Monthly Archives: April 2018

I Can’t Belize it is Our Final Week in San Pedro!

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Going into our final week in San Pedro, I can’t believe the time here is coming to an end. I feel as though when we first arrived I could not believe how long I would be living here,  but going into our final week it makes me realize how fast the time does go by. The best part about knowing that the time went by fast here is that I know we spent every minute doing something memorable. There are 3 points I want to make to people who are interested in teaching abroad in San Pedro, Belize. 1. Do it. 2. Do it even if you are not 100% sure you want to do it. and 3. Just do it.

Teaching here in San Pedro has been a very different experience than my experience in Massachusetts, but it has taught me a lot about what I am capable of doing as a teacher. My biggest take away from teaching here in Belize is being able to think on me feet about what to do with the students. There were multiple times my teacher would look to me and ask what she thought we should do with the lesson and would leave the ball in my court to figure out plans. In my head I would always think if I was in Massachusetts I could think of multiple ways to implement this lesson, but with limited resources in San Pedro, this was always a huge challenge for me. As far as my students go, I have built a really good relationship with a lot of them. San Pedro is very small so wherever we go, whether it is walking around town to get some food or just walking to get a coffee in the morning, I always see one of my students. It is the best feeling to see them outside of school because all of a sudden I hear, “Miss Julee! Miss Julee!” and sure enough it is one of my students smiling and waving with excitement. I just mentioned coffee, coffee here is very delicious and like many college students, I need coffee to start my day. The three best spots that I have found is The Coffee Bar (they gave me a loyalty card and it gets stamped every time I order a coffee and the 10th one is free,) Junction Expresso Bar, and Lavish Habit Cafe, all which are right on the same street as the Spindrift.

Coming into my last week here in San Pedro, I sit and reflect on the past 7 weeks. Not only have I had an amazing adventure, but I have found that leaving home for a while to do something for myself has been the best decision I have made in all four years of college. Getting the opportunity to teach abroad in a new place and to live in a different culture, has really made an impact on myself for the better. I am absolutely going to miss San Pedro, but it has made me appreciate the next chapter that is going to unfold after Graduation. Making these connections on the island is comforting to know that San Pedro will always be a home of mine that we can come back and visit whenever we would like.

The reason I say to those who are not sure if they would come to teach abroad somewhere for 8 weeks to just do it, is because of the friendships I have made. Coming into this experience at the end of college and meeting Kay and Christina has been the biggest blessing of all. If I did not say yes to this experience in San Pedro, I would have never met and became so close with these two girls that I now consider two of the best friends I have ever had, and what better timing to end college with wonderful friends. We will always share the memories and the pieces of San Pedro together, and of course all three of us are sad to leave, but it is so exciting that we get to bring back the best souvenir of all, Friendship!

If anything else exciting happens in our last week here I will be sure to share it, but as of now Cheers to everyone else teaching abroad in your final time spent at your site. San Pedro is Unbelizeable!!

THINGS TO KNOW/TIPS FOR SHANGHAI (Other than places to see & things to do)

