Back In the United States

The time sitting on a plane has given me time to think back and reflect on what a great experience my trip to Belize was. I made many new friendship. I experienced so many cool places. I got time to relax and most importantly, I became a better teacher. This has been the best experience I have had during my 4 years at UNC-Wilmington. It was sad watching San Pedro disappear into the clouds, but I am excited to graduate and create more teaching memories.

Pedro's from the runway of the plane.

Last view of San Pedro on a rainy day.

Final Blog Prompt

I have already talked about how coming up with lessons that were successful has surprised me but what has also surprised me is that I have not had to be such a planner like I usually am on the trip. Here, I never know what time I am going to go to dinner or do somethings. It has more been like, oh are you guys hungry? Yes ok lets go to dinner at wherever and we get ready and go. Usually I want to know how my whole day is going to go. It does not bother me when things do not go as I plan them, but I just like to have a general idea. It has not bothered me at all either not having a plan. If someone wants to do something and I want to do it too, I just get up and go. It has been really nice and I hope I can continue to do this once I get back home.

This blog has been a very helpful tool on the trip. It has been a way to communicate with all my family members back home about what I have done. Instead of telling everyone every detail about my trip, they can read and ask what they want about specific trips I went on or anything they want me to talk more about. It is also a place that I can write about and reflect back on when I want to rememeber this trip. Unlike the journal I have, I can incorporate pictures into the blog posts. Also, it has been a way to communicate with my students from my internship at Murrayville. They really like the pictures and hearing about what I am doing. They are able to ask me questions about what is going on. Then I am able to reply back to them. I know a lot of them are really excited to see pictures. They also will now have some information for anything they want to know more about when I go back to visit them and tell them about my trip.

Blogs are a great communication tool because anyone who has internet access can see it. Whoever sees it can leave comments that the writer can also answer back. As a teacher, it will be a useful tool to have for parents of the students in my classroom. I can use it to post assignments and worksheets and what is going on in the classroom. It can also have useful links the students can use at home. That way, everyone including the students, will always know what is going on.

Special Education In Belize

The past few days have been a blast. Monday was the beginning of my last week in the schools. I found out that they have a Labor Day holiday so they do not have school. Orginally it was going to be on Thursday but I guess the principal can decide to change it to a Friday in that case, which she did. Now my last full day here will not be spent in the schools but enjoying the beautiful country of Belize. At the school, one of my students brought in her bunny she got for Easter. It was super cute but you could tell how scared he was being held. Samantha informed us that rabbits do not like to be held, so this is probably why he was so scared.

Then after school I got to go on a night snorkel! That was really cool. I love snorkeling and have never done it at night. We met at five to drive out to Hol Chan. As the sun was setting, the dive master was informing us (mainly the divers) of what to expect and what we might see. Once it got dark enough, we headed out. The current was pretty strong, but that was ok. We saw all kinds of fish. I felt like they were more colorful at night then they were during the day. I also saw a nurse shark sleeping, a big hermet crab, a lobster, a shark and a really long green eel. He was around us a lot of the time and at one point he had his mouth open because he was feeding off of the plankton. They just swam around and we could feel them as we were swimming. It was all very cool.

Tuesday was an even better day. I got to go inland to a school for students with disabilities in Belize. Orginally we were told there was no special education here, so I was very surprised by the school. I guess they meant more by not on the island. This school was very into showing the ability in disability and educating all students and all the students were learning. There was a range of disabilities from "slow learners" as they called them to severe cerebral palsy, deaf, and blindness. They also had a seperate class for autism. I loved it and wished I could have been able to work there a little bit more. We got to spend break with some of the kids and they loved us. We just played and talked with all the kids and took pictures. They loved our cameras and kept asking if they could take the pictures. Even the teachers were excited we were there. They were really hoping that we were there to help them teach. I was so happy to be there. They do recognize the disabilities and do really cool things with them. They adapt some of the standards that we use in the United States. The students learn how to do vocational skills that would be usefull in Belize like making jewlry, cooking, and sewing. They also learn life skills for those who have severe disabilities that would not be able to be successful educationaly. The students have a garden they grow fruits and vegetables in then make stuff out of it. They raise chickens and learn how to use chickens. They also have a pond to raise fish and learn how to use fish to eat as well. It was definatly one of my favorite days in Belize so far. The kids were just so excited and we were so excited to see them and hang out even if it was only for a little while. I could talk about this school and the students all day, but I just summed it up in a nutshell.

The school has a marching band run by the lady who does physical therapy with the kids. There is a whole classroom set up just for physical therapy for the students. Also, they have a resource room full of books and a few computers. The teacher who runs this classroom keeps it very neat. He was so nice and was a student who went through the school's program when he was younger!

