Re-imagine rural education in COVID-19 El Salvador

Fishing activities are a complement to the work plan to achieve Amún Shéa competencies, students from kindergarten to high school perform activities that allow them to experience and create different learning spaces.

The children know the characteristics of the fish, their physiognomy and at the same time they know the importance of these being part of their nutrition, they know the nutrients they provide them and in this way when fishing activities the students live together and develop social skills Get involved with the rest of your classmates.

In each of the activities the students receive in the classroom the previous orientation of what they will do, they are guided by the teachers and they know the process of feeding, development and breeding of the fish. Children's perception of fishing activity is what reflects students' learning and motivation by having the opportunity to learn by doing.

Lenin 9th grade student: “I really enjoyed the fishing activity, it's a new way of learning, I had never had the opportunity to fish and now I know how to make my own hook and fish for the first time, share with my classmates and laugh while we waited Fishing was one of the most beautiful experiences I will remember this year”.

We are responsible for building quality learning without losing sight of human development, where the practice of values and the promotion of coexistence is essential, as perceived by the students Amún Shéa, Guillermo is a fifth grade student and says: “I do not I could fish, but my friends did and I felt very happy because we were together and we could measure the fish and know if they were ready to eat them, my friends took them home and cooked them with their family, it was a class different but very funny”.

Integrative activities are always an opportunity to promote teamwork and that is reflected in the students' daily lives, who also guide students of different levels and become a support for teachers who have changed the classroom and the blackboard for the practice with activities that go from the visit to the pond, the greenhouses, tree planting, walks through the forest, visits to the communities and coexistence with schools that live other realities of the rural education of the country.

Thank you for your support and for helping us build quality learning in rural areas of the country where we are constantly seeking development for communities through education.

In El Salvador the youth sector has been violated for many years, they stopped believing that it is they who have the strength to overcome the barriers of poverty, violence, migration, among other factors, but in one of the most remote municipalities from the capital San Salvador we are convinced that we have the most powerful weapons in our hands, the strength of young people and education.

In Amún Shéa many of our students find spaces for strengthening human quality, sensitive to values, promoting teamwork and promoting integration activities that strengthen bonds of trust in students, who manage to integrate from third grade through ninth grade sports activities, becoming tutors capable of giving accompaniment to the rest of the students, the practice of sport also leads us to have meetings with other educational communities, knowing different realities and experiences of much learning.

The practice of softball allows to create spaces of coexistence and promotion of social ties, we are aware that our Salvadoran society deserves to make all the efforts that lead us not only to seek educational quality, but also human quality, training students to become beings with healthy interpersonal relationships, who are able to work as a team and integrate into different learning spaces and skills development.

Today we appreciate your support and financial support during this time of success, where we have built learning through the experiences that enrich us and lead us to a broader commitment, the desire to lead more young people to change the reality of the society and that they are able to create opportunities for themselves.

We believe that the smile of each of them is the reflection of all the illusions that are hidden in his mind and that these stories deserve to be carried from heart to heart.

The learning of literacy is fundamental from the first years of study and it is important to have bases that ensure that students will have an effective and meaningful learning, which at the same time enhances their understanding and reasoning skills. In our interest to achieve success and development through quality education we look for alternatives that direct the processes in the right way, so Amún Shéa adopts the Global Functional Communication Method as a learning strategy in the levels of early childhood education , first and second grade.

Initially the method was used as a guide for the teaching of literacy for people with learning difficulties. Literacy has been one of the great challenges teachers have faced and exhausted efforts with traditional methodologies. The Global Method in essence is a different way of teaching and has been successful for children with Down Syndrome, Autism, Dyslexia, hyperactivity, among others, but its personalized form in Amún Shéa we have incorporated this methodology with the objective of guaranteeing the learning of the literacy and the strengthening of understanding and reasoning of what children read and understand.
Leidy Hernández, teacher of the Learning Community 1 (first and second grade) at the Amún Shéa Integral Development Center "I define the global method as a methodology that respects learning rhythms and interests, and as teachers we must take into account that the processes they are personalized and the teaching is based on each child, thus identifying those elements that attract them and in this way it is achieved that learning is not forced but on the contrary they find a motivation to learn ".

Children learn to read with words from their environment, what they like most, or what they do on a daily basis. Family ties are very effective to start with the words they will remember most easily; therefore, it is recommended that a diagnostic evaluation be done to assess the level in which it is located, the purpose is to be equitable with each process.

Jaime (seven years old), first grade student: "I'm Jaime and I learned to read 60 words in two months, I learned syllables and now I read short books, I like to read but I learned with numbers because I like math".

The method helps children to feel safe to read and allows them to identify words taking into account their environment, as Sofia (seven years old) first grader said: "I learned to read with my mom's help, but my teacher taught me to read, she gave me words and I saw the images and that's how I knew what she said on the cards with the images she saw, now I write my name and other words".

Esteven (seven years old) first grade student: "I learned to read with the cards and what I like most about knowing how to read is that now I can also write words and write them on a poster to present them to my classmates".

This is how the method develops literacy skills and this contributes to cognitive development not only in language but also in science, mathematics, life in society and personal life. Quality education must pay attention to each child in particular and attend to diversity.

"I'm Diego and I'm 7 years old, it was difficult for me to learn to read, I could only read nine words, but with the cards and the images where I could see the words I can now read fifty-seven, I know I can learn many more words."