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  • At check-in, you will be asked to pay 500 Yuan (70 USD) as a security deposit. HAVE CASH! If you do not damage anything, you will get this money back when you check out.
  • You can pay for hotel WIFI that will work only in your room. Hotel WIFI is 80 Yuan (about 11 USD) a month without a Shanghai Normal University student ID. To get a student ID, which you do not need but will get you discounted WIFI, you need to visit the Office of International Affairs (not the international student center). If you have a student ID, hotel WIFI will be 40 Yuan (about 5.60 USD) a month. At first, the hotel told me that I NEEDED a student ID for WIFI, but I later found out that you do not need this ID; it just gets you a discount.
  • There are sheets, pillowcases and comforters already on the beds. However, if you want to bring your own sheets and pillowcases, that is fine!
  • The beds are uncomfortable. Tip: I slept on top of a comforter for extra padding.
  • Bring extra toilet paper, hand towels, hand soap and other personal toiletries that you might want. Although it is a hotel, it is really more like an apartment. You have to come with or buy your own bathroom supplies.
  • There is a mini-fridge in your room and a small kitchen on each floor of the hotel. From what I have seen, the kitchen does not have an oven.
  • There is a shared laundry room. You have to go to the front desk to ask/buy a laundry card. There are no dryers, so you will have to hang your clothes on the line, or in your room somewhere, to dry. Everyone hung their laundry outside of the laundry room in the outside patio-ish area.
  • Most of the hotel staff does not speak English, so I always go to the front desk with my phone in hand and ready to use my translation apps.
  • Carry extra toilet paper and hand sanitizer with you whenever you go out for the day. Most public bathrooms do not supply you with toilet paper, paper towels or even soap.
  • Teachers, at least at the middle school we taught at, dressed VERY casually. Some teachers wore sweatpants… Most teachers wear jeans (no holes), sweatshirts and sneakers to work. This is what I wore almost everyday after showing up in dress pants, a sweater and dress shoes on my first day! Pack clothing that you can wear to work and out on the weekends. If I had known that the teachers dress so casually, I would have packed way differently.
  • The school days are much longer than in the United States. Typically, I left the hotel at 6:30am to get to the school around 7:30 and eat breakfast. Then, classes began at 8:25am and lasted until around 5:00pm. We were able to leave most days around 3:30 or 4:00, but we did stay later on Tuesdays to take part in some extracurricular activities with the students.
  • There are a bunch of places to eat, get coffee and shop along the street of the hotel. There is a market where you can buy toiletries, food, fruit, silverware, umbrellas, laundry detergent, and really anything you would need across the street from the hotel. So do not worry if you forget something! Wal-Mart is also about a 20-25 minute walk away.
  • The subways are very easy to navigate and in English! You will want to get a public transportation card so that you can just swipe it every morning and evening.
  • When you are ready to pay your housing bill, you will need to visit the Office of International Affairs on campus. You do not pay the hotel directly! When I visited the office, they printed out my bill and had someone who spoke both English and Chinese bring me to the financial office where I paid my bill in cash.
  • If you do not have a Chinese bank account, you will need to use cash almost everywhere. At the bigger malls, I was able to use my debit card (Visa), but at local markets and shops, they only accept WeChat Pay, AliPay or cash. You are able to take cash out of the ATM with your debit or credit card if you do not want to carry a lot of cash on you at all times.
  • You can use the University’s track for free! Although not a gym, the track is great for running and there are grassy areas to do other exercises. I have also used the playground bars for pull-ups and such. There is always a good amount of people on the track exercising, so you will never be alone!
  • One More Plus was my favorite café. They have coffee, treats, sandwiches, and even beer. They have WIFI, bathrooms, outlets, outside seating and an overall great atmosphere. I sat in this place for hours! The staff is friendly and it is right across the street from the hotel. They have memorized my order by now…
  • Don’t forget to bring a converter for the outlets! I have a small portable one that I bring with me everywhere, just in case! You might also want to buy a portable phone charger. There will be days when you do not go back to your hotel room for a long time because you are out exploring. I always kept my phone on airplane mode when I was not using it, so battery life was not a problem for me. But if you are always on your phone, definitely bring one!
  • Learn how to use chopsticks! Some places offer spoons…but not all!
  • Learn some basics of the Chinese language and/or have a good translation app. Although a lot of people in Shanghai have an understanding of English, not all do.
  • For dinner on weeknights, I either went to the café that I mentioned earlier or made myself a peanut butter sandwich in my room. I would buy fresh bakery break almost every Monday and peanut butter from the market across the street. I also bought a knife from the market. Some other random snacks that I always had in my room included fruit, Oreos and crackers.
  • You cannot drink the tap water! So I also always have bottled water in my room, which again, you can get at the market just across the street. You could also bring a reusable water bottle if you wanted because at the middle school we teach at, there is a place to fill your bottle. I am sure there are places to fill your water at all schools.
  • If you go in the spring, the weather will vary. One day it will be 50 Degrees and rainy while the next two days are sunny and 80 Degrees. If you do not bring an umbrella, you can always buy one at the market across the street like I did. Make sure you bring shoes and a jacket that is good in rainy weather, because walking everywhere will be your new normal!