After we left the school, we went over to the Inspiration Center. It had only opened two weeks ago for clients. it is a clinic where kids with disabilites throughout Belize can come for services they need. It is the only place in the country where the students can get these services. There is a small clinic, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy (which will be started next week). They also plan on having a day care and after school program started up eventually. They would also like to have a multipsensory room for students who may need it like kids with ADHD or Autism. They are taking it one program at a time because it costs a lot of money and they need to raise more money or get it through grants in order to get it all started. Families at most have to pay 10 Belize dollars which is the equivalent of 5 US dollars per visit for therapy sessions, however, this is on a sliding scale. The families who cannot pay this much, do not have to pay as much. The building was so nice and the services are great. The only way that students with disabilities can continue to grow and show their abilities is to be pushed through therapies. It is a great resource for the families to have. Not only do they have these services for the kids, but they also have a social worker who is there to help the families.

Before I went to school today (Wednesday) I got to go visit two pre-schools. The kids were so cute. I hung out in a three year old room at the first pre-school for a while. I had a little partner that would do everything I did and followed me around the whole time I was in there. There was also a little girl who would just sing very loudly. She sang the theme song to Calliou and to Frozen. Frozen is a very popular movie, even in Belize and all the kids just want to build snowmen, but it is way to hot for that here.

Community Service Week

Since we have gotten back, it has been a relaxing and busy week. Tuesday through Friday, a few of us have been spending the week at the Humane Society (Saga) where the dogs live. These dogs come from off the streets and are trying to get adopted. If they have lived there long enough though, once they get adopted, they run away from their homes back to the Saga. There are at least 3 dogs that this has happened to. 

The first day we were there, we cleaned out the kennels and fixed some of the wire on the kennels. A few of us also walked some of the dogs. I walked two dogs with Heather. They were brothers and whenever I got ahead of Heather, he would stop and wait for his brother. We took them on the beach and they both went straight to the water and laid down. It was so cute.

Wednesday we spent the whole day painting. Half of us painted some of the buildings where the dogs are kept and the other half painted the fence at the vet part of the Saga. Around lunch time, we left and went to Estelle's for lunch and it was delicious. It was on the beach and very tasty. 

Then we went back and finished painting. It was really tiring and hot. I have never sweated so much but it was also fun.

Friday, only a few of us went back in the morning. First we cleaned out the kennels again. Then we took on the task of bathing all of the dogs. Some of them did not mind it at all but others it was a task. They kept running away and we had to hold them down. The smaller dogs had more power than the bigger ones. Then we had to brush them out, clip their toenails and clean their ears out. After we cleaned one dog, he went right under the little house and dug in the mud and got all dirty again. He did not like being clean.

The only other interesting thing that happened was this huge crane like truck coming through on the beach. They were moving a little hut on the beach from one side to the other. The building got stuck between two trees at one point too. It was really entertaining to watch.

Upcoming events for the last week of my time here in Belize!

Saturday and Sunday will be spent relaxing and finishing my community service book as well as going to help out ACES (the crocodile organization) take down something and clean up trash. Monday we will start back up in the schools and have our final meeting and we are going on a night snorkel which I am really excited about. Tuesday the special ed students plus Tori are going inland to visit a state run school for students with disabilities. Wednesday, Samantha and I will go after school to finish up our documentary. Thursday and Friday are normal days at the school and we have our final group dinner Friday night.  Saturday I will have a very long day of traveling back to Charlotte but that is ok! It is crazy that it is almost over!

Inland Trips

We are now back from our inland trips. After Punta Gorda, we stayed in San Ignacio, Belize. We had to be split into two groups because for one excursion, there could only be 8 people in the group. On Thursday I was in the Caracol group. The ride there was very bumpy and very long. Before we got there, we stopped at Rio Frio, a small cave. We stopped to take some pictures, touched the sand in the cave and just looked around for a little bit before heading off to the entrance of the park where Caracol was located.

We had to be at the entrance of the park by 9:30 in order to be escorted by the military. Caracol is located about 3 miles from the border of Guatemala and Belize. The really poor people live on the other side of the boarder and would illegally come over and steal a plant that is worth a lot and started to rob tourist. Now that the military travel with the pack of tour groups, this has not happened. We had to leave by 2 in order to get out with the military as well.

Once there, we explored the ruins. They are only 10% excavated on the grounds. We saw lots of mounds that underneath were more of the structures. The first one was a residential area. The second part was the best. We went to a temple. It was really high, the tallest structure in Belize, and we got to climb it. That was definatly a workout. A little boy said it was 97 steps all the way to the top. We enjoyed the view for a while before heading  down.

