have right now? What are some positive aspects and negative aspects of taking on more responsibilities?
Which is closest to the mass of a single banana: 120 grams or 120 kilograms? If we use US customary units, is the banana’s mass closer to 6 ounces or 6 pounds?
Now tell me: is 120 grams greater than, less than, or equal to 1 kilogram? How do you know?
If I want to instead try planting banana plants so that they are in rows that I can walk between, would I want to plant them in parallel lines or perpendicular lines?
Want to create a calm and focused space to start the conversation? Set up desks or chairs in a circle and start the session with 2 minutes of collective silence.
“What are some of the benefits of composting, and how does it positively impact waste management?” You can ask students, “Have you ever used trash in a different manner than just throwing it away?” Some examples could be recycling the material or turning it into something else in a creative way.
Explain to students that in this lesson you’re going to learn together how the decomposition of organic material can impact the environment through composting, and how much of a difference it can make to the amount of material that is otherwise thrown away.
To learn about an example of composting, read the Learning Journey story “Cristhian in a Leadership Position” with your class.
From page 3 to page 4 in this story, Cristhian explains how at the school Yachana one of their activities is creating banana circles, where the bananas that are planted near the circle are fertilized through the decomposition of the organic material placed in the hole. You can ask students,“What do you think are some of the benefits of composting?” After listening to some answers, you can explain that composting can help plants absorb nutrients found in the soil, and also improves the soil structure and can help prevent erosion. It also reduces the amount of material that ends up in landfills, and can help make you more aware of the amount of waste that can be re-used instead of discarded. You can also watch the Learning Journey video “I am Cristhian” so that students can see the environment in which Cristhian lives and goes to school. “What aspects of Cristhian’s environment do you think help the bananas grow?”
See if it would be possible to create a compost option at your school or in your community, so that organic material (such as food) that would otherwise be thrown away can be put to a better use.
Talk to administrators to determine if the best option is to compost the material on-site (like if it can be used in a school garden) or off-site (such as given to a nearby compost facility or farm). If this is not a viable option for your school at this time, you can still work with students to explore how composting impacts waste management. Figure out the amount of different types of waste material that is produced by your school. Ask your group to think of various categories for the different types of waste (such as recyclables, non-compostable waste, liquids, and food scraps), and then estimate how much weight there is for each over a certain time period. You can tie this to the math examples of estimating mass and converting units of math on page 4 in the story “Cristhian in a Leadership Position.” If possible, you could even set up buckets or other receptacles at your school and collect the amounts and then weigh them. You can ask students if they think the receptacles should be set up in parallel or perpendicular lines, and can introduce this concept through the math example on page 4 of the story. Based on the time period during which you collect the material, you can estimate how much of it could be diverted from the ‘trash’ option and instead put to good use if you had a compost option.
Ask students, “In addition to finding out the amount of waste that would be put to another use, what other factors should you investigate when deciding whether or not to compost?” Some answers could be the location of the compost site, or how many people will need to be involved to organize and maintain it, or the cost.
“How can you convince others to compost their waste? Are there any downsides to composting?”
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Help Me Help You
Did you know that there are many different learning styles? Some people learn best by watching, reading, listening, or working with their hands. Can you think of even more ways that people learn? Are there any learning styles that you think work best for you? Have you tried different ways?
I gave you an example of a project that is “symbiotic,” which means that the different things (in the case of aquaponics, plants and fish) in the relationship interact with and influence each other. Can you think of any other relationships – between animals, plants, or humans – that are symbiotic?
Do you have any projects that you are working on right now? What are the parts of it that fascinate you the most? During your project, are you trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible? If you are not (and even if you are), what are some ways that you could improve?
Can you share with me a time that you did something to benefit someone else, even if you knew you would not benefit from the results? How did that experience make you feel?
I will soon need to construct a new pen to house the chickens, and would like to make it in a symmetrical shape. Can you please tell me which shape below is symmetrical?
Have you ever learned something – maybe from school, or a book you read, or from information someone told you – and then shared what you learned with your friends or community? Can you tell me some ways that you shared the information you learned, in a way that made others interested in it? Were you able to answer questions about the topic if asked? If not, how did you respond?
