My Case For Student Teaching Abroad:

If you are an education student, you should student teach abroad, because:

Practicality:
---If you want an abroad experience, but don’t really want to be away from SNC or home for a whole semester, this is a wonderful way to do it for 9-10 weeks. Even if you miss people for this time, it’s definitely worth it.
---If you’re an ELL minor (which I’m not), you can have a whole placement in an English classroom full of ELL students. Even though it’s not my minor, I’ve gained lots of insight into how students learn English as a second language and what they struggle with the most.
---A placement in Mexico is a really practical way to complete your immersion experience for a Spanish teaching minor. Your language skills will definitely improve as you communicate with your host family and the teachers and staff at Varmond, and you’ll come back with a better accent.
---It’s not as expensive as you may think. If you live on SNC campus senior year, you can get reimbursed upon your return for housing for the time that you are abroad. What you spend on your homestay (room & board) abroad is about the same if not less than what you would need to live at SNC for that time. That means the extra cost is really just your plane tickets, any travel you want to do while abroad, and miscellaneous expenses. At least in Morelia, many of the cultural events and museums are completely free, so you don’t have to have a lot of money to have a really full and enriching experience here. In expenses above what I would have paid if I had just stayed at SNC, I paid about $1,200. Even if you need to take out a small loan to go, it’s entirely worth it.

Enriched learning:
---You learn so incredibly much about cultural customs, traditions, foods, and in my case, the language, which makes for a 24/7 learning experience. You may even develop some new tastes.
---In the school, you learn about the education system in a foreign country, which is very insightful and invaluable to bring back as a teacher in the U.S. You see teaching methods, styles, and a curriculum that are at least a bit different from what you’ve learned at SNC for 3 years and from what you’ll experience in your 2nd teaching placement. This opens the door for lots of learning that simply isn’t possible if you only teach in the States.
---Some people think it’s foolish to teach abroad if you plan to teach only in the States your whole life. I disagree with that. Seriously, if you are able to learn how to teach effectively in a foreign country with an educational system that is bound to be different than to what you’re accustomed WHILE adjusting to a new city/country, host family, climate, food, friends (and the process of trying to find some), limited resources (you can only bring so much with you, and it’s harder to find resources in a new and unfamiliar place), culture, language (in Mexico), and limited technology and contact with people back home (which is likely), you will come away with the ability to go anywhere and learn how to teach effectively there. In no other place will you again be teaching and adjusting to so many changes and new things all at one time! Those flexibility and open-minded teacher dispositions will be top notch by the time you leave!
---If you are truly open to the experience, you will become a better human being. You will learn how to live in solidarity with people from another country and culture, which will get you thinking outside of the American mindset. You will see the world through different eyes.
---You are guaranteed to feel what it’s like to be the minority due to your ethnicity, race, culture, and/or language. This has been a powerful experience for me and given me much more understanding and compassion for minorities in the U.S. I now know what it feels like to look different and stick out in a crowd, sound funny, and just not quite fit into the culture perfectly.
---By moving away from everything and everyone that is familiar for a while, you learn much more about yourself, and you learn how to be more independent.

Unless you have a family commitment or health problem that requires that you stay in the U.S. for student teaching, or unless you’ve already been abroad for a summer or semester and that was enough for you, I really can’t think of a good reason to not student teach abroad. Even though it’s scary at first, there are tons of unknowns, you’ll have to miss part of your senior year at SNC, and it might strain you a bit financially, it’s simply too rich of an experience to miss!