Once we climbed down, we spent some time looking at the howler monkies in the trees. There was a baby and a mom. We had seen them the previous day at the zoo, but it was cool seeing them in the real trees rather than the zoo. Then we explored more ruins and climbed up some of them. We also saw the battle field, which has many different interpretations of how it was played. After we got to enjoy lunch.

 Then we got to go to a waterfall! It was a lot of fun. We first jumped off the little rock, then Tori, Lauren, Jordan and I went for the higher rock. I was really scared but glad I did it. Some guys had to show us how to get up the rocks. I still had trouble and Jordan was pulling me on my stomach up the rock and I ended up sliding on my stomach to get up the rest of the way. Very entertaining to watch I bet. Then it was scary to jump because the guys kept teling us to jump out but eventually I just jumped and it was a lot of fun! Then, we tried to get inside the waterfall. The current was really strong so it was really hard but we made our way to the side of it and held the rocks the whole time and got in it. We hung out there for a while hoping for a picture but never got one. Everyone else was kind of far. After that we left and went back to our hotel and got dinner. Then we just hung out.

The next day we went to the ATM tour. This tour you could not bring a camera with you. It is a wet cave where the Mayans used to burry people and have religious rituals. Inside it we saw all their pottery and broken pottery. We also saw skulls and bones of the people. There was only one full skeleton. The reason you cannot bring cameras inside now is because someone dropped a camera on a skull and now he has a big hole in his head. It was a really interesting tour and we learned a lot. 

We walked through the cave and climbed through it. At one point you would be in ankle deep water then you could we be water all the way to your neck. We had to climb over rocks and through rocks in the cave. We also had to climb a rock to get to the level with the pottery, which was kind of scary because our feet were wet. Then we had to take our shoes off and only wear socks just in case there was pottery in the ground, we did not want to break it. That was kind of uncomfortable walking around in a cave without shoes. 

After this, we ate lunch again and headed back to the hotel in San Ignacio. It was still pretty early so we walked around the town doing a little shopping and just looking around and staying away from the hotel because we had no AC. We also got dinner together and just hung out.

Sunday was Easter, but we left Belize and went to Guatemala! It was only about a 15 minute ride to the border. Then we waited in a long time to pay the exit fee. Then we got our Belize exit stamp. Next, we were in no man's land as our guide collected our passports to get our Guatemala stamp. We got in the van and then got our stamps, THEN we were finally on our way to zip lining. I have never crossed a border on feet before so that was kind of cool.

There were 8 lines for ziplining. The first one, I was going pretty fast and kept spinning and almost went onto the platform backwards, so it kind of scared me fore the rest of the lines, but it was still really fun! Some people tried the superman where you put the harness on backwards and go head first. I was too scared to try it and I am perfectly fine with that. That took about an hour and then we got back in the car to go to Flores.

Flores is a very cute little town in Guatemala. It is an island that is surrounded by a lake. Our guide told us a little bit about the town, and then we were set free for lunch and shopping. We all went to Capitan Tortuga. The waiter did not really speak English, which is common. Their first language is Spanish. A lot of people will send their children to school in Belize though so that they can learn English. Luckily, Kelcey is fluent and helped us all out. After lunch we only had about 45 minutes left for shopping. It was a bad dash, but we all got it done. I think we all could have used about 30 more minutes but that is ok! Then it was time to leave Guatemala.

Catholic Church in Flores that the Spaniards built on top of a Mayan Temple to show that their church and beliefs were more important and better.

Once we got back to the border, we had to get our Guatemala exit stamp and our re-entering stamp for Belize. We got really lucky. The past students have had to go to get their Visa renewed and pay $25 since we are here longer than 30 days. The lady at immigration was really nice and gave us another visa until May 10, so we all saved a trip and money! 

Then we drove back and had our bus driver drop us off at Fuego for dinner. It was Molly's birthday so we wanted to surprise here for dinner. It was delicious and we had a lot of fun. 

After we all went back and packed up our stuff to head back to San Pedro. We were on our own to get back so we got up and took the bus back to Belize City. Then took the water taxi back to San Pedro. Easy trip and now we are back here for the next 12 days until we come home!

Punta Gorda and Belize Zoo

My last post already talked about the wonderful bus ride into Punta Gorda (PG) but the rest of PG was fun.

On Tuesday, Caitlin, Tori, Lauren G. and I went on a cave and waterfall excursion while everyone else went to learn how to play the drums. We were picked up and driven to the waterfall which ended up not being what we were expecting. It was very small and just had a little area to swim in but not very deep at all. I went on a rock to take a picture with my bathing suit cover up on and fell. It was very funny but then I did not have my dry coverup the rest of the trip. Thankfully Caitlin let me use hers and she wore her sarong. We took some pictures (all of which are on a camera) and left. Then we went to the cave and it was a lot better. We hiked a little ways and then entered the cave. It was a wet cave so we had a life jacket, headlamp and helmet to swim the whole way. There were 3 little waterfalls and then a big one at the end that we played around in some. Then we went back and there was a rope swing into this clear blue river so we all took a few jumps off of that and headed back to our hotel.

