Day 3 of Teaching: San Pablo Village

          Today was another amazing day at San Pablo. It is such a wonderful feeling being greeted each morning at the van by all of the kiddos! They are truly excited to see us each morning and sad to see us leave in the afternoon. Multiple students have asked if they could come home with us. The students love interacting with us during each of the breaks. We fill our break times, plus some extra time, with playing volleyball, football (soccer), Frisbee, and many other fun games! 
          Today many of us got the experience of walking to the waterfall today with our students. The river and waterfall were beautiful and seeing the pure joy on the students’ faces when they jumped in the water is indescribable. They did not want to go back to class after swimming. Many students have asked me when I am going to swim with them. It looks like next Tuesday I will be taking a swim! 
          It is interesting teaching the students here and seeing what they have learned this far. Coming into the experience I was unsure of what to expect of the students’ prior knowledge. The students have exceeded many of the expectations that I had for the them. The students in my classroom are used to being taught to memorize the procedures; however, when I’ve used hands-on activities the students have excelled and seem to enjoy doing it. 

-Ashley Barnes Standards V and VI

San Pablo: Day 3 Teaching Photos

Day 3 brought cooler weather and exciting new challenges in teaching the students in both villages. We are very grateful for the opportunity to teach such diverse students, and many of us have been trying to learn phrases in Spanish and in the students' Mayan language, Ketchi!

Day 3 of Teaching: Red Bank Village

           The day began with a wonderful bumpy ride down the road to Red Bank Village and a joyous happy birthday song to Matt Huml in our van!  Our trip leaders are so supportive, and we were all so excited to share Matt’s birthday in Belize.  As we arrived in Red Bank and unloaded our materials, we all noticed that the temperature was cooler than normal because it rained last night! We are all getting used to the weather and agreed that the heat doesn’t bother us much anymore. 

          Today was my third day teaching the Infant IB class which translates to Kindergarten in the United States.  I had the opportunity to begin teaching the students about clocks and time, and today we made wrist watches out of pipe cleaners and construction paper. My students were SO EXCITED to have their own watches like “Miss Courtney.”  My students drew the face of their clock and included time to the hour.  Then they stood in two lines facing each other and told their classmates the time. Other than learning about time, my students also learned about safe and healthy environments today (learning not to litter), we learned “Sn” words, sang a ton of songs, and made Mother’s Day cards! 

         To top the day off, I taught music in the afternoon.  I brought my harmonica from home and introduced the instrument to my students.  My kids LOVED this!  When I played a high note, my students reached up towards the sky. When I played a low note, they got way down low. They loved bouncing up and down as I switched the notes very quickly and they all bounced to the beat. My students are so loving, energetic, and ready to learn.  I cannot wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!

          I ended the teaching day by assisting Amber in her Standard 5B class (equivalent to 6^th and 7^th graders).  We drew mountain sceneries on cloth and then painted our artwork. Yesterday I had the opportunity to give these students letters from my 5^th graders from McFerran Preparatory Academy in Louisville, Kentucky.  They were so eager to write back their pen pals and even invited them to their village!  They wrote in their letters how they love to hunt iguanas, they like to talk like parrots, and they run like the jaguars.  These students are so smart and it is so obvious the love they have for their village. 

Off to eat dinner and plan for tomorrow!  Thanks for reading J

-Courtney McGraw Infant IB

Day 2 of Teaching: San Pablo Village

          I have now completed my second day in the Standard I and II classroom at San Pablo Village! What a wonderful whirlwind it has been! The love I have for these children after just two days, 13 total hours of being with the students, is undeniable. I have learned so much already, and I am ready to see where the next teaching days take me. 

          As I said I am with Standard I and II. The grade level equivalent in U.S. is 2nd grade through 4th grade. However, grade levels don't always reflect the students' age like it usually does in the States. I have a large age range of students from, 7- 13 years old. This is happens here because students are required to pass a test at the end of a Standard, and if they don't pass they stay in the Standard they are in currently. Student's are able to retake the test as many times as they want however, the test cost money and many of the children and families in San Pablo Village can't afford this. 

          However, don't let their poverty fool you. These students have more love, happiness, and excitement about life than any other student I have taught, worked with, or observed in classrooms throughout my placements in the Education Program. If there is one thing I have noticed is that these student's don't let 100 degree weather, 90% humidity effect their lives or happiness. We are all still outside during breaks playing volleyball, baseball, toss, frisbee, visiting the river, or playing duck-duck goose-- no matter the temperature. These children have so much pride in their village, and it is so humbling. Humbling because I look around the village and I see nothing compared to what I have, what students in the States have and yet, they are beyond excited to show us all that they have. Their pride amazes me and I have truly already been humbled by this experience, and it is only day 2 of teaching. 