 

San Pedro High School

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Teaching in another country will always be different than in the US, but some things still take you aback.

For starters, the way that the high school is set up is institutionally different than an American high school. The students stay in one classroom for the entire day. It is the teachers that move from class to class. This can be a good and a bad thing. It means that the class is based on the teacher’s time, so they do not have to wait for students to arrive in the classroom in order to start. On the other hand, the students can go stir crazy sitting in the same classroom for 7 hours a day. Also, the students do not have a choice in what classes they want to learn. In America, a student has the option to take extra English or Math classes, if that is the subject that they like. In Belize, individual scheduling is not an option. They do have electives that they have the choice to take, but those are classes such as sports or dancing.

The number of students in a classroom can vary from 20 to 30. While I teach first form, which is the equivalent of freshmen, the students’ age range anywhere from twelve years old to eighteen. The ability of the student and how much prior knowledge they have can go anywhere from a 5th-grade reading level to that of a freshman in college. And while this still may be true in America, the difference is that they do not have differentiated teaching styles in order to help the students that are struggling. If a student is struggling or learns in a different style than what the teacher is giving, it is the student’s job to fix him or herself to that teaching style or risk being held back to try again the next year.

As a student, the management of the class you get into is the luck of the draw. There are some great students who love to learn and pay attention, but it is hard for them because they are stuck in a class with students that do not care to learn and because of that, the amount that they can learn is held back.

The heat also makes learning hard. The classes are fitted with four to sometimes ten fans between ceiling fans and stands. Sometimes half of these are broken and do not work. Now, when we have to use the projector for a lecture, we have to close all the windows, this makes the classroom like a sauna. When students are sweating and need to carry around rags to wipe their face, the last thing they’re going to want to do is to pay attention to the person standing up talking at them for 45-minutes.

As a teacher, you move from class to class throughout the day. There is a teacher’s lounge where all the teachers have their own space to do work. Some have desks and some alotted to sit on the couch in front of the TV and claimed that as their own. Based on the day, the teacher could have four or five classes, or they could have two. Because Kayleigh and I have split the first form classes between us, with each of us only teaching three, there are some days where my day ends at 9:30am because I don’t have any other classes. Even without splitting the classes, some days will have two and a half to three-hour breaks between teaching. On the obscenely hot days, some teachers will go home to shower and change between classes.  Come from America, where I only had one period off for prep, the amount of downtime that I have in San Pedro cannot compare.

Teaching in Belize has been a vastly different experience from teaching in Massachusetts. The amenities in the classroom are limited to a whiteboard. All other supplies must be brought in by the teacher. If the teacher would want to use a projector for any reason, they must make sure that the share projector is not already signed out. The lack of resources in a classroom has forced me to think of alternative assignments from what I would give my students back home.

Final San Pedro Chronicles (and yes I will tell you about my lesson)

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Good Morning from Barrier Reef Drive on the Caye of San Pedro.

If you believe in a God like I do, believe me when I say that the Lord sent me here for a reason. Over the past 6 weeks I have learnt more about myself that I have in the 5 years of attending BSU and the 23 years I have known myself. I have felt emotions, defended causes, partied like a Belizean and fell in love with a culture that prior to coming here I thought was similar to my own culture (but boy was I mistaken). Here are a few experiences I went through since the last time I posted.

I was observed not once but twice by both Dr. MacMillan my supervising professor from BSU and Miss Odealia my supervisor here on Belize. And on both occasions my lesson were planned well and executed as planned. But what I did not plan was my class going “buck wild”. Normally my students listen, are attentive and respect my role as their visiting teacher. But on both occasions all the pieces did not align and on both occasions I was criticized about my classroom management. This may sound very minute to you or it may not but this ricked me to my core and had me questioning my career as a teacher. I was sad and discouraged for a couple of days but after being about to speak to my supervising teacher from my old school and pulling myself together. I came up with a few tricks to help me through my ‘classroom management ordeal’. I now award star student at the end of the day which most students strive to become as they adhere to expectations of the classroom. As well as I try to discipline students who are unintentionally but blatantly disregarding orders. I had to become a more strict teacher in order to get across to these students. It was hard for me but the classroom and the students got better and I was able to go back to being a more laid back and compassionate teaching style. This was my challenge while here in Belize and I think that I am slowly but surely conquering it and learning a lot about myself as a person and me as a teacher.