The next day we went to the chocolate farm. This started off at an archeological reserve where our guide showed us a bunch of Mayan structures. He also showed us a tree that makes natural rubber. If you hit it, this sap runs down the tree. When it hardes it feels like a piece of rubber.

 Then we went to a the farm which was not like a farm I was picturing. It was basically just land with a bunch of trees on it. They showed us the cocoa pods that chocolate is made out of and we tasted the seed. It was really slimy but the slim tastied fruity. Then there is a seed that still does not look like a cocoa bean. 

Cocoa pod that the beans are in.

We also tried a coffee bean that does not taste like coffee. They had spice leaves and fruits as well that they use to make their foods. After we finished, we headed over to have lunch and make chocolate of our own. For lunch I had chocolate chicken, veggie rice and some tomatoe slices. The chocolate chicken did not taste like chocolate. It just used the cocoa bean powder as part of the seasoning. We also had the chance to try hot chocolate and it was so bitter until you added sugar into it. Right before we finished the lunch portion, we all got to try some chocolate, They had ginger, orange, coconut, light milk, dark and spicy. I really only liked the light milk and the dark chocolate. 

When we were finished, the guide brought out some cocoa beans that had been fermenting while we ate. They have to do this for 45 minutes. Then we all had to crack the shells off the beans.

Before

After

The guide then brought us over to the tool use to grind the beans. It is something that has been passed down in his family. He was of the Mayan descent. We all got a chance to grind the beans and make the chocolate 100% cocoa. Then he went into double time and melting the chocolate so we could change it from 100% cocoa which is very bitter to something sweeter. We split it up to be 75% cocoa but it was still too bitter and we added more sugar. After you add sugar, you always have to grind it up. Then we put it into a mold so we could try it, but I don't think anyone ever did because then he started to show us how they make chocolate now with modern technology. 

They use a crock pot to ferment the beans. Then they use a device they made on their own to shell the beans. They use a blow dryer device to get all the shells out and then a normal chocolate melter to make the chocolate. Then they sell candy bars as well. We got the chance to look around the gift shop full of things made out of cocoa and then we drove back to relax till the next morning. The trip really showed me that the chocolate we eat in the US may taste good, but it's not made out of very much chocolate.

The next morning was another trip on the bus to meet back up with Heather and Dr. K and start our inland excursions. We left the hotel at 5:30 in the morning to get on the Belize City express bus so that it would not stop as much. We would get off in Belmopan. It was a lot nicer. We did not have to fight for seats. The bus was more of a run down charter bus with air condition and I slept pretty much the whole way. Once in Belmopan, we got off and went to a little food market and all got breakfast before trying to get on another bus to the zoo. That was a task. They only let 15 people on at a time and some of us were on the wrong side of the railing because they only opened one side of the gate. I ended up climbing under the pole and getting on the bus. We had told him we had 14 people that needed to get on which is very hard when the bus is pretty much already full but he let us. Some people had to sit 3 in a seat with random people so we could leave the station and head to the zoo.

We had a very long time at the zoo but did not need it. We walked around and saw lots of animals. We saw toucans, howler monkies, spider monkies, owls, tapir (related to the horse and rhino), jaguar, puma, quash, hawks, eagles and pretty parrots. I think that is it. My favorite was the jaguar and the toucan. The jaguar was born at the zoo so he could not be released back into the wild because he would not survive. You could pay to sit in a cage and him come around you and do flips and go above you in the cage and some people did that so I got to see too from farther away. The whole zoo is rescued animals or animals that were hurting people or are going extinct in Belize, so that was really cool.r 

Tapir

Parrot

Jaguar

Tori and I at the zoo.

So after the zoo someone picked us up and we went to our hotel in San Ignacio. Everyone was really tired and the whole bus was asleep. We got dinner and just walked around the shops because Easter is like Christmas here so a lot of things were not going to be opened when we got back from our excursions.

The Adventure to Punta Gorda

We left today for our inland excursions and boy was it the adventure. The morning part was easy. We got up and walked to the water taxi. We got on the water taxi at 8:30 to Belize City. It took about an hour and a half. We first stopped at Caye Cauker but then we just kept going to Belize City. Once we got to Belize City, the adventure began.