          Now, I want to give you a microscope view into my classroom. I have a total of 30 students however, we split the Standards for math since they are working towards different standards, goals, and looking at different topics. I have taken Standard II under my wing and I began teaching them an introductory lesson on decimals using place value charts. Today I taught them how to say rational numbers aloud using a poem. The poem described how to look at a rational number by identifying the "first" and "last" name of the number. This was a very beneficial and effective way to teach these students because it was relatable and they were engaged. I used place value units to teach them that a decimal is part of a whole, and tomorrow I am going to continue teaching them this concept and move into addition and subtraction of rational numbers and decimals. 

           I was able to use many visuals thanks to the wonderful donators, and materials purchased from the College of Education at UofL, and this has engaged students on many levels. I was able to relate the lesson to the type of chips they eat, "takis", which is a very spicy cheesy cheetos essentially. I used this to explain part to whole, and show them when you have only half of a taki you don't have a whole. so the decimal looks like; "0.5".
          Tomorrow I have many more engaging lessons, activities, and games planned. I am excited to see where I can take my students' academic level over the next 4 teaching days. It was difficult to determine students' knowledge before coming here, but thanks to the supportive professors, student leader, and colleagues, we have all been able to teach each other and create the best lessons we can to promote a positive and effective learning experience for our mentor teacher and our students. 

Hasta Luego from Belize!

-Bridget Donoghue Standards I and II

Red Bank: Day 2 Teaching Photos

We had another wonderful day in the classroom! We are embracing this opportunity and learning more about the students in both villages each day. We look forward to continue teaching!

San Pablo: Day 2 Teaching Photos

We had another wonderful day in the classroom! We are embracing this opportunity and learning more about the students in both villages each day. We look forward to continue teaching!

 

Day 2 of Teaching: Red Bank Village

         As we end our second day of our teaching experience in the pre-school classroom we are overwhelmed with emotions. We teach 30 students each morning and 17 in the afternoon session. It is absolutely amazing how excited the students are about school and how happy they are to see us when they enter the classroom! At the beginning of today’s class, students were practicing writing. We were able to introduce new strategies to the teachers in order to better meet the needs of the students. This was an exciting experience for us to use what we have learned at UofL to help fellow teachers. After the writing lesson was complete, we were able to talk with the teachers and discuss other strategies to take their students learning to the next level. The teachers also taught us about a couple of ways to teach the same content with limited resources. After only two days, we have already encountered so many eye opening experiences that have really made us reflect on how much we take for granted back home. 
          During math instruction, we were able to use various hands-on materials to enhance the instruction. This seemed to help students really visualize the math content and make the learning more concrete and real. We have also began to use positive reinforcement with our students to increase student participation during activities. Our students really enjoyed our use of movement and music throughout the day. Due to the heat, students tend to get tired and keeping them moving is the best way to keep them attentive and engaged throughout the day. 
          During the school day the students are given a short break for snack. Since the school receives no money, other than teacher salaries, the parents are asked to bring things in for snack if possible. The food that is brought in comes fresh from the village. The teachers like to keep the snack healthy and local. Today the morning snack consisted of oats, and the afternoon snack was boiled plantain. As we were talking to the teachers about the different foods, we were given the opportunity to try the different snacks that were brought in. This was very exciting for us because these are not traditional snacks back home. We enjoyed having the opportunity to sit with the students, eat the same snack, and truly feel a part of the culture that surrounds us. It amazed us that something so simple as being able to try different foods can make such an impact on your understanding of culture. 
          To end the school day, we got to make a few stops around the town of Independence. From the teaching supply store to the coast of the Caribbean Sea, we were able to get a short tour from Dr. Pentecost to learn a little bit more about the town that we are staying in. She showed us around another village close by, pointing out the library, police station, medical center, and school. The resources in all of these places are so scarce, but the people here are so full of joy. There is so much that can be learned from the people of Belize. We are so fortunate to live in a place where we worry so much about things such as our iPhone’s dying that it can be easy to forget how much we have to be thankful for. We are not even half way finished with this trip and we can already tell a difference in the way we will look at the resources and people in our life from now on. 

-Amy Baumert and Mallory Clark: Preschool