Day 7: Fun Friday

   Today, you could tell at breakfast that everyone was excited that it was Friday and we had made it through four days of teaching! At San Pablo, we had a sports day. Which involved a volleyball tournament for the second half of the day. Teams were a mixture of ages and skills and divided into four teams (Cobras, Spiders, Mahogany, Toucan). Alex and Ricki’s team, Mahogany, were the champions of the volleyball tournament. We all enjoyed a day spent playing with the kids. The students and teachers of San Pablo really showed their competitive side and team spirit when each team had to create a “fight song” and chant it before the games started. The day was full laughter and friendly competition; which makes for a GREAT DAY!

            Caroline and her class took a trip to the river. This river is where the local people wash their clothes, bathe, and play. Caroline jumped in with all her students and cooled off before lunch. Although it was a day full of competition and fun, all teachers had a successful lesson this morning. On our ride, back to Cardie’s, we reflected on our first four days on teaching. We all feel a deeper connection with our students and even their families. Katelyn, Red Bank, had the opportunity to eat with a student’s family in their home. The students and families of Red Bank and San Pablo have been very welcoming. The kids have taken our hearts and it feels like we have been here forever. We are seeing that there are more similarities than there are differences. We can’t wait for next week and know that it will be a difficult transition when we leave the schools on Tuesday.

Tomorrow, we will be snorkeling in a reef and spending the day at the beach. We are looking forward to a restful day after a busy week. However, we know we will be missing the kids’ smiles every minute!

Caroline and Kara (San Pablo)

San Pablo playing volleyball 

Carra with her friend Oscar

Standard III boys at Red Bank 

Allison in front of the Red Bank sign 

Ellen at San Pablo

Winning team from game night (Kelsey's team)

Caroline in the river with her kids at San Pablo

A little girl showing her beautiful artwork. 

         

Day 6: Day 3 of teaching

            Today was a fantastic day at Red Bank with lots of writing! In the morning, our students were busy at work helping the classes complete their posters for education week. Many of our lessons were filled with writing opportunities for our students to improve their skills and execution.

PSA!!! Kelsey celebrated her 22^nd birthday! It was filled with a lot of love, gifts, and cards from her students who adore ‘Miss B’.  – Happy Birthday, Kelsey!!

The afternoon was filled with tons of excitement as the teachers were all invited to a writing workshop put on by Dr. Finch. In this workshop, the teachers were welcomed to try new ways to implement writing in their students’ work and to create an environment that will encourage kids to become writers.

           While the teachers were working in their workshop, the rest of the school had a great time enjoying the beautiful sun during a well-deserved P.E period. 

Tomorrow, some of our students will be competing in a football (soccer) tournament in Maya Mopan. We wish our students the best of luck and hope to see a trophy back at Red Bank!

Nicole (Standard VI at Red Bank) 

           Today was another great day at San Pablo! Today I taught my Infant 2 babies (First grade) how to divide by three! I stayed up pretty late preparing for this lesson because I wanted everything to be perfect. I really thought about what my kids would enjoy doing, and how they learn best. We did a lot of guided practice and used counting bear manipulatives to divide into three equal groups (which they LOVED!). I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if the students would retain all the information I presented them with today, but I was immediately blown away with how quickly every student was able to understand division. These students were able to write, represent, and read aloud each division equation I presented them with FLAWLESSLY. At this moment, I was honestly almost brought to tears. I was fulfilled with joy knowing that my eager six, seven, and eight-year-olds were excelling in content that was completely new to them.

           For the remainder of my day at San Pablo I co-taught with my amazing teacher Mr. Chiac. We taught contractions as well as natural and man- made resources. We had the students walk around the school and the village to identify natural, and man- made resources. Although I absolutely love teaching my kiddos, one of my favorite parts of my day is during their breaks and lunch. During this time, I walk students to their homes and meet their families. I thoroughly enjoy conversing with students and their families as it allows me to learn about their culture and life in their village.

           I can’t believe that I only have three days left with my students! I hope I have touched their hearts, as they have touched mine in just three days! I am looking forward to all the memories we make within the next few days!

Alyssa (San Pablo Infant 2)

Cara and Caroline at San Pablo

Taylor taking some kids home from Red Bank 

Dr. Pentecost and Kelsey with kids from Red Bank 

Nicole with a Standard VI student from Red Bank 

Nicole, Maddy, and Kaitlyn with Red Bank students 

Ricki with students from San Pablo

Alyssa with Infant 2 students from San Pablo 

Ellen playing with bubbles at San Pablo

    

Day 5: Second day in the schools

Red Bank

In my two short days at Red Bank, I have had many different experiences. I have had the chance to teach two different math lessons and one writing lesson. My math lesson today was about probability. Students had the chance to flip U.S. coins and draw items out of bags to learn about the chance of something happening. The hands-on activities were very effective for my students. My writing lesson was about choice. Students were able to choose a topic they would like to write about we began the pre-writing stage today. I am continuing to grow in my relationships with students and teachers because this will allow for better lessons. Today, there was an assembly at the start of school to kick-off national education week. The school sang worship songs about God, had choreographed dances, and introduced each of the student teachers (us) to the entire school. I have also had the chance to play many games with not only my students but students from the entire school. I play fútbol with most of the students, and it is so much fun. The fútbol team at Red Bank has many trophies from the tournaments they have won against over schools. One thing that I have learned is that people are people...end of story. Overall, this trip has been more than great and I am excited about the rest!