We had to take a taxi to the bus station. They told us it was going to cost 2 dollars. As usual we assumed it was 2 Belize but it was 2 American once we got to the bus station. Then the bus station was nothing like what you would expect. It was just this open building with no doors. There was a part with seats to wait at and food to buy and then another section to get on the bus.Well we got there around 10:30 and they said the bus to Punta Gorda was at 12:15 then it changed to 11:15 then back to 12:15. So we waited till 12:15. Then at 11:45 we went to the gate to wait. A bunch of us went to use the bathroom before we left since we were going to be on the bus for 6 hours and didn't think we were going to be able to stop and use the bathroom. We had to pay 50 cents to use the bathroom and they would give you the toilet paper. Also, the toilets didn't flush and the sink wouldn't work. That was a great experience.

Waiting at the bus station.

So now comes the story of getting on the bus. You do not pay for your bus ticket until you're on the bus. The guy told us we would get on the bus at gate 1.  So then it was time to get on the bus. They didn't open the gate they told us to go to. They opened the one next to us and everyone just goes storming out to the bus pushing and shoving. I made it through the crowd but no one else did so I was just watching to make sure they did. We went to the back of the bus to get on and they weren't opening the back so we ran to the front but then they did so half of us jumped on the back and got seats. It was a mad house looking for seats but everyone got them. They made the people who didn't have seats get off. The bus was a schoolbus without air conditioning. We just had all the windows open. Then we finally left and we had no idea how long it would take. 

Ps. We saw these two guys handcuffed together standing next to us at one point. We were a little weirded out by it. They ended up having to getting off. Later on we found out the guys were criminals and they were in town for their court date. They ended up having to get off because the police officer that was with them could not get on the bus and they also did not have seats so that was actually a good thing.

Photo credit: Lexi

We got to the next stop in Belmopan without really any other little stops. The bus driver (conductor they call him) drove really fast around winding roads and then all of a sudden we would slow down and go over a speed bump and then speed up again. Once at this bus station the conductor basically told us if we got off then our seat could be taken. There were also food vendors yelling at us through the windows of the bus. Then we were off again.

We made more stops. Still could not get off to use the bathroom. More people piled on. Some people got off. We went through a police check point so there were a few people standing up and he made them sit down. Then we got to Dangriga and it got crazy from there. 

Once we got to Dangriga, they started to let people on the bus without having seats. These military guys got on and where pretty young. They were telling us about how they were going to Punta Gorda to go to the border near Guatamala because they were trying to come over the border. Also, since it is a holiday weekend the police and military are more on their game. Guatamala and Belize have been fighting for a few years now. 

The bus started to get really packed from this point on. Also, we started making stops about every five to ten minutes and would pick up anyone who flagged down the bus. The bus conductor kept driving really fast then slow down then go fast again. I tried to sleep at some point but every time I would fall asleep we would slow down again and I would wake up.

Samantha and I felt great about this bus ride...

Once we got to the Indepedence bus stop, we were allowed to get off and use the bathroom. At this point it has been about 4.5 hours without using the bathroom and for those who know me, they know this is a huge deal. I decided to get off and go to the bathroom. Dr. C and Caitlin also decided to. When we got back all these people were piled in the rows so we couldn't get back to our seats in the back of the bus and we were all scared we weren't going to have our seats but Samantha held my seat down and I pushed through people and climbed on seats to get back. Also, a drunk guy got on with a beer and spilled it all down Dr. Catapano's leg and through the bottle out the window even though it specifically said not to throw things out the bus window. 

We had about an hour and a half after this to get to Punta Gorda. It was the longest hour and a half. We were all packed together. There were people in the aisles. Some of the military people were sitting on luggage in the pack of the bus. People in the aisles were on top of us and then we kept stopping every 5 to 10 minutes but there was literally no room. It was just crazy insane.

Once we got close to Punta Gorda we would stop all the time for people to get off. The bus got very empty. We never made it back to the bus depot. We ended up pretty much right in front of Saint Charles Inn where we are staying. It is really cute. We have big beds for a few nights so that will be nice. 

The bus was definatly interesting. It was an adventure. I feel like there is more to satay I just can't even remember it all. Definatly a memory for this trip. Luckily our trip to Belmopan on Thursday will start super early but will not have any stops. We are riding the express bus. 

Excursion Number 1

I felt like today's full day excursion should have its own blog post. Unfortunately, I do not have any picutres because they are all on my camera and my camera photos go to my laptop that has not been staying connected to the internet very well, but I might try and add some photos in later.

Our excursion today consisted of a catamaran trip with two snorkel stops as well as a stop at Caye Cauker, another island in Belize. It was a very tiring yet fun day.