There is a forest plot nearby that is composed of many beautiful trees. Do you think it is more reasonable to measure the length of the plot in centimeters or meters?
If the forest plot is 100 meters long and 50 meters wide, what is its perimeter? How about its area?
It was really interesting for me to see the world that I live in every day through the eyes of people who have never seen it before now. Has this ever happened to you? How did it make you feel?
How about you write down a list of things that you might take for granted in your life, because you see them everyday– and then imagine that you are seeing and experiencing it for the first time. When you write down those reactions, are they different from what you regularly feel? How so?
When you are faced with a challenge, do you always see it as something negative? Or do you approach it as an opportunity for you to grow?
Looking for a new way to foster inclusivity? Sit in a circle on the floor for this lesson!
“How can we learn from nature about working together so everyone mutually benefits?” You can begin the lesson by explaining to students that we often might think of relationships as between people, but there are so many powerful relationships in the ecosystems around us as well.
Ask students, “Can you give an example of a relationship that is between living things on Earth that are not humans?” Once you hear some answers, tell your class that you are going to explore the idea of mutualism as a type of symbiotic relationship and what that looks like for organisms– and how it can be applied to people too.
With your students, watch the video “I am Cristhian” to get a sense of Cristhian’s environment (and tell students to keep an eye out for the fish tank!), and then read the Learning Journey “Cristhian Learns by Doing.” Let’s unpack the phrase ‘symbiotic relationship’ and the word ‘mutualism’ and see how they relate to the aquaponics example in the story.
You can explain that the phrase ‘symbiotic relationship’ refers to different organisms that closely interact with and influence each other by working together. ‘Mutualism’ means that they both benefit from the interaction (there are also other types of symbiotic relationships, where one organism benefits more than the other). Ask your students, “Can you think of any interactions between organisms that seem to function in a similar way to how the plants and fish worked together?” You can research with your class examples of mutualism between organisms, such as the interactions of clownfish and sea anemones or oxpecker birds and zebras.
Ask students to design a relationship between an animal pair to explore mutualism and practice academic math objectives. Have the group split into pairs, and then ask them to think of two different animals.
Students can then work together to brainstorm different ways that the animals could mutually benefit each other through their interactions. Ask the groups to include information such as what the needs are of each species, and how those needs can be met by working together. One important “need” of an animal is space for it to live, called its habitat. To practice lines of symmetry (in addition to the example on page 3 of the story “Cristhian Learns by Doing”), you can ask students to draw what shape they think the animals’ shared habitat might look like, and then determine if that shape is symmetrical. After they have explored that math concept, ask students to now imagine that the shape of the habitat is a rectangle, since you are going to determine the area and perimeter. Have students estimate the length of the rectangles’ sides (as students did on page 3), and determine if they should be measured in centimeters, meters, or kilometers (and if you would like to practice US customary units, then in feet, yards, or miles). Then, write down the estimated numbers along each side of the rectangle and solve for the area and perimeter (you can again practice this concept through the example on page 3).
You can lead students in a group discussion by asking them the following questions, or have them journal their reflections: “What are some examples of mutualism that can occur between individual people?
What about larger groups of people? How can you approach helping someone (or asking for help yourself) in a way that can maximize the amount of benefit to all involved? Can you think of any situations where you would want an interaction to not be one of mutualism, and instead one person should benefit more than another?”
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Reaching Out
I am very happy that you came today to talk with me, because I like to be around people. With people you can talk, laugh, share ideas, solve problems, and make jokes. However, I think it's also very important to be alone sometimes. Being alone you can think, dream, ask yourself questions, and do things your own way. One of my favorite things to do – either by myself or with others – is go fishing. What about you? Later on if you want I can show you my favorite fishing spot along the river.
Can you describe to me a few things that you like to do in your spare time?
Do you like to spend time with yourself, or do you prefer to share it with friends?
Or does it depend?