My second experience was that I met this child in Standard 3 which is the equivalent of 4th grade in America who was in a reading program at the RC school who struggled to read. Since I do reading pullout in Infant 1 (kindergarten). I was asked to assess him. After assessing him, I came to the conclusion that he did not know much of his alphabet or letter sounds. So i started from the beginning with his and now he is able to recite A-S with minimal help. He is the most amazingly determined student I have ever met. Teachers here often refer to him as ‘special’ which brought me to tears at one point because I do not think that he has any developmental delays. I think he was never given the support he needed in school and just floated through the grades. He is eager and willing to learn to catch up with his classmates and as long as I am here, I will teach him as much as possible. One fun fact about him is that he never get frustrated he only smiles and tries whatever concept he got incorrect again. Students like him give me hope and make me question whether my calling is pullout services and working one on one with students as opposed to whole class instruction.

Lastly, I can boast a that I now have a plethora of Spanish words because after school, they have me sit and teach me words and phrases commonly used here. They teach me games and dances so for that half an hour after school they are my teachers and I gladly exchange roles with them.

 

These kids though they may appear sweet and focused in this picture have rocked me to my core. They have made me question whether I am a good enough teacher and made me feel like I am the best teacher in the world. It has been a roller coaster ride with them, but this is one ride I am glad I had the opportunity to take. I’ve learnt about love, compassion, patience, tolerance, ways to teach without the help of technology, classroom management skills, humility, strength, endurance and how to cope in hot weather.

But most importantly look at that picture closely every students I learnt all their stories and I can now connect with them on a different level. These students though one 5-7 years old are a huge part of my teaching journey and I will never forget them.

But please pray that they behave for my final observation, I cannot hear another piece of constructive criticism about my classroom management *fingers crossed*

 

See you guys back Stateside, from San Pedro final sign off 🙂

A Few Key Tips About Living and Teaching in San Pedro

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As my time in San Pedro comes to a close I have started to reflect on some tips about living and teaching here that I would recommend to the next student-teachers coming here. To start, living at the Spindrift you are in a prime location. Everything is accessible, from markets to grocery stores to the water taxi that will take you over to Caye Caulker – it is all right there. You need to approach everything with an open mind and be flexible. The water at the spindrift is different from water at home; its manageable for 8 weeks, however make sure you do not brush your teeth with the sink water no matter who tells you its okay, its not. Laundry is very easy here, it is $15 BZ for the staff to wash, dry and fold your clothing. Another great thing about the Spindrift is they have filtered water on both floors, so bring a reusable water bottle – it will save you a lot of money on water. You must eat the fruit from the stands, it is all very fresh and delicious. Anywhere you go make small talk with the locals and mention you are here teaching for 8 weeks, it benefits you in many ways. You make connections with people and a lot of times they give you the locals’ discount! If I could give one tip it would to be open to making friends, it has led to so many great and unforgettable adventures and memories.

A few tips about teaching at the Roman Catholic (the “RC”)! Some daily things you should bring are hand sanitizer and water! If there is one thing you can bring for the school in general it would be childrens’ books. I suggest starting a donation box at your placement school in the States because it does not matter the level; the books will be put to use in a classroom even if it may not be yours specifically. If you are curious about what to wear, the girls and I mainly wore dresses with either thick shoulders or short sleeves and just above the knee or longer. I would also recommend not packing a lot of teaching clothing, as I was able to wear the same five outfits each week and it saves space. Everyone has a different experience, my best advice would be that it is what you make it. Do your best to establish a relationship with your classroom teacher and be explicit about what your requirements and hopes are for your experience in their classroom. Last but not least, my promise to you is you will fall in love with each child in your classroom; embrace them because they will fill your heart in a way I never imagined.

