Day Five: On Sunday I woke up at about 9:15 a.m. and got out of bed at 9:30 a.m. I took a Pop-Tart and my Laptop downstairs with me and sat outside the hotel under the shade. I worked on my Blog (perfecting my second post to make sure it was how exactly I wanted it) and then listened to a Ted Talk that was assigned by Dr. C for all of us to listen to by Monday. I then left to go get lunch with Ashley, Jessica M., Callie, Meghan, Casey, and Tracy. Dr. K recommended a place called Robin's so we asked one of the guys who works at Pedro's for directions and then we were on our way. Robin's was in the same direction at New Horizons (South) and was relatively easy to find off the main road. A lot of places here in San Pedro have BBQ (which is really chicken) on Sundays so we wanted to go to an authentic Belizean Place for it. Robin only had four orders of BBQ left so three of the seven of us ended with Stew Chicken. It took a while to get our food but Robin was so sweet as he served us and apologized for the wait. I ended up with the stew chicken and was a little nervous about it by how it looked but I ended up really enjoying it! So much so that I literally cleared off my entire plate. It had chicken with potatoes and carrots, a cabbage salad of some sort, some rice, and I also had a coke to drink. Everything cost only $7.50 (14 Belizean Dollars) so not only was it delicious food, but it was very well priced also! After eating lunch Ashley and I went to Caribbean Villas since it was on our way back from Robin's Kitchen while everyone else went back to Pedro's. We spent some time laying out on the beach before heading back to Pedro's. We then spent some time laying out by the pool at Pedro's as well. I felt so weird laying around pretty much all day doing nothing because I felt like I should have been doing something but I was also trying to enjoy my time to relax as well. A little while later I went to the market to get a couple of food items and then when I got back to Pedro's instead of eating the food I bought, I went to the Restaurant at Pedro's and split a Pizza with Maddi, Casey, and Jessica M. The funny thing is I do that at home all the time too. I’ll spend so much money grocery shopping and decide to go out to eat for Dinner that same day. It’s funny how some things don’t change no matter where I’m at in the world. After we all ate I decided to head back to my room and call it an early night since I didn't have anything else to do. I was in the bed by 10:00 p.m. which is so strange for me since I’m a night owl but I figured that I better to get to bed as early as possible since Monday was going to be our first day at School.
Day Six: On Monday I woke up at 7:15 a.m., got ready for the School Day, went downstairs, ate my Pop-Tart for breakfast, and put on Sunscreen while waiting for everyone else to come downstairs. Both New Horizons and Isla Bonita start at 8:30 a.m. and we were all supposed to be there by 8:15 a.m. I’m placed at Isla Bonita Elementary School and we left to go to Isla Bonita at about 7:50 a.m. When we got to Isla Bonita the Principal introduced everyone to their Partnership Teachers before the students all arrived to School. Since Brittany and I are Special Education Majors we don’t get placed in a Classroom and were told that we could spend time talking to each of the teachers to determine which students they would want us to work with by pulling them out for either Small Group or 1:1 Work. The School Day started at 8:30 a.m. by the students all lining up with their Classrooms for Assembly/Devotion and singing the Belizean Anthem. Miss Sharon started by giving some announcements and then introduced all of us UNCW Students and explained to the School why we were there and had each of us introduce ourselves by telling them our names. After the Assembly was over the students were dismissed to go to their classes. One of the neat things at Isla Bonita is the students have to form a line in certain assigned places and cannot go into the classroom until the teacher gives them permission to do so. Brittany went with Stephens to the Standard 1 Classroom and I went with Jessica M. to Standard 4 Classroom since I learned that there is a student with low vision in that Classroom. The teacher for Standard 4 is Miss Delmy and after Jessica and I introduced ourselves she started the day off with Language Arts. She had the students all turn to a page in their book and started reading about Wetlands. She would then call on students randomly and have them read until the passage was completely read. Afterwards she split the students up into groups of 3. Jessica went with one group and I decided to work with Caroline, Dyanara, and Kyle since Dyanara is the student with low vision. I got to know the students a little bit while hanging out with them as they worked and once they finished their assignment. After Language Arts was over at about 10:00 a.m. it was time for a 30-minute break so all of the students had time to hang out with their friends, play on the playground, and/or eat snacks/drink drinks. After the break was over we went back to the Classroom and Miss Demly talked to Jessica and I about the Braille Machine that she uses with Dyanara and how she is still learning how to use it. Miss Delmy was going to give the students a test so I took Dyanara downstairs to the picnic tables and worked with her on reading a page from a short story the way Miss Delmy told me that she does it with her. The only experience I have with Braille is seeing it used by a girl who is blind that I met when I was younger. Since becoming a Special Education Major I have not worked with any students who are blind so I was just trying to figure it out as I went. I worked with Dyanara until about 11:30 a.m. I wasn’t sure if the Class was finished with their test or not and if they were I didn’t want Dyanara to miss anything so I went ahead and took her back to her class. The class was still working on their test so Dyanara and I could have spent more time working.
Just in the 45 minutes that I spent working with Dyanara I could tell that it took a lot of energy for her to read Braille so I didn’t want to push her too much with it being my first time working with her but it gave me a good place to start of knowing what level she is on. Lunch at School is from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. and many kids leave School to go home to eat and some students stay at School to eat. A group of people from our UNCW Cohort went out to find some lunch but I stayed with a few people and just got a lunch at School that costs $7.00 (BZ), which is $3.50 (US). After lunch Miss Delmy had Jessica teach the Class a Math Lesson about Area. I asked Miss Delmy what she did to teach Dyanara Math and she showed me the materials she uses with Dyanara during Math so I decided to improvise and use those materials to help incorporate Dyarana into Jessica’s Math Lesson. I had no idea what I was doing but just did the best with what I had and I believe I was able to help Dyanara grasp the concept of Area a little bit. At least I hope so. Dyanara was too funny because I did a few problems with her and she would say, “Another one” and I couldn’t help but laugh. I was so used to working with my students during my Student Teaching and it was like pulling teeth when we worked on Math and here Dyanara was wanting to do more Math Problems. It was definitely different and not what I’m used to at all but it was a nice change because she actually wanted to learn and it was so great. We worked on Math until about 2:00 p.m. and then it was time for another break (this time a 15 minute one). Standard 4 usually does Computer Work on Monday Afternoons after Break but since Miss Delmy didn’t have anything planned for it she just let the girls in the Classroom work on their dance for the Isla Bonita Pageant which will be taking place in the middle of April. The School Day ended at about 3:00 p.m. so we all left Isla Bonita a little after 3:15 p.m. and made it back to Pedro’s a little before 3:45 p.m. I was so tired from the hot day at School that I just spent time hanging out in the shade until our 4:30 p.m. Meeting. At the Meeting we all introduced ourselves, stated where we were placed, and also said one thing we were looking forward to for the week. Dr. K had told us before we left Wilmington that we would all be having different experiences here in Belize and just after one day of being in the Schools here in Belize I could see the truth in that. At our Meeting on Monday Afternoon multiple people in our Program said that they didn't see any Classroom Management in the Classrooms they were in (and I'm not going to lie-I felt like the kids in the Classrooms I've seen this week were a little rambunctious and the Classes felt a little crazy at times) but Dr. K pointed out to us really quick to be careful not to think there’s no Classroom Management since it just may be DIFFERENT Classroom Management. And that was a very good point for us to help us make sure that we’re very careful when gathering impressions of the Classrooms we're in. Dr. K pointed out to us that the teachers here may have a high tolerance for certain behaviors than we would if we were in a Classroom back home so that was something good to be able to keep in mind. After the Meeting all of the Committees had their own meetings to touch base now that we’re here in Belize. After hanging out for a little bit I went to get supper with a group of people at Lily’s Deli (which is another cheap taco stand just like Neri’s Tacos). I decided to try something new so I got 2 chicken empanades, two beef empanades, and a coke (that was super cheap-I can’t quite remember the actual cost) and it was pretty good. It was not a bad choice for Supper at all. After eating supper I spent time hanging out at the Hotel with everyone. Before going to sleep my Roommate, Jessica, and I had a really nice heart-to-heart life talk before crashing for the night.