I don’t know if you have noticed, but life in Ecuador’s rain forest can give the impression that it is the same every day. The sun rises very early, and you can see the sunrise if you live at the top of a mountain. In the past when I lived with my family and did not have a clock, we listened to the crowing of the roosters. Their calls meant that it's time to get up. But you couldn’t always depend on this because many times they would start to crow as early as 3 a.m. When that happened I would wake up, but the light from the sun did not come through my window. The rooster’s timing was off. It was a false alarm. I would think to myself, “Come on, rooster!” I learned that you cannot rely on the roosters for wake up calls. I am enjoying talking to you, but I have to go get ready for the day. Come with me! The chickens are waiting, and I also need to prepare breakfast.
What did you think about my story with the rooster, where I was counting on him to wake me up but it didn’t happen as it should have?
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you depended on something, but it doesn’t work out the way you expected?
How did you react?
3 a.
m.
is very early in the morning!
Tell me, is 3 a prime or composite number?
How do you know?
As I mentioned earlier, some people seem to think that days are all the same here and they have all the time in the world. They believe that nothing changes. I want to tell them, “When the days all feel similar, it is up to you to make them different!” For example, some days I go to play football, while other days I go fishing in the river. Have I convinced you yet how much I enjoy fishing? Some days I go and grab a soda in the village and watch people playing Ecuavoley, which is the Ecuadorian version of volleyball. Of course there is a routine I have to do for work: I have to feed the chickens, look after the tilapia fish, and cook. I also have to go to the farm, plant and harvest plantains, pull up weeds, and complete other tasks.
Have you ever heard someone say they have all the time in the world?
I disagree and think time does not wait for you.
It keeps moving, like the water in the stream, and it's never the same.
What is your opinion about time?
Do you think it ‘waits’ for people, or is it always changing?
Cooking is something that I am learning now, since my mother did the cooking when I was living with my “blood” family. Now I have another family, that I call “Yachana”. This is the name of the school where I learn and work. I consider the people here my other family because all of us – the students, teachers, and other workers – come from the same background. We all have a history of farming and we all share the same desire, which is to learn as much as possible. We are family because as any family functions, some days we all get along, while some other times it is harder to do so. Some days we are best friends, and there are moments when we do not like each other. We are family because we share histories, desires, fears, and we laugh at each other. We work side by side and help each other grow.
What have been some of the most challenging moments you have had with your friends or people with whom you share your life?
Do you feel the same way I do, where I have good and bad days with the people I care about?
Or is it different for you?
I would really like to learn your perspective and what your relationships are like.
I cook a lot at Yachana School, and it has been a learning process. Sometimes the food I prepare tastes good. Every once in awhile the students get mad at me because the bread I bake overcooks, and they have to eat it burnt. I am working to improve my skills everyday, but it is a process. I was once a student here at Yachana like them. At that time I was helping the person who was in charge of cooking. Now that I have graduated and am working at the school, I am in charge of the kitchen. I have to teach the students how to do tasks like clean a chicken for a meal, how to chop the onions properly without cutting yourself, and how to cook the rice so it does not overcook. Sometimes they teach me lessons too. For example, one student taught me to cover the fish with leaves when I am grilling it, so that it tastes better and melts in your mouth when you are eating it. By the way, the word “Yachana” that I used earlier is a word that in the language Kichwa means “a place to learn”. And that's what I am doing here: learning, constantly.
Can you tell me about something that you have learned to do recently?
When you first started doing it, were you good at it right away?
Or did it take some time?
Can you write down how you felt right at the very beginning before you knew how to do what you were trying to learn?
And then tell me what it felt like in the middle of learning?
And then how you feel now that you have learned it?
What kind of changes do you see, in both your actions and also your feelings toward what you learned?
I need to grill the fish for a total of 14 minutes.
Can you tell me which of the following numbers is a factor of 14: 3, 5, 7, or 10 ?