We met the boat drivers at 8 this morning to get whatever gear we needed. Some people had some but others did not. Then we walked over to the boat and got on. On the catamaran there were bean bags and raft type seats for us to relax on while the boat was driving. We drove about 35 to 45 minutes to our first stop at Hol Chan right outside the coral reef. It is broken into four zones. We were in the second zone and our second stop was also one of the zones. The dive master took a small group of us around and told us what we were seeing. I got a lot of cool pictures but my favorite thing I saw was the sea turtle! We saw two. The first one started swimming towards me so I started to back away and the dive master said it was fine but when the group of divers went out a few weekends ago, someone got bit by the sea turtle, which was why I backed away. I also saw lots of fish and really cool coral. There was a nurse shark as well some eagle rays which were also really cool!

Once we got back on the boat we drove off to the next stop, shark and ray alley. There are lots of sting rays and nurse sharks there. We weren't there as long because after the dive masters stop throwing fish in to feed the sharks, they start swimming away. There were tons of big fish and nurse sharks and the sting rays swam at the bottom near the ground. The nurse sharks swam right by me. It was really cool. I thought I would be scared but I was not at all.

After that we took a 45 minute boat ride to Caye Cauker. There was a big rain cloud so it rained pretty hard for about 10 minutes, but we were already wet so it didn't really matter. Then it was sunny the rest of the trip. Once there we had 2 hours to do whatever we want. I went to eat lunch with a few people and most of the tables had swings for seats. That was really cool. After lunch we walked around the island looking at the souvenir shops. We also went to the split, which is a a small area on the island where the island split into two different island. There is lots of very clear blue water to swim in and you can snorkel if you have your own gear and want to.

After that we headed back to the boat. We had an hour and 45 minute boat ride back to San Pedro. It was so relaxing on the water with the pillow chairs. A lot of people took naps the whole ride back. I think I may have fallen asleep but only for a few minutes. I just relaxed and watched the clear blue ocean. When we got back everyone was really tired. A bunch of us did our laundry to pack everything up for our inland trip Monday and just relaxed. It was definatly one of my favorite days so far!

Surprise Surprise

This week at school has been great and stressful as well. I have continued to teach lessons in language arts and math all week. In language arts we have continued to do asking and telling sentences. I also taught a lesson on silent consonants gh, wr and kn. The students did very well.  I have been coming up with a lot of games for this. The students love playing games, especially if it is boys versus girls! Also, the students wrote a story about Easter and the Easter Bunny using asking and telling sentences. That was really cute and funny.

Today (Thursday) was report card day right before the Easter holiday. I had the chance to play games and do fun activities with the kids all day. The kids really enjoyed it. The teachers also give out rewards for the top 3 students in the class and honor roll certificates so last night I spent a few hours making them out of construction paper. 

As part of the activities we planned for the kids, Mariam, the intern working with ACES the crocodile conservation program who is staying at Pedro's with us, came and talked to the students. She talked to them about how to conserve them and all about the parts of their body and what they are for. She also brought one around and let the students all touch it. 

If you want to know more about ACES, check out their website.

http://www.americancrocodilesanctuary.org

Tomororow is the day before the students' Easter Holiday for two weeks. They are having a beach party. They are going to be able to play on the beach all day and play in the water. They also serve them hotdogs, cupcakes, juice, water and cheese dip. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. 

Something that has surprised me that I did not think I would be able to do very well is come up with lessons and activities to do literally a minute before I do them. I have talked about the Social Studies lesson I had to do in the last post that went very well. It happened again a few days later. Ms. Mazey needed to finish her report cards so she asked me to teach Social Studies. I asked her what she wanted me to teach because if it was something about Belize history, then I would not be able to. She told me to teach the mapp, so I had to come up with another quick lesson. The only other time I had to do this was with a science test. She said the students were supposed to have a test on the seeds of fruits. We had seeds from a project we had done so when she asked me to give them a test, I hadimmediately  thought to walk around with the seed and have the students write down which seed it came from. When I suggested this to her, she didn't want me to do it that way. She wanted a way for the students to match the fruit to the seed so I had to use my non-existant drawing skills to draw fruits and their seeds. Somehow the students did well on this test.

There has been times that my lessons have not gone as long as I thought they would. I have been able to come up with quick activities to do with the students while waiting for the bell to ring. It has been great!

I knew going into this trip that planning activities on the spot would probably happen. I was worried about it because I knew I could come up with something, but I was not sure if it would actually be a good lesson or not. Every time I have had to do so, the lessons have ended up turning out really well and the students have seemed to enjoy them. I have been really impressed with myself. I feel like no matter what, I will be able to continue to improve this skill and use it once I am back in the United States!

Second and Third Graders at Murayville, here are my answers to your questions!

Bryson- I don't think a cupcake in the mail to Belize will last very long. Maybe we should save it for when I am back!

In math, I have been teaching my students how to tell time when someone says it is quarter past, quarter till or half past the hour. They also have been working on even and odd numbers, but mostly telling time. 