Day Seven: On Tuesday I woke up at 7:15 a.m. and got ready for the School Day. We left to go to Isla Bonita at about 7:50 a.m. - 7:55 a.m. and got there in about 10 minutes. On Monday Morning during the first break I had talked with Miss Sharon and Miss Crystal and told them that I was a Special Education Teacher and told them if they had any students in their Class who had a disability or needed any additional help then to let me know. Miss Sharon told me she had a few students I could work with so on Tuesday I spent the day with both the Standard Six & Standard Five Classes. Miss Sharon is the teacher for Standard Six and Miss Crystal is the teacher for Standard Five. Dani was placed with the Standard Five Classroom and Joe was placed with the Standard Six Classroom so he and I went with Miss Sharon to the her Classroom when the School Bell rang. Miss Sharon introduced Joe and I to the Class since they weren't at School on Monday because they were taking the High School Entry Test called the Primary School Exam. Miss Sharon started the Class by having them do a Journal Entry for their Language Arts Block. She wrote "My first experience with P.S.E." on the board as a Reflection Prompt for them from taking the P.S.E on Monday. She wanted them to write how they felt and what they thought about it. A couple of students read what they wrote and then Miss Sharon gave the Classroom over to Joe. Joe introduced himself and then had students introduce themselves so he could learn their names. After the introductions Joe spilt the Classroom of 16 students into 4 groups and gave each group a prop and gave them 20 minutes to create skit using that prop. After the students performed their very interesting skits (3 out of 4 of them had violence), Joe then had the Class play Two Truths and A Lie. After playing Two Truths and A Lie for a little bit it was 10:00 a.m. and time for a 30-minute break. After the break Miss Sharon and Miss Crystal switch classes and Miss Sharon teaches Standard Five Language Arts while Miss Crystal teaches Standard Six Math. Joe and Miss Crystal were going to play Math Jeopardy with Standard Six and Miss Sharon invited me to go with her to the Standard Five Classroom so I did. Miss Sharon started the Language Arts Block by having the students write in their journals. After the students wrote in their journals then Miss Sharon announced that the Class would be going for a walk on the beach and they would write a poem with 4 stanzas. One of the students asked, "What is a stanza?" so Miss Sharon told the class that a stanza is a verse in a poem and said that there are many different poems. To provide an example Sharon said, You look at the Caribbean Sea and write one word at the top, two adjectives to describe the word on the first line, three adjectives to describe the word on the first line, a sentence on the third line, and then you write one word at the bottom to tie in everything in the middle. The example Miss Sharon wrote on the board was: "Caribbean. big, beautiful. deep, clear, blue. The place I want to be. Sea." We all walked to the beach and found a shady spot for the students to sit so they could begin writing their poems. The students would show Miss Sharon their work as they finished and she constantly had to remind them of the assignment: "One word, two adjectives, three adjectives, a sentence, one word to tie in everything in the middle." since they weren’t doing it correctly.
During our time outside I got to learn A LOT about Miss Sharon. I asked her small questions like how long she had been teaching at Isla Bonita, where she was from, and how she ended up in Belize. Miss Sharon used to be a Nurse and then had been a head teacher and even a Principal at a School but she got to where she didn't like being a Principal and has been teaching at Isla Bonita for the past 8 years now. I thought that was so neat because it's not often someone goes from a leadership role of being a Principal BACK to being a teacher but she really enjoys it. I know I'm a Special Education Major but I really enjoyed observing Miss Sharon teaching Language Arts because it flowed so well and she did it so effortlessly. It just came so natural for her. Miss Sharon also talked to me about San Pedro and told me that it was split up into different areas since it's so big and told which areas were which. Miss Sharon and I also talked about Special Education as well. There currently aren't any students in Standard Five who need assistance but there is a student who has Down Syndrome named Kyla who is supposed to be in Standard Five but just doesn't come to School often. Kyla is actually the student that my friend Lexi (the girl who participated in the International Field Experience last year) worked with who I was hoping to also have the opportunity to work with while I was here. The Principal went to check on Kyla on Tuesday for me but no one was at home. She said if she heard anymore then she would let me know. After walking back to Isla Bonita from the beach it was time for lunch. Casey, Maddi, and I went walking around to find lunch but didn't really have any luck. Well, Maddi did but it would've taken too long for Casey and I to wait for food so we went back to Isla Bonita and I just got the lunch there and scarfed it down as fast as I could. After we got back from lunch Standard Six played the game Four Corners. After playing Four Corners Standard Five and Standard Six got to go to the Beach and played the games Infection, Human Knot, and Chicken Run. I spent time talking with Miss Sharon and Miss Crystal while Dani and Joe played with the students. While walking to the beach Miss Crystal had some Flan from the cafeteria and offered for me and Dani to try it and IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I LOVED IT. It reminded me of a softer and smoother version of Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. After being at the beach for a little while (getting to go to the beach twice on one day was actually pretty nice-I definitely chose the right Classrooms to observe on Tuesday!) it was time for the kids to go back to School. Plus it was really hot and after all of the running around the students needed some water. When we got back to Isla Bonita the students got some water and then packed up to go home. The School Day ended at 3:00 and not long after some of us left to go back to Pedro's. Lindsey M. and I made a stop at a Market to pick up a few things and then went back to Pedro's. I am not used to the heat here so it wears me out and after I got back from School I decided to relax in the shade for a little bit before changing into my bathing suit out of my sticky and sweaty clothes and hopping in the pool for a little bit. It was so nice and refreshing after a long and hot day of being at School. At around 5:30 p.m. or so I went with a group of people to Lily's Deli and got a chicken burrito and a coke for Supper. After I got back from Supper I spent some time talking with Joe reflecting about the day. A couple of the girls here on the Trip decided to do a Bible Study on Tuesday and Thursday Evenings while we're here so at 7:00 p.m. we started that and had it for about an hour. It was really nice and I'm really looking forward to having a Community of believers here. After the Bible Study I made two phone calls home and spent time working on organizing Mailing Addresses for my Graduation Announcements so that my Grandma can mail them off for me while I'm here in Belize since I didn't have a chance to get everything done before I left North Carolina. Once I finished with that I decided to go to bed as early as possible since I had to be up early on Wednesday Morning so I could leave with Dr. C and the three other Special Education Majors here and go see the Special Needs School that's in Belize City.