Another area of interest to me is mechanics. Right now, I am about to go fix my motorbike. If you wish, you can come with me. It's broken and it has some problems, so I have been working on this bike for days. I like mechanics because it's about problem solving. This is like a game for me, and it's also a way to forget everything from the outside world and just focus. When I say that, I mean when I am working on fixing things I am not worrying about what's happening elsewhere. It’s just me and the bike. Sometimes the smell of gasoline and oil makes me dizzy, but that does not keep me away from these pieces of steel. My hands turn black from the residue of the bike parts, and when my face itches I reach up with my dirty hands to scratch it and accidently paint my face. It bothers me a little, but it also makes me feel proud because it reminds me that I am working hard. Sometimes I spend hours trying to find the motorbike’s problems, and then many more hours figuring out how to solve the problem. When I don't know how to deal with it, I just ask somebody who might know because they have had experience with these types of problems before. It is as simple as that. It takes longer to solve when the other person does not know the solution either, so then we have to brainstorm and think of ways that we can approach the situation before trying our ideas out.
On the 1st day of the month I work on my motorbike, on the 2nd day I work on my friend’s motorbike, and on the 3rd day I take a break.
If I follow this pattern, will I be working on a motorbike during the 14th day of the month?
If so, will it be my motorbike or the one belonging to my friend?
“Do you ever have trouble asking people for help?” Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out when it is the right time to ask others to support you.
A great way to connect with your students is to explain that this is something that you struggle with as well, and give an example of a time you wish you had asked for help but did not– and share the reasons why. “What are some other reasons why it is sometimes hard to ask people to assist you?” Some reasons might be because it could make someone feel like they are powerless, or they don’t like to admit they don’t understand something, or they don’t know who to ask, or because they don’t know that they are doing something the wrong way and need support to show them the right way.“What are some assumptions that people sometimes make about people who ask for help?” A few examples could be that it makes someone seem weak, or lazy, or ignorant. “How can you help others understand that asking for help is a sign of strength because you understand your own limitations and respect other people and their skills?”
To learn from an example of a time someone asks for assistance, read the Learning Journey story “I am Cristhian” with your class. Cristhian describes how much he enjoys working on his motorbike by improving its mechanics and fixing any problems.
He explains how sometimes he gets stuck when he faces an issue that he doesn’t know how to address, and he understands that when this happens there is value in asking for help. To practice reading comprehension, ask students, “When the person assisting David does not know the solution right away, how do they react?” (They brainstorm ideas together and then try them out). You can then encourage students to relate this situation to their own lives by asking, “Do you ever find yourself going over and over the same solution for a certain problem? How does this make you feel? Do you ever ask for help? If so, would you let the other person, with their solution, do all of the work? Or would you work as a team to look for solutions?” You can also watch the Learning Journey video “I am Cristhian” and have students point out other times during Cristhian’s day that he might ask people to assist him.
Let’s practice asking for assistance and then humbly helping others learn math concepts. With your class, take a look at the math examples in the Learning Journey story “I am Cristhian”.
Instead of having students solve these individually, ask them to have discussions with other students about how to best approach the examples. For figuring out if the given number is prime or composite, have students work in pairs; for discovering factors and multiples of the given number, students can sit in groups of three; for exploring math patterns, ask students to work in groups of 4. Encourage students to work together and to not be shy in asking for assistance from their peers if they need some extra explanations of how to approach and solve these math examples. Also encourage students who are helping others to be humble in giving their advice, as they too will at some point be in a situation where they need a little extra help.
Ask students to journal how it made them feel to both ask for help and provide help to other students. Some writing prompts can include, “Does it feel different to ask an adult or someone your own age for help?
What do you think are some reasons why? What does it look like to "humbly" help someone?”
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Being Brave
Can a friendship be a type of relationship? Or are they totally different? For me, it is important to have a relationship based in friendship, where you can grow with a person and learn from each other. What do you think? Can you tell me 5 things that you believe make a relationship strong?
If the below lines represent the walking path to the Napo River and the Napo River itself, can you tell me if they are parallel or perpendicular?
Is bravery defined from a single act, or is it something to practice every day? What are some ways that you can develop bravery as a habit?
Yes, it was risky for us to float down the river holding onto pieces of log. Are there things you do for fun that could be considered risky? Have you ever thought of the risk of doing those activities? Do you think that “risk” means different things to different people? Can you give an example?