In Amún Shéa we are committed to continue building a quality education that manages effective primary education, with the aim of breaking the barriers of educational conformity and finding alternatives so that learning is the priority and attention is paid to diversity.

"At the Amún Shéa Communications Club we demonstrated that practice is the most effective form of learning, it makes us productive, as well as opening many opportunities for growth, because we learn by doing"  Elisa, eighth grade student.

After survival, communication is the most basic and vital of all needs, there are tools that help us find and enhance the skills necessary to promote opportunities for economic, social and personal development through quality education , this should reflect the importance of strategically communicating not only the results obtained from the tasks and school assignments but rather that the students are immersed in the productive work, in the world of communications.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are one of the examples that better illustrate the new methodological changes for learning by competences, these evolve and go from being an object of learning independently to being part of the curricular objectives as a learning facilitator tool. In this way, it is intended to achieve the productive application of ICT with the introduction of Learning and Knowledge Technologies (TAC), focusing on innovation and continuous improvement in the processes of learning, evaluation and organization.

In Amún Shéa, the implementation of interest clubs enhances the abilities of students in various areas and the communications club is the tool that allows the management and involvement of Information Technologies (ICT) in the learning process. Teachers fulfill the role of providing and providing tools that allow them to manage knowledge to strengthen their skills and life skills and regardless of what they want to do in the future, communication is essential in all areas. The students demonstrate through the Club the potential to create, manage, organize and translate their ideas, which later become content in the new virtual communities.

Amún Shéa communications club is responsible for the production of advertising material for social networks, promotion of new learning techniques through the use of audiovisual material, short films, infographics and internal communication content for the flow of information.

Strategic communication in education is about an educational revolution that fulfills the objectives of special attention that provide students with the relevant learning spaces for their integral development. The communicational tools brought to education can be converted for Amún Shéa into the catapult of good actions, through campaigns that provide educational contents of the different ways of transmitting knowledge in virtual communities, facilitating the exchange of information by converting young people in change managers using ICT by the TAC, all this incorporated in the Personal Learning Environment (PLE), which characterizes Amún Shéa's learning process.

Amún Shéa seeks that the use of communication technologies goes beyond the domain of a series of computer tools, it is intended that students acquire the skills to create photographic material, informative infographics, documentaries, short films, coverage of events, reports that give to know research and trials.

Verenice, eighth grade student, "Being in the Communications Club is an opportunity in which I learn and experience new things, with which I gradually open the doors of knowledge, for this 2019 I have many expectations, I want to focus on the editing of videos, photography and publicity material, with the aim of acquiring diverse alternatives that promote the interaction of knowledge ".

"The Club is a very important learning space, not only is it the opportunity to use tools that help us boost communication, it also contributes to the formation of values such as unity, patience, teamwork and love for what is done. , in the club I found an opportunity for my future", says Lenin, a ninth grade student.

Students who participate in the club have a broad vision of their aspirations for the future and are aware of the importance of using communication tools for the success of their life projects.  This is what Veronica, an eighth grade student, says: "It has been an enriching experience that helps me expand my knowledge and encourages me to actively participate in the learning process of different forms of expression and even better knowing how to apply the right way technology in learning ".

Providing tools to the Amún Shéa Communications Club is one of our main objectives, we are a dreamy and visionary team that aspires to build an equipped space where students have the resources and tools such as cameras, microphones, computers for editing, lighting equipment, audio and video production, as well as having Software according to the needs.

Thank you for contributing to the development of the communities, with your contribution to open learning spaces in order to promote the economic and social development of families in the north of Morazán through education.

Phonological awareness is the ability to identify the sounds that make up words, children learn to decode messages and making use of sounds becomes easier, favoring the learning of reading and writing.

Amún Shéa seeks to strengthen the different areas of language, recognizing the importance of expressing feelings, thoughts, emotions and knowledge as the key tool to achieve autonomy and each student is the manager of their learning process.

As a complement to the learning methodology, students have the opportunity to participate in the spaces that different organizations and companies open in favor of education in El Salvador. For the strengthening of reading and writing, our students participated in the first poetry contest, organized nationally by the Cooperativa de Cooperativa de Conservación Magisterial Vicentina (BANCOVI), where two students were selected who, at a national level, demonstrated their love for the art of poetry.

Andrew (11 years old) fifth grade student, shares his experience as a finalist in the children's category: "I was happy for the opportunity to participate in the poetry contest, I realized that I have a lot of potential and although I felt nervous because it was a contest at a national level, what motivated me was to demonstrate that learning is not only in a classroom but through experiences ".

Alondra (17 years old) high school student, winner of the first place of the contest "At first I did not want to participate, but the support of my mother and my teacher motivated me to compete, the contest allowed me to write three poems in honor of my grandfather who died Five years ago, in the process I learned not to give up and to trust that with the help of God I can achieve all my dreams". 

The success achieved through education is the key that defines Amún Shéa and the constant search for the development of the department of Morazán, will only be achieved with the involvement of all the sectors involved to build a country that leaves behind the violence that is so damaging cause and change for a country of opportunities for children and young people 

We can build quality education in different forms of artistic expression and we are committed to finding the tools to do so. We appreciate your interest and contribution for the education of the children and young people of Morazán.