 Cody (Standard II)

San Pablo:

It feels great to be back at San Pablo, seeing all of the students that I taught last year has been absolutely amazing. I am happy to be back and spending as much time with the students as possible. We had a big volleyball game after lunch where the U of L students played against the San Pablo teachers, although we lost 2-1 it was a great experience and all the kids loved watching the game! During our second teaching day, there were some outstanding lessons being taught by our U of L students. In Standard II the students are practicing their math skills by learning about fractions. The students were gathered on the floor in a circle, each with a set of fraction bars. The students worked with wholes, halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths, twelfths. Ms. Kenzie reviewed the fractions with the students and then gave them the task.

In the Standard III & IV classroom, the students were working on reading passages and figuring out what the highlighted words using context clues. To enhance this lesson for the students, Ms. Ricki and Mr. Acal brought the lesson to life so that the students could see the steps of the passage (which was a recipe) brought to life. Some of the students went home and gathered the ingredients for the recipe and they began to follow the steps of the recipe and brought the passage to life so that they could visualize the words. The students cut open a coconut, peeled off the husk and scooped out the white meat. This was a sight to see because in the U.S this would not be a lesson that we could do because the students are not able to leave the school grounds. Also, the students would not be able to bring in a machete to school and demonstrate opening a coconut. This was a perfect way of implementing the Culturally Responsive Teaching in our lessons.

These were only a few of the great lessons being taught at San Pablo.  I can`t wait to continue working with the U of L students to teach the students and to learn from the students as well.

Jordan (Student Leader San Pablo) 

Cody at Red Bank teaching proportions 

Nicole from Red Bank meeting her kids for the first time

Kaitlyn at Red Bank working with a student on measuring his foot and writing about what their feet do.

Katelyn at Red Bank working with students on bar graphs

Red Bank Group

Autumn at Red Bank working with students on finding area 

San Pablo Group: They pass by the banana fields on the way to school.

Alyssa at San Pablo teaching division of 2

Kenzie at San Pablo teaching fractions.

Day 4: Our first day in the schools

Day 4: First Day Teaching!

Today was our first day teaching in our classrooms! We focused on getting to know our students and teachers, learning as much as we could to begin shaping our lessons that will take place the remainder of the trip. While we are all tired from the heat and early mornings, we are grateful for this opportunity to work within these schools!

We started off our day at Red Bank, joining the teachers and principal during their staff meeting. This allowed us to say hello to our teachers and set expectations that will allow everyone to learn from this experience. We immediately got a taste of their culture as newcomers are welcomed before entering the classrooms. We spent the day doing our getting to know you activities and introductory math lessons. We tried to learn as much information about the students as we could to begin shaping our lessons for our remaining time here.

The ride into San Pablo was rough, to say the least. We drove 9 miles on dirt/rocky roads and passed numerous, beautiful banana farms along the way. Once the banana farms ended, the road opened up to the San Pablo school.  We were all greeted by smiling faces and warm hugs. After we settled into our classrooms and met our teachers, the entire school gathered in the church to do morning prayer and songs. San Pablo is truly a tight-knit community and their culture is expressed in all that they do. Students consistently have smiles on their faces and are eager to learn.

We are very excited to get back in the classrooms tomorrow and learn as much as we can, sharing our talent and passion with others!

- Taylor (Red Bank) and Alex (San Pablo)

San Pablo

Alex with some of her students 

Taylor's first day teaching 3 and 4-year-olds at red bank

Autumn Standard IV at Red Bank

Cody Standard II at Red Bank 

Maggie at Red Bank Standard I

Ainsley Red Bank Standard I

Allison Red Bank Standard V

Maggie with her students 

Maddy playing with the 3 and 4 year olds.

Nicole playing with the 3 and 4-year-olds 

Main Building in Red Bank 

Smaller building for Red Bank with outhouse next door 

Kaitlyn helping one of her students to be brave and share her picture with the class.

Cody leading a probability lesson

Taylor implementing our co-teaching strategies.

A 4 years old working on writing his name.

The kids at red bank loved Cody's hair. They haven' seen a boy with that long of hair before.

Dr. Id-Deen, Jordan, and Alyssa talking with students at San Pablo

After a long day of teaching, we had a nice gentleman who cut down some fresh coconut for us to drink.

x

Day 3: Travel to Cardie's Motel

Day 3:

Today was the last day before teaching begins! We started the day by having breakfast at Maya Mountain Lodge before departing for the outdoor shops in Xunantunich. The shops were comprised of multiple local vendors who sold a variety of handcrafted souvenirs. It was a wonderful experience, and many of the students bought items to take home to loved ones while supporting the local economy. After leaving the shops we drove to El Rancho for lunch. This was a hangout spot because of the public pool and the DJ!!

Once lunch was finished it was time for us to begin our two and a half hour road trip to Cardies Motel, where we will be staying for the next 10 days. On the way, we passed by the rain forest and even saw a few forest fires in the distance. When we arrived, everyone got unpacked and set up our teaching supply room before we head to Red Bank and San Pablo tomorrow morning. Everyone seems to be anxious to meet the students and teachers tomorrow.

Tonight, we ate dinner at Cardies Motel and the staff were so welcoming and nice. To honor the tradition of the Labour Day holiday, we ate a traditional meal. It consisted of stew chicken, rice and beans, and potato salad. So far we have learned a lot about the culture in Belize and we are excited to learn more through one-on-one interactions with teachers and students in the schools.

-Ainsley and Kaitlyn

Drive from San Ignacio 

All the school supplies donated for teachers and students 

Shop in Xunantunich 

Welcoming signs on our beds 

El Ranchero Resturant