Day Eight: I had to be up and ready to go on Wednesday by 6:00 a.m. so since I'm not a morning person I set three alarms just to make sure I woke up. Well...I forgot my iPod Touch is still on Eastern Time (I tried to change it but it just didn't work) so I set my alarm on it for 5:45 a.m. (which was REALLY 3:45 a.m.) while my other two alarms were actually set for 5:45 a.m. and my Roommate woke me up since my iPod touch Alarm was going off so I bolted out of bed and got ready as fast as I could (thinking it was 5:45 a.m.) because I did NOT want to miss going to the Special Needs School. I went downstairs and was looking around wondering where everyone was when the Security Guard asked me if I was okay. I told him I was looking for the people I was going Inland with and he said that maybe in two hours at 5:30 they would be. I was still very confused at this point but as I headed back to my room I realized what he was saying because it was 4:00 a.m. So needless to say once I realized my error (after feeling like an idiot) I went back to sleep until 5:45 a.m. I was already ready so I met up with Megan, Brittany, and Savannah (who I will be referring to as The SPED Girls from now on) in the hallway and we all walked downstairs together. Dr. K was up and ready and once Dr. C came out we all got on the golf cart so that Dr. K could drop us off at the Water Taxi. After Dr. C got our tickets for the 6:30 a.m. Water Taxi we sat and waited for a little bit and then we started getting on the Water Taxi for Belize City. They have Multiple Boats for Water Taxis and the one we got on wasn't what I expected since most of it was fairly open. We made a stop at Caye Caulker for more people to get on the Water Taxi and then we had ONE FULL WATER TAXI. Some people fell asleep and I was tired enough to do the same (waking up two hours earlier than I was supposed to and all) but I unfortunately just wasn't able to. The Water Taxi Ride to Belize City only took an hour and a half so we got to Belize City at about 8:00 a.m. Once we got off the Water Taxi we got into a Taxi and the Driver dropped us off at the Ministry of Education. We met someone from the Ministry of Education and he walked us next door to Stella Maris School and introduced us to the Principal, Miss Joy. Miss Joy told us that we could meet some of the students and teachers and then at 9:00 a.m. she would give The SPED Girls and I a Tour of the School. The SPED Girls and I went to the playground to meet the students and Dr. C left to go give a Presentation about Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (Dr. C was asked to help begin implement PBIS in the Schools here in Belize last year since they removed Corporal Punishment).
I have so many more details about my day at Stella Maris School that I devoted AN ENTIRE BLOG POST about it here! The SPED Girls and I spent four hours at Stella Maris and when we returned to Stella Maris after eating lunch at a Belizean Chinese Restaurant directly across from the School Dr. C was there waiting on us since she was finished with her Presentation. While at lunch The SPED Girls and I came up with AN AWESOME idea for our Documentary (everyone on the International Field Experience has to make a Documentary Film) but I don’t want to spoil it before the Red Carpet Event on May 7th so I’m going to be keeping it a secret for now. After mentioning our Documentary Idea to Dr. C we all got in a Taxi to go back to the Water Taxi. We got there about 45 minutes before the Water Taxi was scheduled to leave so The SPED Girls and I killed time by shopping for souvenirs. By the time we finished shopping it was time to get in line to board for the Water Taxi. Dr. C, The SPED Girls, and I all sat on the top level of the Water Taxi and had an amazing view of the BEAUTIFUL BLUE WATER on the way back to San Pedro and it was a lot of fun. We made a stop at Caye Caulker to drop people off and once we all got back to San Pedro Dr. C, Megan, and I walked down the beach to go back to Pedro’s while Brittany and Savannah got a milkshake before heading back to the hotel. Once I got back to the hotel I hopped in the pool to cool off for a few minutes. I honestly love being able to come back to Pedro’s from School and getting to cool off in the pool. It’s been really nice. I made a Phone Call home after swimming for a little bit and then I later got supper at Neri’s Tacos with Savannah and Brittany. I decided to be brave and eat a Fryjack and it was pretty yummy! Once I got back to the hotel I spent some time working on my Blog to talk about my amazing day at Stella Maris while enjoying listening to Karaoke that started at 7:30 p.m. (and occasionally getting up to sing along as well on the songs that were too good to not sing along with). A few people were still up but it was getting late so Maddi and I decided to call it a night at about 11:30 p.m.
Day Nine: On Thursday I guess I slept through my alarm because Jessica had to wake me up and it was 7:45 a.m. so I had to get ready very quickly since I'm supposed to be at School at 8:15 a.m. We all had a School Supply Drive while we were still in Wilmington so we had School Supplies to bring to the Schools that we were volunteering at here in Belize. On Tuesday Afternoon the School Supplies got split up between each of us to take to our Schools and we all took them to School with us on Thursday Morning. The Principal at New Horizons said everyone could take their School Supplies to their Partnership Teachers but the Principal at Isla Bonita wanted us to give the School Supplies to her so she could disperse them throughout the Classrooms herself. After arriving to Isla Bonita I went to Miss Addy's office and gave her the School Supplies. While there she told me that she saw Kyla's Mom the day before and told me where she works at so that I can always go introduce myself to her and she would continue trying to get in touch with her about me possibly working with Kyla. I ate a Nature Valley Bar for Breakfast after I got to School since I overslept and didn't have time to eat Breakfast before I left Pedro's. Brittany (the other Special Education Major placed at Isla Bonita) and I talked on Wednesday while at Stella Maris and decided that she would focus on working with students in Infant 1, Infant 2, Standard 1, and Standard 2 while I would focus working on the students in Standard 3, Standard 4, Standard 5, and Standard 6 at Isla Bonita. It just seemed to make the most sense to split it up that way so that we weren't all over the place and it made the process of figuring out which students to work with simpler. I hadn't spent time in Standard 3 yet so I introduced myself to the teacher (Mr. Jaime) Wednesday Morning and told him about me being a Special Education Major and that I could work with any students he had in his class who were behind on anything. Mr. Jaime told me that he had two students that I could work with. Once the bell rang I went with Mr. Jaime and Ashley (the girl who is placed with Mr. Jaime) to the Standard Three Classroom. I'm not sure what happened with the Class on Wednesday but apparently they did not behave very well because the students were all talking about Wednesday and Mr. Jaime kept saying to them: "It's over. Yesterday was yesterday and I don't want a repeat of it again." Mr. Jaime gave the students a copy of the Belize Junior Achievement Test (BJAT) and started going over the English Paper 1 Section. (The BJAT is the Standardized Test that Standard Three must take and pass in order to move up to Upper Division.) The School was giving out Report Cards on Thursday and when Mr. Jaime went to meet with a parent he had Ashley take over in continuing to go over the answers to the BJAT since they just took a practice version of it on Tuesday and Wednesday. I found it to be interesting how loud the students were while Mr. Jaime was in the room but once he left they were calm and quiet for Ashley and only spoke when they answered the questions she asked. Once Mr. Jaime came back in the Classroom the students went back to talking over each other a lot just like they were earlier before he left the room. They finished going over the English Paper One Section of the BJAT and waited until the Bell Rang for break. Mr. Jaime was having a Classroom Meeting with the parents of the students in Standard Three while the students were on break to go over the student's behavior, how the students are doing in regards to the BJAT, as well as going over each student's Report Card with each parent. (None of the students at Isla Bonita can get or see their Report Cards until the parent has come to the School and picked it up.) Standard Three's break was extended because of the Classroom Meeting so Ashley and I just stayed outside with them. While we were outside on the playground the teacher from Infant One had two students from Standard Six hide Easter Eggs around the playground so that the students in Infant One could come outside and find the eggs. The students from Infant One came outside with Easter Egg Baskets that had Bunnies in them that they made throughout the week and I just thought it was the most precious thing.
