UnBELIZEable

March 17, 2009
Casey and Dee

After breakfast, at around 9:00 am, we walked to St. Mary’s. We had planned on doing writing activities with all grades besides standard VI. Each girl was assigned a standard and most taught twice. The lessons ranged from friendly letters, biography and acrostic poetry, and short stories. The lessons were received well by both students and teachers. Everyone seemed hungry to experience the more creative and imaginative side of education. We focused on writing for the upcoming literacy day St. Mary’s will be hosting for the school.
Dee focused on St. Patrick’s Day for her Standard III class. Most of the students in Belize have never heard of this holiday; they were very excited to learn new customs. They especially loved having a reason to pinch peers and even the American teachers and dentists (for not wearing green). The writing assignment was to finish the sentence: If I found a pot of gold I would… The responses ranged from buying a home, a limo, giving it to a children’s home, or attending every Hannah Montana concert (yes, she’s here too).
Casey focused on poetry. After explaining six different types of poetry from a poster she donated to both classes and discussing rhyme schemes, Casey read examples from a poetry book, wrote a short stanza on the board, and asked students to come up to the board to identify rhyme schemes. After identifying the rhyme schemes, students then looked at the poster, or sometimes remembered what they had learned earlier, and decided on what type of poem it was. After she felt that the class was comfortable with poetry, Casey worked on bio poems with Ms. Right’s class. The poems revealed many new things about her students. Many who did not finish even stayed in during break to complete their poem. Casey then moved on to Mr. Mejia’s class, where she repeated the teaching process, but did a different writing activity. This class did acrostic poems and was allowed to paint each letter of their name and then write the poem to the side.
After school let out, all of the teachers and girls met in a classroom to discuss what they had learned from each other. The girls sat panel style in front of the teachers and first gave positive comments, got feedback from their cooperative teachers and shared suggestions on how to make classrooms more effective and how to improve the overall school experience.

Just to share some personal stories we have shared with each other, we would like to write about some of our experiences in the classroom, especially since this was the last full day at St. Mary’s.
Dee had a little boy in her Standard III classroom who is very friendly and immediately took to her and the other AU girls. He loves to create origami from notebook paper and share it with our group, and creates hearts and boats very well. After the first afternoon of being in his classroom, he kept asking Dee if she was coming back, figuring that she would not since the class was a bit unruly at the end of the day. Dee pinky promised (they do that here too) him that she would return the next day, and he was thrilled to see her and the other members of the group return this morning. He loves to hang out with us during breaks and after school, and absolutely loves his picture to be taken, especially when he is pinching us (from the St. Patrick’s Day lesson). He is a precious boy, and he follows us to the end of the schoolyard every time we leave St. Mary’s waving and saying goodbye because he loves each moment he gets to spend with us. For those of you reading this, please keep this little boy in your prayers. He will be traveling to the US to have a surgery in the near future.
In Standard V, no single student stood out to Casey, instead, all of her students were her favorite part of the trip so far. Both classes welcomed her and were brimming with enthusiasm. They latched on to every word and had many questions about the South Carolinian way of life. Both teachers were very nice and welcoming as well. They were ready to let her teach if she wanted. While both of her teachers were very young, it was amazing that they respected her and what she did in the classroom. When she let the students know that she would not be coming back, they were generally disappointed and saddened by her departure. While walking around, several students dropped off notes and poems they had written for her. The fact that the older students opened their hearts to her and let her in was very encouraging and uplifting. She even gave them (after requests) a picture of herself for them to keep.
Shannon had a little boy who most probably has autism. Although her teacher was a very good educator, she just did not know how to handle the boy. Within two days, Shannon, with the help of our professors, was able to help the little boy achieve so much more and not be a distraction to his classmates. Today, during discussion, her teacher praised her on her effective methods. This was definitely one of the best compliments one could receive as an educator.
Gabby’s class had some behavior problems, so she put together a simple set of rules and introduced a behavior chart. Mr. Taylor was very appreciative and even mentioned it to the other teachers at the meeting. It seemed to work very well for the students and help keep them on task.
In just two days time, the Belizean children have reached out and grabbed the girls’ hearts.