The sight seeing is out of this world. I was thrilled to death to snorkle at Snake Caye. Even the 7 boa constrictors in the trees there were amazing. I also went to Blue Creek and swam with thousands of fish. Walking through the rainforest was so incredibly cool. Never in my life did I think I would actually have the opportunity to walk in the rainforest. The sheer utter beauty of it was worth the trip right here. Ah, but there is more. I loved the Maya ruins. I couldn't get over how they built these structures so many years ago. I loved staying at the Maya Village. Their lives are so different from mine. But they are so happy with their way of life, and I don't blame them! I swam at Big Falls and sat in the falls, letting the water massage my back and legs. It was fantastic. I heard authentic Garifuna music. It was quite a heady experience. In a couple of weeks, I am heading for Placencia, and am looking forward to the white sandy beaches as well as the howling monekeys at Monkey River.
About teaching here: It is wonderful. I feel like I am really needed here. I feel like the students are benefitting from me being their teacher. Their reading and writing skills are below average here, so it feels good to help them. I feel these students need me more than the students in the United States who have supplies and things. The students are not used to different styles of teaching, so they were skeptical a few times when I tried new things with them. They are now asking me why I need to leave soon. They are also asking if others will be coming after me. So, I believe the experience has been successful.
I would tell anyone who is thinking about coming here to DO IT. It is amazing here. I am 43 years old and I did it! I have learned to be creative and inventive in order to get my lessons across. There is a huge shortage of ink, paper, and copying, so I have learned so much!
The things I did with my class that are my favorites(and theirs) I had my form one class create timelines for a play that we read. Their timelines were very ceative, and they loved the project. They really did a fine job. We put the posters up around the classroom, and they are proud of their work.
In my third and fourth form classes, I had them create a coat of arms for the cover on their writing portfolios. They LOVED this project. They did a fantastic job! I was so impressed with their creativity. The mottos they picked out were so inspiring. It still brings tears to my eyes to think of them. They have writing portfolios to be very proud of.
In my third and fourth forms, I had them keep spelling and grammar logs. This has been very successful. They have figured out some of the problems they have in their writing, and they are correcting these things themselves. I taught them how to write poems. They loved this, too. They told me they had never before been shown how to write any type of poem. I find this amazing! Some of the poems are so wonderful.
The last thing I will say is that I have been successful at having students write multiple drafts of their work and getting used to having and being peer writing partners. This has been really fun for them because they had never done this before.
Being here has shown me strengths I never thought I had. I am very happy I came here. Of course there has been some rough times. I expected these though. My first family I was placed with didnt work out for me because they didnt speak English. My first Cooperating teacher wasnt cooperative. I got robbed of my walkman and two cameras. I got sick with a bacterial thing. But, you know, I really learned a lot. I am still glad I came here. I can now say I did this. I know that these students have really learned from me. Funny thing is, I learned as much from them as they did from me!
I'm writing to you on my teaching experience. First off, tell them to be prepared to teach with only the resource you have-your mind- using lots of fun activities, etc. What these kids need is a transition time, I'm in the classroom trying to teach the multi-genre unit to kids that have never had anything like this before -- have never been taught to think for themselves, it was a challenge. These students need at least a month to have a transition from busy work thinking to creative, analytical thought. I did however, receive 23 out of 24 multi-genre papers on tim -- so they are starting to get it (and some wonderful ones at that). The language barrier is a challenge, they want to speak Creole and their lack of English use shows in their writing (their grammar is horendous). Tell the next batch to bring some fun grammar exercises. It also took at least a month to get in the flow-and now I'm starting to feel like a real teacher. Classroom management is a pain sometimes -- but I think that goes for student teaching anywhere. Be as excited as possible when you teach, these kids need it. You have to be very thorough, and anything you think will take 15 mins. will take 30, it's just how it goes. They can understand your concepts but everything needs to be very clear and simple. The potential to learn is there, and these kids need this chance more than anyone. It is worth the challenge. Prepare the teachers for the poor conditions of the school-no email, kids not having textbooks, etc. What more can I say?? I am learning and growing everyday. We are going kayaking on the Rio Grande today.
Allo all - An laid back RBARR here sends greetings from sunny Punta Gorda....My friend Iris and I just breakfasted across from the sea, picked up groceries at the Saturday market and are going kayaking on the rio Grande this afternoon....Lucky little brat is me... - no more spiders so far - very exciting: one of my classes is covering aquatic ecosytems and just yesterday I confirmed for a feild trip for my students, I, and coordinating teacher out to Snake Caye again - hopefully going to try to round up some snorkel gear for the kids and seek out the fishes!! Wahooo!!!!!
If you want to know how you get your radio fixed in Belize, read on - you tromp around town in search of the cheapest tape player you can find because you need tunes but are not rolling in the green stuff Finally a fellow (soon to be known as the "radio dude") bargains with you for a reasonable price. You bring the radio home and rock for 2 days. On day three, the radio craps out and you complain about "electronics down here " and "I can't believe this" - The radio dude tells you it will be fixed the next day. The next day you visit again and are told it will be fixed the next day. You visit the next day and are told that now the radio has to fly to Belize City for repair and your face falls forlornly as memories of tunes at all times flashes briefly before your eyes. You think of all the good mixed tapes your roomate Iris has. You come back to work out a refund and the radio dude offers to lend you his own personal tape player for the remainder of your stay - you hopefully ask him if he is serious and he confirms that he has many tape players and a CD player to boot. One glitch - the tape player has a plug in ment for British outlets and you must find a converter....you tromp around town some more and return....the radio dude and his friend cut wires with a large knife a wrap up the handi work in packaging tape You return home, wrap up the handi work further with duct tape, and give your roomate the rock on dude hand signal as you press play........