During break Arielle (a student in Standard Four) asked when I was coming back to their Class and told me that I belonged with them and it was just too sweet and meant a lot to me considering I was only in her Class for one day. I told her I had multiple students to work with throughout the School and that I would be back soon. The Standard 3, Standard 4, Standard 5, and Standard 6 Classes were all just hanging out and taking it easy to pass time before lunch. After lunch the students were killing time before going to watch a movie. While the students were watching the movie Ashley and I spent some time talking with Mr. Jaime and learning about how he became a teacher and his thoughts on Education in Belize. Mr. Jaime said that here in Belize how you teach is up to you. They are provided a Curriculum but the teachers get to teach it how they want to. They follow the curriculum by splitting the different months into different themes and standardize the Unit by making the Unit and giving it to the Ministry of Education so that they can follow it. I’ve noticed in all of the Classrooms here in Belize there is SO MUCH on the Classroom Walls so I asked Mr. Jaime if the teachers had to put it all up and he said that all teachers have to make their own charts for their Classrooms. The Ministry of Education observes the Classrooms and look for the map of Belize, a World Map, Math Charts, the Days of the Week and Months of the Year in both English and Spanish and also like seeing student work. The Ministry of Education is split into six districts and people from those districts will go observe the Schools. The Government doesn't interfere with Private Schools and they can only visit Private Schools if the Principal wants them to and Miss Addy (the Principal at Isla Bonita) wants the Ministry of Education to visit. Mr. Jaime also said that people go to teach at Government Schools to get more money. Mr. Jaime also said that with Private School you can do whatever you want and with Government Schools you can't. I really enjoyed getting to learn about Education in Belize from Mr. Jaime. It was a lot of very interesting information I might not have ever learned if I never asked. Mr. Jaime let his students go home a little early so since it wasn’t 3:00 yet I went to Standard Four and hung out with them for a little while. A group of us left Isla Bonita at about 3:15 p.m. and when I got back to the Hotel I spent time hanging out before going to get Supper with Tracy, Callie, Maddi, Casey, and Jessica M. at a Salvadorian Place that Tracy heard about from her Partnership Teacher. I got a Banana Milkshake and tried two chicken pupusas that were really good. After I got back to the Hotel I spent time on my Laptop and then called it a night around 11:00 p.m.
Day Ten: Friday was not a typical day at Isla Bonita. Friday was the last day before the School’s Two-Week Easter Break so they always have a Beach Party to celebrate. All of us left Pedro’s to get breakfast at a Bakery before the beach party. After getting the most delicious cinnamon bun that I have had in my entire life at the Bakery Casey, Maddi, Jessica, and I went to the Park by the Bridge (since that's where the Beach Party was supposed to be) but we didn't see anyone there so we decided to head to Isla Bonita. When we got there only Miss Addy (the Principal) and a few students were there so we spent time hanging out waiting to figure out where it was we needed to go. Finally a teacher came and we all followed her to go to the Beach Party which was at the Beach Entrance that was just across the street from the School (they had changed the location for the party last minute without letting us know but at least we eventually got there). We were all on the beach for the party from about 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The whole School wasn't there but I would say at least half of the students were! They had a blast swimming in the sea and they all ate nachos for a snack, ate hotdogs for lunch, and then ate cupcakes for dessert. We were all able to get some of the food as well so that was nice. I spent time sitting in the shade watching the kids have a good time, I spent time in the sea with the kids, and I spent time on the dock supervising the kids who were playing in the water by the dock as well. I did jump off the dock once but it was so hard to get back on the dock that I didn't do it again even though I wanted to. It was just more trouble that it was worth. When I was trying to climb back on to the dock I scratched all of my toes on my left foot and then I couldn't even pull myself up like most of the kids could since I have no upper body strength whatsoever. Thank goodness Joe was on the dock and he was able to help pull me up even though my arms were slippery from the sunscreen I was wearing. One neat (but sort of a little scary) thing from the Beach Party is I saw a sting day in the water while I was standing in the dock looking at the water. He was a big one too.
All in all I have to say that I really enjoyed the Beach Party. It was really fun and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it! It's such a fun way to end the Semester before the kids go on Easter Break. At one point while I was sitting down under the trees (to stay in the shade) I had a moment where I realized how much I loved simply sitting there on how beach and hearing the chatter and sounds of the kids having fun playing in the water. It was a really sweet moment. After I left the Beach Party I went back to Pedro's and worked on my laptop briefly. I also spent time talking to Carolyn (the housekeeper I met last Friday) and she told me about how her daughter (who goes to Roman Catholic Primary School) did on her report card, I told her about the Beach Party with Isla Bonita, and I showed her where UNCW is since she asked how far we traveled to Belize. She is such a sweet lady and I enjoyed talking with her for a little bit. Most of everyone in a group wanted to go to Caribbean Villas so I went with them and laid by the pool (while taking catnaps) to relax. Between spending all day at the beach and then staying at the pool I have to say that Friday was a rough day...NOT. It was truly wonderful! After spending a while at Caribbean Villas a few of us were getting hungry so we headed back to Pedro's. For supper I was going to go with a group of people to try a new restaurant that I haven't been to yet but the sky was really dark and it looked like it was going to storm really bad so I just decided to stay at Pedro's with a few people and split a Pizza with Jessica M. The group of people that went out to eat got back before it started raining so I could’ve went to eat with them without getting wet but I would rather be safe than sorry. I still have a few weeks here in Belize with plenty of more opportunities to try eating at new restaurants. After eating Supper I played Cards with Tracy, Meghan, Callie, Jessica M., Cyrus, Casey, and Maddi. We played Spoons as well as BS and it was my first time playing either game. Karaoke started at about 8:00 p.m. so after playing BS and everyone else was going to start playing a new Game that I had no idea how to play I decided that I had played enough new card games for the night and went to enjoy the Karaoke for a little while before driving to crash for the night at around 11:30 p.m.
Day Eleven: On Saturday we were supposed to go snorkeling for an all day excursion but since it had rained the night before and it was still gloomy when we woke up the trip got canceled and will be rescheduled at a later date. Since all of us were up and awake and hungry, a big group of us (16 to be exact) decided to go get breakfast at The Coconut Café and we filled that restaurant up. A couple owns the restaurant and the woman said that it was the first time since they’ve opened where they’ve had every seat filled and even had to get a couple of extra chairs to accommodate for us. She even took a picture of us all there and posted it on their Facebook Page. It was too funny. I really would’ve liked to try the cinnamon bun because it looked so delicious but since I had one yesterday I decided to get a Breakfast Sandwich so that it was more filling. After I got back to the hotel from breakfast I was still very tired so I decided to take a nap and I didn’t wake up until about Noon. It was the first day since I’ve been here in Belize where I got to take a nap so it was nice getting to be lazy for once. After I woke up I finally got around to doing my laundry after putting it off all week. I poured some laundry detergent into the waste basket, filled it up with hot water, dunked my clothes into the water, rinsed my clothes in the sink, and dropped them in a pile on top of a towel in the floor. I’m sure my clothes didn’t get all that “clean” but it’s what will suffice for now because I was not paying $12.00 (American) just to have the hotel do my laundry. It would have defeated the purpose anyway because between the dust, sweating all the time, wearing sunscreen and bug spray all the time, wearing clean clothes just doesn’t last very long here. My roommate brought a clothesline with her so I had her put it up in our room for me and I put some of my clothes on it and then put the rest of my clothes up on the line outside at the hotel. I then ate some peanut butter crackers and fruit snacks for lunch and went outside in the picnic area to hang out for a little while. It started drizzling and someone mentioned my clothes were outside so I went to take them down and had to lay out two towels in my hotel room floor for my clothes to dry that way. I then went back down to the picnic area and spent time working on a Survey that needed to be completed by 5:00 p.m. Sunday Evening. A few people were getting ready to leave to go to Supper so I joined them and we rode our bikes to La Divina Providencia. La Divina Providencia is a restaurant that is just around the corner from New Horizons and the people placed at that school ate there AT LEAST once a day all throughout the week and kept coming back to the hotel talking about how good and cheap it was so I was glad to finally go try it. I ended up getting some Chicken Nachos that were pretty delicious. After getting back to the hotel I spent time hanging out in the hammock watching everyone else play a card game while we were waiting for the rest of our group that went and played The Poker Run to come back to Pedro’s. Once everyone got back I spent time hanging out with them and played a card game for a little bit until most of everyone decided to go to bed. I stayed up a little later to finish and submit my Survey since I only had one question left to do before I went to get Supper and then I called it a night.
