Scuola Materna Anna M. Martorano
While in Italy, I took a morning off from my travels to visit a small nursery school located next to the University of Mary Rome campus. My guide spoke very little English and I speak even less Italian, so my insight was based mostly on observation. When I first walked into the school, I immediately recognized some cultural characteristics such as Italian flags, the obvious language barrier, grembiulinos, and habitually late parents, but I was more surprised by how similar the school was to an American school. I was able to identify many similarities such as (an approximately) 8:30 AM start time, bell work, morning meetings, distracted children, disorganized cubbies, and a positive learning environment. One of the teachers used her knowledge of English to explain to me her class read aloud time and showed me files full of lesson plans aligned to each story. I struggled to understand what she was telling me, but it became clear that she was energetic and excited to share with me what she has learned. I felt welcomed and found that I could learn a lot from this Italian woman's passion for teaching. I may have struggled to understand much of what was said, but I did learn one important thing: everyone smiles in the same language.
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