They do not read as much as you guys do in class. They have 20 minutes after a break to read outloud and the teacer and I walk around to listen to them and help them if they need help. We work a lot on writing asking and telling sentences. When you guys write sentence you put a period at the end but the kids here call it a full stop! I have also been reading them a lot of stories and they like that a lot!

Teaching in Belize has been really fun! I am not sure where I would want to teach yet. I like teaching in the States and in Belize! They both have their pros and cons!

I do not know which day yet, but I will be coming back to Murrayville between May 6 and May 8.

What kinds of pictures do you guys want to see from Belize?

Weekend Activities and the Start of the New Week

Things were very different in the school Friday. My students were supposed to have a math test. Ms. Mazey told me I could review with them before it so as I was reviewing with the students, she was making the test. Then it needed copied but Ms. Addie was busy so we could not get the test copied. THe students wrote their journals instead. It only had to be one sentence though. That was definately different for me as well. Most of the time, we have our students write at least 3 sentences at that age.Then when it came time for Language Arts, she asked me what I was going to teach and I said I didn't have anything because she said we were going to do a journal. Since we had already done that I had to come up with something to do on the spot. Thursday was the day we worked on hard and soft G and we still had an activity I never got to, so I did that with them and then she taught them for the rest of the day.

Friday night after school, Tori, Jordan, Caitlin, Samantha and I went over the bridge to the auditorium. Some of the students from our school were having their dance recital. I did not know if any of my students were going to be in it, but one little girl ended up dancing and was so cute. It was really fun to watch and the kids did a really great job.

When we got back, we sang karakoe at Pedro's, which was really fun as well.

Saturday was really fun. Most of us went to the yoga studio for breakfast. It was so pretty. The studio where you do yogo is right on the water. The breakfast was delicious as well. I tried a chocolate pancake. It was definitely worth it. 

Then we went to the Palapa bar where they had tubes hanging out in the water and we just hung out in the water and relaxed for a few hours before heading back for our crocodile adventure!

That night around 6 both Laurens, Jordan, Caitlin, Emma, Lexi and I left to go meet Mariam and Captain Chris at The Office to go on the crocodile tour with ACES. They are a non-profit organization who is working on the conservation of the American Crocodile. They take groups out on a boat and go around the lagoon looking for crocodiles. When they find one, they will catch it and bring it on board to educate the people about the crocodiles and let them hold them. They also take measurements and determine if the crocodiles are ones they have already found and marked. They do part of their research while teaching others about them. If the crocodiles are found in the canals that are in people's backyards, they will release the crocdile somewhere more safe. The crocodiles found there usually are not healthy and have a "jelly belly" because they are eating trash and things that are bad for them. It was really cool!

Sunday Caitlin, Jordan, Samantha and I went to George's for breakfast. There was an island wide power outage as well when we woke up, so we got really lucky it was open. The food was delicious even though it was cooked without power. Then we went to Caribbean Villas again for the BBQ. We also watched the sailing club races.  A lot of our students are very active in the club, so it was fun to watch. When we got back we all just kind of hung out in the shade and made things for our lessons.

Now today is Monday and the school was a bit stressful. When I got to school, my teacher was not there. This has happened before, but she arrived right after assembly so it wasn't a problem. Today it was. I had no idea what she wanted me to teach them. I knew we had Social Studies and had been working on the cardinal directions and the political map of Belize so I had them pull it out. I reviewed what Ms. Mazey had been doing with them and then reviewed using a key with them. Some students were not understanding how to use the key so we went step by step. I had students point to the things I was asking and walked around looking to make sure they were pointing at the right things. Once we got through that, I had them write all the districts of Belize down (districts are like the states in the United States) and then had them find the capitals and write those down. Some of them were getting confused because two of the districts are the district name with "town" at the end. They wrote this for all of them and then I had to review it again and most of the students then got it right. It was really stressful not knowing what to teach, but I feel like I did a good job figuring it out. I have been teaching Language Arts and Math as well every day and that has been going really well.

Some of my students during our hour long lunch break today.

This week I will keep teaching Math and Language Arts. Thursday the teachers do report cards and have conferences with the parents all day, so I am supposed to come up with games and activities for the students to do. Friday is the beach party for the Easter holiday. I am very interested to see how that will be. We don't have beach parties back in the US.!

 

Beginning Days In the School

The past few days have been full of relaxing and teaching. Saturday some people went scuba diving and a few of us stayed back and went to Maria's for fresh juice that was amazing. We had pineapple orange juice. It was cold and very refreshing. Then we went to George's again for breakfast and it was delicious again. We spent the whole day lounging around at the pool and then went to dinner. We had the poker run with everyone that night. It was really fun. We got to ride around in the golf carts they drive here. At every place we stopped, we got a card and whoever had the best poker hand or something like that when we got back to Pedro's won some money. It was a lot of fun. No one really understands how the winner was decided. 