After being here in Belize for Eleven Days now I have to say that one of the things I'm loving about Belize is that I lose track of time here. 3/4 of the time I honestly have no idea what time it is. & Each day I couldn't tell you what the date is. I mean…I know what day of the week it is and I know what time I need to be somewhere in the morning after I wake up or what time I should go to bed by but other than that I really don’t need to pay attention to what time it is or what the date is and it's honestly been really nice. I already know that it's going to be hard to adjust back to the fast-paced lifestyle back home once I get back. Thankfully I still have four weeks left before I have to worry about that and I'm going to make the most of every single minute I have here as best as I possibly can! Since the students are going to be out of School for the next two weeks we all will be spending time over the next two weeks doing Community Service Projects in the Community to work on our required Community Service House. We will be leaving on Thursday to go Inland until Monday. I have no idea what all the next two weeks will entail but I’m looking forward to finding out!
Day Six: On Monday I woke up at 7:15 a.m., got ready for the School Day, went downstairs, ate my Pop-Tart for breakfast, and put on Sunscreen while waiting for everyone else to come downstairs. Both New Horizons and Isla Bonita start at 8:30 a.m. and we were all supposed to be there by 8:15 a.m. I’m placed at Isla Bonita Elementary School and we left to go to Isla Bonita at about 7:50 a.m. When we got to Isla Bonita the Principal introduced everyone to their Partnership Teachers before the students all arrived to School. Since Brittany and I are Special Education Majors we don’t get placed in a Classroom and were told that we could spend time talking to each of the teachers to determine which students they would want us to work with by pulling them out for either Small Group or 1:1 Work. The School Day started at 8:30 a.m. by the students all lining up with their Classrooms for Assembly/Devotion and singing the Belizean Anthem. Miss Sharon started by giving some announcements and then introduced all of us UNCW Students and explained to the School why we were there and had each of us introduce ourselves by telling them our names. After the Assembly was over the students were dismissed to go to their classes. One of the neat things at Isla Bonita is the students have to form a line in certain assigned places and cannot go into the classroom until the teacher gives them permission to do so. Brittany went with Stephens to the Standard 1 Classroom and I went with Jessica M. to Standard 4 Classroom since I learned that there is a student with low vision in that Classroom. The teacher for Standard 4 is Miss Delmy and after Jessica and I introduced ourselves she started the day off with Language Arts. She had the students all turn to a page in their book and started reading about Wetlands. She would then call on students randomly and have them read until the passage was completely read. Afterwards she split the students up into groups of 3. Jessica went with one group and I decided to work with Caroline, Dyanara, and Kyle since Dyanara is the student with low vision. I got to know the students a little bit while hanging out with them as they worked and once they finished their assignment. After Language Arts was over at about 10:00 a.m. it was time for a 30-minute break so all of the students had time to hang out with their friends, play on the playground, and/or eat snacks/drink drinks. After the break was over we went back to the Classroom and Miss Demly talked to Jessica and I about the Braille Machine that she uses with Dyanara and how she is still learning how to use it. Miss Delmy was going to give the students a test so I took Dyanara downstairs to the picnic tables and worked with her on reading a page from a short story the way Miss Delmy told me that she does it with her. The only experience I have with Braille is seeing it used by a girl who is blind that I met when I was younger. Since becoming a Special Education Major I have not worked with any students who are blind so I was just trying to figure it out as I went. I worked with Dyanara until about 11:30 a.m. I wasn’t sure if the Class was finished with their test or not and if they were I didn’t want Dyanara to miss anything so I went ahead and took her back to her class. The class was still working on their test so Dyanara and I could have spent more time working.
Just in the 45 minutes that I spent working with Dyanara I could tell that it took a lot of energy for her to read Braille so I didn’t want to push her too much with it being my first time working with her but it gave me a good place to start of knowing what level she is on. Lunch at School is from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. and many kids leave School to go home to eat and some students stay at School to eat. A group of people from our UNCW Cohort went out to find some lunch but I stayed with a few people and just got a lunch at School that costs $7.00 (BZ), which is $3.50 (US). After lunch Miss Delmy had Jessica teach the Class a Math Lesson about Area. I asked Miss Delmy what she did to teach Dyanara Math and she showed me the materials she uses with Dyanara during Math so I decided to improvise and use those materials to help incorporate Dyarana into Jessica’s Math Lesson. I had no idea what I was doing but just did the best with what I had and I believe I was able to help Dyanara grasp the concept of Area a little bit. At least I hope so. Dyanara was too funny because I did a few problems with her and she would say, “Another one” and I couldn’t help but laugh. I was so used to working with my students during my Student Teaching and it was like pulling teeth when we worked on Math and here Dyanara was wanting to do more Math Problems. It was definitely different and not what I’m used to at all but it was a nice change because she actually wanted to learn and it was so great. We worked on Math until about 2:00 p.m. and then it was time for another break (this time a 15 minute one). Standard 4 usually does Computer Work on Monday Afternoons after Break but since Miss Delmy didn’t have anything planned for it she just let the girls in the Classroom work on their dance for the Isla Bonita Pageant which will be taking place in the middle of April. The School Day ended at about 3:00 p.m. so we all left Isla Bonita a little after 3:15 p.m. and made it back to Pedro’s a little before 3:45 p.m. I was so tired from the hot day at School that I just spent time hanging out in the shade until our 4:30 p.m. Meeting. At the Meeting we all introduced ourselves, stated where we were placed, and also said one thing we were looking forward to for the week. Dr. K had told us before we left Wilmington that we would all be having different experiences here in Belize and just after one day of being in the Schools here in Belize I could see the truth in that. At our Meeting on Monday Afternoon multiple people in our Program said that they didn't see any Classroom Management in the Classrooms they were in (and I'm not going to lie-I felt like the kids in the Classrooms I've seen this week were a little rambunctious and the Classes felt a little crazy at times) but Dr. K pointed out to us really quick to be careful not to think there’s no Classroom Management since it just may be DIFFERENT Classroom Management. And that was a very good point for us to help us make sure that we’re very careful when gathering impressions of the Classrooms we're in. Dr. K pointed out to us that the teachers here may have a high tolerance for certain behaviors than we would if we were in a Classroom back home so that was something good to be able to keep in mind. After the Meeting all of the Committees had their own meetings to touch base now that we’re here in Belize. After hanging out for a little bit I went to get supper with a group of people at Lily’s Deli (which is another cheap taco stand just like Neri’s Tacos). I decided to try something new so I got 2 chicken empanades, two beef empanades, and a coke (that was super cheap-I can’t quite remember the actual cost) and it was pretty good. It was not a bad choice for Supper at all. After eating supper I spent time hanging out at the Hotel with everyone. Before going to sleep my Roommate, Jessica, and I had a really nice heart-to-heart life talk before crashing for the night.