Third Week in School

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It’s crazy that this experience is almost over. It feels like it just began (technically it did seeing as though there’s only four weeks we have in school here). I feel like I’m just getting the hang of the class, school, area, etc.
I will definitely miss the school here (Darndale) and all of the staff/students. The staff has been nothing but helpful between ride homes- advice- checking in-etc. Honestly they’ve made us feel like we’re apart of the staff even though we’re not here that long. The students took a little bit to adjust to me being there but at this point (3 weeks in) they’ve adjusted and they listen to me just as they would the regular teachers. (side note: it took at least a week to get accustomed to being called “Miss”, something they do here instead of saying Ms. Theroux they just say Miss- can definitely get confusing when there are more than one adult in the room) Most, if not all, of the students at the school come from broken/poverty-stricken/substance abuse homes. It’s very sad to hear, and I can see the difference in the students compared to home- they’ve been forced to grow up more and don’t even realize it. They rely on school and the schedule of school more than they would admit. Despite all of that, they really are the sweetest kids once you break through their “tough guy” shell.
Teaching is much different from my experience back in the states. Back home everything was centers, centers, centers. Here teaching is more workbook problems and going over them or independent writing assignments. There are few opportunities to do group work or discussions. I actually tried to use some of the techniques from back home but the kids were so unused to it that they took it too far and got way too rowdy. Our school also doesn’t do a lot of worksheets; I believe they only do worksheets for homework and then every so often. Instead of worksheets students have a ‘copybook’ for just about every scenario, i.e. classroom copy, reading copy, math copy.
It’s funny telling the students I’m from Boston because most don’t know where that is but they’re quick to say “Oh but I’ve been to Florida- Disney!” Only a few have been to the U.S. but they definitely enjoy talking about it– mainly politics and Donald Trump. We actually met our coordinator over here, Julie, and we were talking about how young children are talking about the presidency and such and that although it has constant criticism it is nice that such young children are learning to understand different political system and voting and such. Definitely a positive way to look at it.
I know where Kelly and Brittany are at St. Brigid’s class sizes are around 30 (more or less the same as U.S.) but my class size is only 16 and when I mentioned class sizes back home (mine was 23) they were all shocked. The classroom here could definitely not fit 23 kids at once.
For anyone coming to Ireland in the fall, the first time you hear the students or teacher speaking Irish (Gaelic) you will be amazed. I couldn’t believe the first Irish lesson I heard. Surprisingly, because of the district none of my students are fluent, nor do any of their parents speak it.
This experience has given me so much and with a week left I’m trying to fit everything in!
Hope everyone is enjoying their last few days!!!
__Brennah

Too Much Excitement for One (Belizean) Weekend

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My weekend was full of activities. I had a friend come down to visit me on the island. Of course, they wanted to do every activity possible in the span of a week. On Saturday, we hired out a sailboat for a half day. We sailed to Hau Chan and Shark-Ray Alley to do some snorkeling. We saw sharks and eels and lots and lots of fish. My friend tried to touch one of the sharks (stupid) and got his hand cut (serves him right).

Then, we spent the night on Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker, we called it Kay Kaka (lolololol) is the island right next to San Pedro. Where San Pedro is the tourist, party island, Caye Caulker is the chill, beachy bungalow island. The airbnb that we stayed at was really nice and cheap and they gave us bikes that we could ride around with. So we took the bike and we rode a trail along the water that went all the way around the island. We did that at sunset and it was absolutely beautiful, that is until the bugs came out.

The next morning, we took the water taxi to the mainland. We booked a tour that would take us to the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave. This is a cave in Cayo which is south of San Ignacio. It’s a former Mayan cave that still has pottery and skeletons left over from the Mayans. In order to get to the cave, you have to go on a 45-minute hike and then swim, climb, and squirm your way through the cave. It was a lot of fun going through the water and trying to squeeze through the little crevices.

You’re not allowed to bring in any phones or cameras into the cave because one person in 2012 accidentally dropped a camera on a skeleton and broke it. So I don’t have any pictures from the cave, but the skeletons are amazing to see. There is one that is so perfectly well preserved you can see the entire body and the position in which they died.