I used to walk from my house to the pen where the pigs were kept. Since there is a starting point and an ending point, should a representation of my trip be drawn as a line, line segment, or ray?
My parents were very protective of me and my siblings. How about your parents or the adults in your life? Can you tell me about some of the things you have heard them say they do not want you to do? Do you know why they say this? Have you ever asked them? Even if you disagree with them, can you see it from their point of view?
What other alternatives do you think I could have created to avoid working at night with limited light? Try to come up with some ideas– it might help to think about it from the perspective of time management, different sources of power, or about the amount of homework that the teacher gives each day. How about you tell me about some of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the ideas that you came up with?
When I was finished with my homework, I would fold it in half and put it in my bag to protect it. Which line would I fold it down if I wanted to make sure that it was folded into matching parts?
Want to create a calm and focused space to start the conversation? Set up desks or chairs in a circle and start the session with 2 minutes of collective silence.
“How can we overcome and learn from fear, rather than letting it hold us back?” A great way to connect with your class is to share a time that you were faced with something that scared you.
This can also help students understand that being afraid is not something to be ashamed of, but rather something from which to learn. You can describe the situation and what your immediate reaction was, and then how you decided to act with courage. Explain that bravery is not ignoring fear or pretending it doesn’t exist, but rather facing it and making a decision based on the risks and potential outcomes. You can then ask students to share a time that they personally were scared. Instead of focusing on what caused the fear, ask them to focus on how they chose to overcome it. “How did you decide to act? Did you think of the potential risks? Did you have to act right away, or did you have time to reflect on the situation?” You can also explore different examples of what bravery can look like. “Are there always outward signs of bravery, or is it sometimes in your mindset (such as staying calm)? Do people have courage only during major scary events, or can people be brave every single day? Can you think of some ways how?”
With your students, read the Learning Journey story “Cristhian’s School Journey”.
To practice reading comprehension, ask students, “Why did Cristhian feel he needed to be brave when confronting the snake?” (hint: he says it is because his brothers looked up to him as a role model). You can then ask students if they have ever been in a similar situation. “Do you ever feel like others are counting on you when you are in a situation that is challenging or scary? How do you react, when you know others depend on you?” You can also watch the Learning Journey video “I am Cristhian” and ask students to write down times in the video where they personally might find the situation scary or challenging. Students can then share their answers, which may include walking through the forest, or riding the motorbike, or even fishing (and if students say they wouldn’t be scared or challenged by any of the situations, ask them to use their empathy skills and imagine if they were someone younger experiencing it for the first time). After students share how they would feel, ask them if they believe Cristhian might feel the same way. “Do you think that because Cristhian lives in this environment, he would be more, less, or the same level of scared as you? Do you think that because he is used to the situations, it impacts how he relates to the challenges he faces? Why or why not?”
A major aspect of bravery is having a clear head so that you can understand the situation and make a thoughtful decision. To connect this practice with math concepts, first ask students for some tips on how to calm down when they are stressed or anxious.
Explain that when people are afraid, they are usually stressed out as well. To physically mimic stress, ask students to run in place for 30 seconds. Then, implement some of their ideas for calming down– these can include closing their eyes, or taking a deep breath, or focusing on a relaxed scene in their mind. Once students feel that they can focus again, you can ask them to engage with the math examples in the story “Cristhian’s School Journey”. Once students have practiced determining if lines are parallel or perpendicular (page 2), figuring out if a given example is a line, line segment, or ray (page 3), and exploring a line of symmetry (page 4), you can ask them, “Do you think that how you physically felt impacted your ability to make a thoughtful decision when solving the math examples? What are some other factors that can influence your ability to think rationally when you are stressed or afraid? How can you address those factors so they don’t get in the way of your ability to make a thoughtful decision?”
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Not hers. Not yours. People are always more than the chapters anyone could share. Hold what is here gently. Approach with curiosity, before judgment.
If a moment stayed, follow it. If a question rose up, hold it. The quiet teaching is still teaching.
Three or four real stories woven into one lesson, your topic, your time. Cristhian is one. The weaver finds the others, threads the math, the literacy, the values, the reflection.
Open the weaver →