Getting to know Yennifer
Meet Yennifer, a 24-year-old from the Florida Keys. Born and raised there, she began her journey in education by attending Florida State University, where she successfully earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in elementary education.
Yennifer’s story is fueled by two passions: teaching and exploring. She has always found joy in sharing knowledge and embracing new experiences. And Meddeas came into play between these two passions.
An experience of a lifetime
“While completing my last semester of student teaching, I decided to research teach-abroad programs. This is when I found out about Meddeas. I instantly applied to the program and the rest is history.”
Yennifer’s choice to teach abroad has completely changed how she sees things and has set her on a clear path for the future. Through her time teaching internationally, she’s not only gained a better understanding of her goals but also collected memories and lessons that she’ll always treasure. Thankful for those experiences, she’s eager to share her teaching journey with us.
Her teaching stay in Spain
Yennifer currently teaches children ages 3-10 at a Catholic school in the Basque Country. With her 5-year-olds, she engages them in learning about space and planets through hands-on activities like crafting solar systems. “Students were tasked to color the planets, place them in order, and then glue it all together,” she explains, emphasizing the interactive nature of her teaching approach.
In her 2nd grade grammar lessons, Yennifer employs creative methods to reinforce language skills, such as having students create aliens to practice the present simple “have got”. She encourages her students to unleash their creativity while mastering grammar concepts. “To prepare for the lesson, I went over the grammar and gave them example sentences to better understand,” she narrates. The students thoroughly enjoy the activity, presenting their creations to their peers at the end of the lesson. “Overall, the students had a blast creating their aliens and presenting them to their peers,” she concludes, her satisfaction evident in the joy of her students’ learning journey.
Early childhood education is pivotal for shaping a child’s future, and individuals like Yennifer exemplify its impact.