If anyone ever finds themselves in Belize and feeling a bit adventurous, I would definitely recommend going on the ATM tour! It’s 6 hours long, and you spend four of those in the cave!

San Pedro, You Will Be Missed!

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When I first left home for San Pedro, I kept thinking about how long I would be gone for. This is my first time being away from home and coming here was WAY out of my comfort zone, but something made me push myself to come. With that being said, I could not be more thankful that I made the decision to do this. With just 10 days left in this beautiful country, I can’t help but think how fast the time has gone by.
Teaching at a school with little to no academic resources has helped me to realize how lucky we are to have the school systems that we do back in MA. School here is much different from what we are used to back home. There is no hands-on learning and very little group work. During my first week here when I was observing, I saw that the students here (at least in my classroom) sit in single rows and spend most of the day copying notes off the board. During my time here I have tried my best to provide students with more group work and hands-on experiences which was a bit of a challenge due to the lack of supplies and technology. However, to them, anything new that I did was very exciting because it was different from their normal routines.
All of my Standard I (third grade) students speak English and a handful of them speak Spanish as well. The island is small so they all live relatively close to school. Many of them walk, while others get dropped off by golf cart or ride their bike. The classroom I work in is very hot and dusty. The ground beneath the school is all sand and there are no screens on the windows, so all the dust from the sand ends up inside. Each morning and afternoon the classroom has to be swept and even then, there is still dust.
I have really enjoyed working in a school that is so different from home. The students are so giving. On their breaks they are allowed to leave school and buy snacks that are sold outside the school’s gates. They always return after break with something new for me to try. They get very excited for me to try new exotic fruits and different candies that I don’t have at home. It is so cute to watch their eyes light up when I take a bite of something that I have never tried before.
My experience here has been one that I will always remember. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and would recommend this study abroad tour to anyone!

News from Dublin, Ireland- Reflecting on my first week of teaching at Darndale Senior School

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My first week of teaching multiple lessons a day (4/16-4/20) at Darndale Senior went really well! I feel as though I am getting in the groove of teaching here, becoming more familiar with the classroom routine, and building stronger relationships with the kids. I’m becoming more confident and comfortable in the classroom by developing an understanding of the dynamic and the personalities and needs of each student. I have nothing but positive reflective thoughts on this week! I wouldn’t have changed anything at all. I’m learning so much here and enjoying every minute of it. One thing that I have really enjoyed is being able to teach non-academic lessons as well. I had a blast teaching my students a cooking lesson and papier mache art lesson!

Kate

News from Dublin, Ireland- first day of lessons

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On my very first day of teaching lessons (4/16), most of the students came sleep walking into the room on the Monday morning. It began with the three boys from 3rd class in a small group format, as Fiona (my supervising teacher) reviewed a lesson taught the previous week. One of the students was completely off task and was sent over to me to do some 1:1 work. I decided to do one of my lessons on reviewing the days of the week, date, seasons and months of the year as this student was still learning to master this skill. I had a magnetic board that he was to arrange the months in the correct order as well as read them aloud. I also had a massive worksheet that he was able to write on with a dry erase marker. The worksheet had him label the days of the week, write in the day it was today, will be tomorrow, and was yesterday. At a few different points throughout the lesson, he become off task or distracted, but I was able to redirect his attention back to the lesson. Later that day I worked with the same student and did a “word sort” lesson where he was to cut and paste different pictures in the correct category that began with the initial phoneme of the word shown as a picture. I had him “say it as you lay it” to make sure he was identifying the word as well as articulating each sound and placing it in the correct category. He did well at making all of the connections. I am definitely going to use this lesson again for the next set of speech sounds he is to learn. At the end of the day, I worked with another student, Luke who is in 3rd class on telling time. I used a big movable analogue clock as a manipulative and targeted receptive and expressive skill of telling time to get an idea of what he knew. I plan on continuing to do more lessons with him in this area. Overall, it was a successful first day of lessons!

Kate