Day Seven: On Tuesday I woke up at 7:15 a.m. and got ready for the School Day. We left to go to Isla Bonita at about 7:50 a.m. - 7:55 a.m. and got there in about 10 minutes. On Monday Morning during the first break I had talked with Miss Sharon and Miss Crystal and told them that I was a Special Education Teacher and told them if they had any students in their Class who had a disability or needed any additional help then to let me know. Miss Sharon told me she had a few students I could work with so on Tuesday I spent the day with both the Standard Six & Standard Five Classes. Miss Sharon is the teacher for Standard Six and Miss Crystal is the teacher for Standard Five. Dani was placed with the Standard Five Classroom and Joe was placed with the Standard Six Classroom so he and I went with Miss Sharon to the her Classroom when the School Bell rang. Miss Sharon introduced Joe and I to the Class since they weren't at School on Monday because they were taking the High School Entry Test called the Primary School Exam. Miss Sharon started the Class by having them do a Journal Entry for their Language Arts Block. She wrote "My first experience with P.S.E." on the board as a Reflection Prompt for them from taking the P.S.E on Monday. She wanted them to write how they felt and what they thought about it. A couple of students read what they wrote and then Miss Sharon gave the Classroom over to Joe. Joe introduced himself and then had students introduce themselves so he could learn their names. After the introductions Joe spilt the Classroom of 16 students into 4 groups and gave each group a prop and gave them 20 minutes to create skit using that prop. After the students performed their very interesting skits (3 out of 4 of them had violence), Joe then had the Class play Two Truths and A Lie. After playing Two Truths and A Lie for a little bit it was 10:00 a.m. and time for a 30-minute break. After the break Miss Sharon and Miss Crystal switch classes and Miss Sharon teaches Standard Five Language Arts while Miss Crystal teaches Standard Six Math. Joe and Miss Crystal were going to play Math Jeopardy with Standard Six and Miss Sharon invited me to go with her to the Standard Five Classroom so I did. Miss Sharon started the Language Arts Block by having the students write in their journals. After the students wrote in their journals then Miss Sharon announced that the Class would be going for a walk on the beach and they would write a poem with 4 stanzas. One of the students asked, "What is a stanza?" so Miss Sharon told the class that a stanza is a verse in a poem and said that there are many different poems. To provide an example Sharon said, You look at the Caribbean Sea and write one word at the top, two adjectives to describe the word on the first line, three adjectives to describe the word on the first line, a sentence on the third line, and then you write one word at the bottom to tie in everything in the middle. The example Miss Sharon wrote on the board was: "Caribbean. big, beautiful. deep, clear, blue. The place I want to be. Sea." We all walked to the beach and found a shady spot for the students to sit so they could begin writing their poems. The students would show Miss Sharon their work as they finished and she constantly had to remind them of the assignment: "One word, two adjectives, three adjectives, a sentence, one word to tie in everything in the middle." since they weren’t doing it correctly.
During our time outside I got to learn A LOT about Miss Sharon. I asked her small questions like how long she had been teaching at Isla Bonita, where she was from, and how she ended up in Belize. Miss Sharon used to be a Nurse and then had been a head teacher and even a Principal at a School but she got to where she didn't like being a Principal and has been teaching at Isla Bonita for the past 8 years now. I thought that was so neat because it's not often someone goes from a leadership role of being a Principal BACK to being a teacher but she really enjoys it. I know I'm a Special Education Major but I really enjoyed observing Miss Sharon teaching Language Arts because it flowed so well and she did it so effortlessly. It just came so natural for her. Miss Sharon also talked to me about San Pedro and told me that it was split up into different areas since it's so big and told which areas were which. Miss Sharon and I also talked about Special Education as well. There currently aren't any students in Standard Five who need assistance but there is a student who has Down Syndrome named Kyla who is supposed to be in Standard Five but just doesn't come to School often. Kyla is actually the student that my friend Lexi (the girl who participated in the International Field Experience last year) worked with who I was hoping to also have the opportunity to work with while I was here. The Principal went to check on Kyla on Tuesday for me but no one was at home. She said if she heard anymore then she would let me know. After walking back to Isla Bonita from the beach it was time for lunch. Casey, Maddi, and I went walking around to find lunch but didn't really have any luck. Well, Maddi did but it would've taken too long for Casey and I to wait for food so we went back to Isla Bonita and I just got the lunch there and scarfed it down as fast as I could. After we got back from lunch Standard Six played the game Four Corners. After playing Four Corners Standard Five and Standard Six got to go to the Beach and played the games Infection, Human Knot, and Chicken Run. I spent time talking with Miss Sharon and Miss Crystal while Dani and Joe played with the students. While walking to the beach Miss Crystal had some Flan from the cafeteria and offered for me and Dani to try it and IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I LOVED IT. It reminded me of a softer and smoother version of Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. After being at the beach for a little while (getting to go to the beach twice on one day was actually pretty nice-I definitely chose the right Classrooms to observe on Tuesday!) it was time for the kids to go back to School. Plus it was really hot and after all of the running around the students needed some water. When we got back to Isla Bonita the students got some water and then packed up to go home. The School Day ended at 3:00 and not long after some of us left to go back to Pedro's. Lindsey M. and I made a stop at a Market to pick up a few things and then went back to Pedro's. I am not used to the heat here so it wears me out and after I got back from School I decided to relax in the shade for a little bit before changing into my bathing suit out of my sticky and sweaty clothes and hopping in the pool for a little bit. It was so nice and refreshing after a long and hot day of being at School. At around 5:30 p.m. or so I went with a group of people to Lily's Deli and got a chicken burrito and a coke for Supper. After I got back from Supper I spent some time talking with Joe reflecting about the day. A couple of the girls here on the Trip decided to do a Bible Study on Tuesday and Thursday Evenings while we're here so at 7:00 p.m. we started that and had it for about an hour. It was really nice and I'm really looking forward to having a Community of believers here. After the Bible Study I made two phone calls home and spent time working on organizing Mailing Addresses for my Graduation Announcements so that my Grandma can mail them off for me while I'm here in Belize since I didn't have a chance to get everything done before I left North Carolina. Once I finished with that I decided to go to bed as early as possible since I had to be up early on Wednesday Morning so I could leave with Dr. C and the three other Special Education Majors here and go see the Special Needs School that's in Belize City.
Day Eight: I had to be up and ready to go on Wednesday by 6:00 a.m. so since I'm not a morning person I set three alarms just to make sure I woke up. Well...I forgot my iPod Touch is still on Eastern Time (I tried to change it but it just didn't work) so I set my alarm on it for 5:45 a.m. (which was REALLY 3:45 a.m.) while my other two alarms were actually set for 5:45 a.m. and my Roommate woke me up since my iPod touch Alarm was going off so I bolted out of bed and got ready as fast as I could (thinking it was 5:45 a.m.) because I did NOT want to miss going to the Special Needs School. I went downstairs and was looking around wondering where everyone was when the Security Guard asked me if I was okay. I told him I was looking for the people I was going Inland with and he said that maybe in two hours at 5:30 they would be. I was still very confused at this point but as I headed back to my room I realized what he was saying because it was 4:00 a.m. So needless to say once I realized my error (after feeling like an idiot) I went back to sleep until 5:45 a.m. I was already ready so I met up with Megan, Brittany, and Savannah (who I will be referring to as The SPED Girls from now on) in the hallway and we all walked downstairs together. Dr. K was up and ready and once Dr. C came out we all got on the golf cart so that Dr. K could drop us off at the Water Taxi. After Dr. C got our tickets for the 6:30 a.m. Water Taxi we sat and waited for a little bit and then we started getting on the Water Taxi for Belize City. They have Multiple Boats for Water Taxis and the one we got on wasn't what I expected since most of it was fairly open. We made a stop at Caye Caulker for more people to get on the Water Taxi and then we had ONE FULL WATER TAXI. Some people fell asleep and I was tired enough to do the same (waking up two hours earlier than I was supposed to and all) but I unfortunately just wasn't able to. The Water Taxi Ride to Belize City only took an hour and a half so we got to Belize City at about 8:00 a.m. Once we got off the Water Taxi we got into a Taxi and the Driver dropped us off at the Ministry of Education. We met someone from the Ministry of Education and he walked us next door to Stella Maris School and introduced us to the Principal, Miss Joy. Miss Joy told us that we could meet some of the students and teachers and then at 9:00 a.m. she would give The SPED Girls and I a Tour of the School. The SPED Girls and I went to the playground to meet the students and Dr. C left to go give a Presentation about Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (Dr. C was asked to help begin implement PBIS in the Schools here in Belize last year since they removed Corporal Punishment).