We decided to have four people on the back of our golf cart instead of three. They aren't really rules here about driving.

Sunday was another relaxing but fun day. Some of us wanted to try out the church and went to the English mass at San Pedro's Catholic Church. It was the same as at home, however they did not sing the responsorial psalm and when we did the offering prayers, children read them. Also, the priest's accent was very difficult to understand. There is no air conditioning which is farely common here beccause it costs so much. There were doors open and fans on. The church was right on the beach and very hot and sticky. 

Then we went down to Carribean VIlla which is Peter's ocean resort for the BBQ. The sailing club was out practicing in the water so that was really cool to see. We also had six innertubes stringed together and floating couches to sit in the water with, which was really relaxing. Then for dinner we had our welcome dinner at Caroline's Cafe. The food was declicious and she closed the whole restuarant for our dinner. Everything is made fresh right when you order it, so it took a while but it was well worth it. I had fresh pineapple juice and the vegatarian pasta which was angel hair pasta with brocolli, califlower, carrots, onion and bell peppers in a cream sauce. It also had garlic bread with fresh garlic. Everything is so fresh here and I love it.

Now today is Thursday and we have been in the schools the past 3 days. I am with Miss Mazy at Isla Bonita in Infant 2 which is the equvalent of 2nd grade in the United States. The ages are more first grade though. My students are all 6 or 7 years old and adorable. The day starts at 8:30 with an assembly. Then we either have spanish or social studies depending on the day. Next the kids have a 30 minute break where they mostly all go out and buy tons of sugary things whether it be candy or soda. Then they come back in and we either have DEAR time which is very different than in the US. The students read out loud and we  walk around helping them if they get stuck on any words. Then the students have science, healthful living or PE. They only have PE once a week and the teacher teaches it to them. Next we have math for an hour. Then the students have an hour for lunch and they can go home if they want. A lot of the kids do and not many of them eat the school lunch. Ms. D is nice enough to provide all of us lunch for free and it has been amazing so far. Then we have an hour left of school for language arts. From 2 to 3 is "evening school" where the students who need extra help stay a little bit longer and get a little extra lesson. A lot of the kids run around and play until 3 when their parents come and get them anyway. Some of the older kids just ride their bikes or walk home alone. 

Once I get back from the school I have just been hanging out by the pool, eating dinner and pretty much going to bed early. Planning isn't a huge thing in the schools here. I taught math yesterday and since there are not a ton of resources, it was very different. We used the clocks the students had made and their math notebooks to write the times we were saying down. Today I am taught a lesson on phonics and the hard and soft sound of "g". She showed me the page she wanted me to teach them and it was only 2 sentences. That is very different for me. I have to take two sentences and create a lesson that will last an hour while also teaching the students what they need to learn and make sure they understand it. It went really well though. First we reviewed and I gave each student a work and they had to tell me what letter it started with. Then I taught them the meaning of a hard and soft g. I said some words and had them all tell me if it was hard or soft. Then they took notes on the difference of the two. That is weird for me too. I have never seen 6 and 7 year olds taking notes. They are only a few sentences but it takes forever since they are so young. Then they had two workbook pages to complete and most of the students did farely well. Today was Miss Eve's birthday who is a lady who really cares about the school and contributes money to them no to the students to be able to go. Even at the public schools, the students have to pay a small amount to go. We had a small assembly for her and sang happy birthday. We all got a piece of cake and she let all the students out at 2 today. so we all got to come home early and spend extra time at the pool. Some students had a small drum line which was super cool.

In the school I have just been walking around helping students do their work while also teaching. Few lessons. There are a few students are behind in the class, so I might ask to pull them out some like I would do for special education because that is something very new for the people in Belize. They are not really sure what to do with the kids when they are behind. I would love to try and get the two kids who are having trouble reading to read a little better by the time I leave. 

One of the biggest difficulties I I have had so far is not having resources for when the kids are not understanding things. For the past few days I have noticed my kids are having a really hard time with telling time. In the States I would have worksheets for extra practice or I would show a video that would help them remember. I also do not have internet to help me find something to do. Instead I have had to come up with the "videos" myself thinking of fun ways to remember if it is asking quarter past the hour then we go forward in the hour but quarter until the hour we go back and hour. Also, I kinda of had to make the worksheet myself. I wrote problems on the board and had them do the times in their notebook and went around and checked them. It is also really helpful having 13 other teachers here because when we are having trouble coming up with ideas for something, we have each other. 

It has been great so far and we have some exciting things coming up soon!

To my Murrayville students, do you guys have any questions about the school or Belize or any questions that you would like me to ask my students here?