I have so many more details about my day at Stella Maris School that I devoted AN ENTIRE BLOG POST about it here! The SPED Girls and I spent four hours at Stella Maris and when we returned to Stella Maris after eating lunch at a Belizean Chinese Restaurant directly across from the School Dr. C was there waiting on us since she was finished with her Presentation. While at lunch The SPED Girls and I came up with AN AWESOME idea for our Documentary (everyone on the International Field Experience has to make a Documentary Film) but I don’t want to spoil it before the Red Carpet Event on May 7th so I’m going to be keeping it a secret for now. After mentioning our Documentary Idea to Dr. C we all got in a Taxi to go back to the Water Taxi. We got there about 45 minutes before the Water Taxi was scheduled to leave so The SPED Girls and I killed time by shopping for souvenirs. By the time we finished shopping it was time to get in line to board for the Water Taxi. Dr. C, The SPED Girls, and I all sat on the top level of the Water Taxi and had an amazing view of the BEAUTIFUL BLUE WATER on the way back to San Pedro and it was a lot of fun. We made a stop at Caye Caulker to drop people off and once we all got back to San Pedro Dr. C, Megan, and I walked down the beach to go back to Pedro’s while Brittany and Savannah got a milkshake before heading back to the hotel. Once I got back to the hotel I hopped in the pool to cool off for a few minutes. I honestly love being able to come back to Pedro’s from School and getting to cool off in the pool. It’s been really nice. I made a Phone Call home after swimming for a little bit and then I later got supper at Neri’s Tacos with Savannah and Brittany. I decided to be brave and eat a Fryjack and it was pretty yummy! Once I got back to the hotel I spent some time working on my Blog to talk about my amazing day at Stella Maris while enjoying listening to Karaoke that started at 7:30 p.m. (and occasionally getting up to sing along as well on the songs that were too good to not sing along with). A few people were still up but it was getting late so Maddi and I decided to call it a night at about 11:30 p.m.
Day Nine: On Thursday I guess I slept through my alarm because Jessica had to wake me up and it was 7:45 a.m. so I had to get ready very quickly since I'm supposed to be at School at 8:15 a.m. We all had a School Supply Drive while we were still in Wilmington so we had School Supplies to bring to the Schools that we were volunteering at here in Belize. On Tuesday Afternoon the School Supplies got split up between each of us to take to our Schools and we all took them to School with us on Thursday Morning. The Principal at New Horizons said everyone could take their School Supplies to their Partnership Teachers but the Principal at Isla Bonita wanted us to give the School Supplies to her so she could disperse them throughout the Classrooms herself. After arriving to Isla Bonita I went to Miss Addy's office and gave her the School Supplies. While there she told me that she saw Kyla's Mom the day before and told me where she works at so that I can always go introduce myself to her and she would continue trying to get in touch with her about me possibly working with Kyla. I ate a Nature Valley Bar for Breakfast after I got to School since I overslept and didn't have time to eat Breakfast before I left Pedro's. Brittany (the other Special Education Major placed at Isla Bonita) and I talked on Wednesday while at Stella Maris and decided that she would focus on working with students in Infant 1, Infant 2, Standard 1, and Standard 2 while I would focus working on the students in Standard 3, Standard 4, Standard 5, and Standard 6 at Isla Bonita. It just seemed to make the most sense to split it up that way so that we weren't all over the place and it made the process of figuring out which students to work with simpler. I hadn't spent time in Standard 3 yet so I introduced myself to the teacher (Mr. Jaime) Wednesday Morning and told him about me being a Special Education Major and that I could work with any students he had in his class who were behind on anything. Mr. Jaime told me that he had two students that I could work with. Once the bell rang I went with Mr. Jaime and Ashley (the girl who is placed with Mr. Jaime) to the Standard Three Classroom. I'm not sure what happened with the Class on Wednesday but apparently they did not behave very well because the students were all talking about Wednesday and Mr. Jaime kept saying to them: "It's over. Yesterday was yesterday and I don't want a repeat of it again." Mr. Jaime gave the students a copy of the Belize Junior Achievement Test (BJAT) and started going over the English Paper 1 Section. (The BJAT is the Standardized Test that Standard Three must take and pass in order to move up to Upper Division.) The School was giving out Report Cards on Thursday and when Mr. Jaime went to meet with a parent he had Ashley take over in continuing to go over the answers to the BJAT since they just took a practice version of it on Tuesday and Wednesday. I found it to be interesting how loud the students were while Mr. Jaime was in the room but once he left they were calm and quiet for Ashley and only spoke when they answered the questions she asked. Once Mr. Jaime came back in the Classroom the students went back to talking over each other a lot just like they were earlier before he left the room. They finished going over the English Paper One Section of the BJAT and waited until the Bell Rang for break. Mr. Jaime was having a Classroom Meeting with the parents of the students in Standard Three while the students were on break to go over the student's behavior, how the students are doing in regards to the BJAT, as well as going over each student's Report Card with each parent. (None of the students at Isla Bonita can get or see their Report Cards until the parent has come to the School and picked it up.) Standard Three's break was extended because of the Classroom Meeting so Ashley and I just stayed outside with them. While we were outside on the playground the teacher from Infant One had two students from Standard Six hide Easter Eggs around the playground so that the students in Infant One could come outside and find the eggs. The students from Infant One came outside with Easter Egg Baskets that had Bunnies in them that they made throughout the week and I just thought it was the most precious thing.
During break Arielle (a student in Standard Four) asked when I was coming back to their Class and told me that I belonged with them and it was just too sweet and meant a lot to me considering I was only in her Class for one day. I told her I had multiple students to work with throughout the School and that I would be back soon. The Standard 3, Standard 4, Standard 5, and Standard 6 Classes were all just hanging out and taking it easy to pass time before lunch. After lunch the students were killing time before going to watch a movie. While the students were watching the movie Ashley and I spent some time talking with Mr. Jaime and learning about how he became a teacher and his thoughts on Education in Belize. Mr. Jaime said that here in Belize how you teach is up to you. They are provided a Curriculum but the teachers get to teach it how they want to. They follow the curriculum by splitting the different months into different themes and standardize the Unit by making the Unit and giving it to the Ministry of Education so that they can follow it. I’ve noticed in all of the Classrooms here in Belize there is SO MUCH on the Classroom Walls so I asked Mr. Jaime if the teachers had to put it all up and he said that all teachers have to make their own charts for their Classrooms. The Ministry of Education observes the Classrooms and look for the map of Belize, a World Map, Math Charts, the Days of the Week and Months of the Year in both English and Spanish and also like seeing student work. The Ministry of Education is split into six districts and people from those districts will go observe the Schools. The Government doesn't interfere with Private Schools and they can only visit Private Schools if the Principal wants them to and Miss Addy (the Principal at Isla Bonita) wants the Ministry of Education to visit. Mr. Jaime also said that people go to teach at Government Schools to get more money. Mr. Jaime also said that with Private School you can do whatever you want and with Government Schools you can't. I really enjoyed getting to learn about Education in Belize from Mr. Jaime. It was a lot of very interesting information I might not have ever learned if I never asked. Mr. Jaime let his students go home a little early so since it wasn’t 3:00 yet I went to Standard Four and hung out with them for a little while. A group of us left Isla Bonita at about 3:15 p.m. and when I got back to the Hotel I spent time hanging out before going to get Supper with Tracy, Callie, Maddi, Casey, and Jessica M. at a Salvadorian Place that Tracy heard about from her Partnership Teacher. I got a Banana Milkshake and tried two chicken pupusas that were really good. After I got back to the Hotel I spent time on my Laptop and then called it a night around 11:00 p.m.
Day Ten: Friday was not a typical day at Isla Bonita. Friday was the last day before the School’s Two-Week Easter Break so they always have a Beach Party to celebrate. All of us left Pedro’s to get breakfast at a Bakery before the beach party. After getting the most delicious cinnamon bun that I have had in my entire life at the Bakery Casey, Maddi, Jessica, and I went to the Park by the Bridge (since that's where the Beach Party was supposed to be) but we didn't see anyone there so we decided to head to Isla Bonita. When we got there only Miss Addy (the Principal) and a few students were there so we spent time hanging out waiting to figure out where it was we needed to go. Finally a teacher came and we all followed her to go to the Beach Party which was at the Beach Entrance that was just across the street from the School (they had changed the location for the party last minute without letting us know but at least we eventually got there). We were all on the beach for the party from about 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The whole School wasn't there but I would say at least half of the students were! They had a blast swimming in the sea and they all ate nachos for a snack, ate hotdogs for lunch, and then ate cupcakes for dessert. We were all able to get some of the food as well so that was nice. I spent time sitting in the shade watching the kids have a good time, I spent time in the sea with the kids, and I spent time on the dock supervising the kids who were playing in the water by the dock as well. I did jump off the dock once but it was so hard to get back on the dock that I didn't do it again even though I wanted to. It was just more trouble that it was worth. When I was trying to climb back on to the dock I scratched all of my toes on my left foot and then I couldn't even pull myself up like most of the kids could since I have no upper body strength whatsoever. Thank goodness Joe was on the dock and he was able to help pull me up even though my arms were slippery from the sunscreen I was wearing. One neat (but sort of a little scary) thing from the Beach Party is I saw a sting day in the water while I was standing in the dock looking at the water. He was a big one too.
All in all I have to say that I really enjoyed the Beach Party. It was really fun and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it! It's such a fun way to end the Semester before the kids go on Easter Break. At one point while I was sitting down under the trees (to stay in the shade) I had a moment where I realized how much I loved simply sitting there on how beach and hearing the chatter and sounds of the kids having fun playing in the water. It was a really sweet moment. After I left the Beach Party I went back to Pedro's and worked on my laptop briefly. I also spent time talking to Carolyn (the housekeeper I met last Friday) and she told me about how her daughter (who goes to Roman Catholic Primary School) did on her report card, I told her about the Beach Party with Isla Bonita, and I showed her where UNCW is since she asked how far we traveled to Belize. She is such a sweet lady and I enjoyed talking with her for a little bit. Most of everyone in a group wanted to go to Caribbean Villas so I went with them and laid by the pool (while taking catnaps) to relax. Between spending all day at the beach and then staying at the pool I have to say that Friday was a rough day...NOT. It was truly wonderful! After spending a while at Caribbean Villas a few of us were getting hungry so we headed back to Pedro's. For supper I was going to go with a group of people to try a new restaurant that I haven't been to yet but the sky was really dark and it looked like it was going to storm really bad so I just decided to stay at Pedro's with a few people and split a Pizza with Jessica M. The group of people that went out to eat got back before it started raining so I could’ve went to eat with them without getting wet but I would rather be safe than sorry. I still have a few weeks here in Belize with plenty of more opportunities to try eating at new restaurants. After eating Supper I played Cards with Tracy, Meghan, Callie, Jessica M., Cyrus, Casey, and Maddi. We played Spoons as well as BS and it was my first time playing either game. Karaoke started at about 8:00 p.m. so after playing BS and everyone else was going to start playing a new Game that I had no idea how to play I decided that I had played enough new card games for the night and went to enjoy the Karaoke for a little while before driving to crash for the night at around 11:30 p.m.
Day Eleven: On Saturday we were supposed to go snorkeling for an all day excursion but since it had rained the night before and it was still gloomy when we woke up the trip got canceled and will be rescheduled at a later date. Since all of us were up and awake and hungry, a big group of us (16 to be exact) decided to go get breakfast at The Coconut Café and we filled that restaurant up. A couple owns the restaurant and the woman said that it was the first time since they’ve opened where they’ve had every seat filled and even had to get a couple of extra chairs to accommodate for us. She even took a picture of us all there and posted it on their Facebook Page. It was too funny. I really would’ve liked to try the cinnamon bun because it looked so delicious but since I had one yesterday I decided to get a Breakfast Sandwich so that it was more filling. After I got back to the hotel from breakfast I was still very tired so I decided to take a nap and I didn’t wake up until about Noon. It was the first day since I’ve been here in Belize where I got to take a nap so it was nice getting to be lazy for once. After I woke up I finally got around to doing my laundry after putting it off all week. I poured some laundry detergent into the waste basket, filled it up with hot water, dunked my clothes into the water, rinsed my clothes in the sink, and dropped them in a pile on top of a towel in the floor. I’m sure my clothes didn’t get all that “clean” but it’s what will suffice for now because I was not paying $12.00 (American) just to have the hotel do my laundry. It would have defeated the purpose anyway because between the dust, sweating all the time, wearing sunscreen and bug spray all the time, wearing clean clothes just doesn’t last very long here. My roommate brought a clothesline with her so I had her put it up in our room for me and I put some of my clothes on it and then put the rest of my clothes up on the line outside at the hotel. I then ate some peanut butter crackers and fruit snacks for lunch and went outside in the picnic area to hang out for a little while. It started drizzling and someone mentioned my clothes were outside so I went to take them down and had to lay out two towels in my hotel room floor for my clothes to dry that way. I then went back down to the picnic area and spent time working on a Survey that needed to be completed by 5:00 p.m. Sunday Evening. A few people were getting ready to leave to go to Supper so I joined them and we rode our bikes to La Divina Providencia. La Divina Providencia is a restaurant that is just around the corner from New Horizons and the people placed at that school ate there AT LEAST once a day all throughout the week and kept coming back to the hotel talking about how good and cheap it was so I was glad to finally go try it. I ended up getting some Chicken Nachos that were pretty delicious. After getting back to the hotel I spent time hanging out in the hammock watching everyone else play a card game while we were waiting for the rest of our group that went and played The Poker Run to come back to Pedro’s. Once everyone got back I spent time hanging out with them and played a card game for a little bit until most of everyone decided to go to bed. I stayed up a little later to finish and submit my Survey since I only had one question left to do before I went to get Supper and then I called it a night.
After being here in Belize for Eleven Days now I have to say that one of the things I'm loving about Belize is that I lose track of time here. 3/4 of the time I honestly have no idea what time it is. & Each day I couldn't tell you what the date is. I mean…I know what day of the week it is and I know what time I need to be somewhere in the morning after I wake up or what time I should go to bed by but other than that I really don’t need to pay attention to what time it is or what the date is and it's honestly been really nice. I already know that it's going to be hard to adjust back to the fast-paced lifestyle back home once I get back. Thankfully I still have four weeks left before I have to worry about that and I'm going to make the most of every single minute I have here as best as I possibly can! Since the students are going to be out of School for the next two weeks we all will be spending time over the next two weeks doing Community Service Projects in the Community to work on our required Community Service House. We will be leaving on Thursday to go Inland until Monday. I have no idea what all the next two weeks will entail but I’m looking forward to finding out!
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