Last day at San Pedro High School

Today was my last day teaching at San Pedro High School and I am so sad to be leaving! I feel like I have built a relationship with these students and finally feel the complete role of being their teacher. I am sad to be leaving and wish I could stay longer to work more with these students. It is hard to build a relationship with your students and then have to leave them. I was very sad when I had to leave my students at Topsail High School and I am just as sad now, even after 5 weeks with these students. I can’t explain how much I have gained from this experience. The teachers and students here at SPHS taught me more than I ever expected. Miss Iris, the teacher I was partnered with, is such an amazing teacher. She has complete control over her classes and all her students give her full respect. This passed on to me when I took over the classes. I’ve learned to be alright with things not going as planned. I’ve learned to be able to come up with lessons and activities on my feet at the last minute. I’ve learned to control my classes. I've learned to have the teacher voice and be able to raise the volume of my voice to get student's attention. I’ve learned to be open to new situations. I can’t express everything I have learned. One needs to be here in my situation to fully understand and appreciate everything I have experienced and learned these past 5 weeks. I could not have asked for a better completion of my Student Teaching. San Pedro has opened my eyes to what is out there in the world and the similarities and differences of education. I feel like I have learned so much but yet have so much more that I want to learn. Teaching is an ongoing process and you can better yourself every day and add new knowledge into your teaching toolbox all the time. I want to continue adding to my teaching toolbox and improving as a teacher every day. This experience was transformative for me and I couldn’t have asked for a better 5 weeks here at San Pedro High School.

Mexico Rocks Snorkeling & Beach Barbeque

This was our last full weekend in Belize and an amazing one. On Saturday a group of us just relaxed by the beach. It was a hot, beautiful weekend. Sunday was one of the best days here. We got on a boat around 9am and traveled for about 45 minutes up north to Mexico Rocks. We snorkeled here for about an hour and it was absolutely breath taking. Mexico Rocks is where the reef meets the shoreline. I saw stingrays, colorful fish, amazing coral (bright green and purple), and many things I didn’t even know what were called. After snorkeling, we took the boat for about 15 minutes further north but had to go slow because it was very shallow because of the reef. It was a private beach and we spent the day relaxing, playing volleyball and soccer, fishing, swimming, and ate a delicious meal. First we had some fresh pineapple and watermelon. Then the crew from “SEAduced” made us one of the best lunches I have had on the island. I had snapper and grouper fish in a curry sauce with peppers and onions, rice, plantains, and seasoned potatoes. It was phenomenal. We spent the rest of the day on the beach and then later in the afternoon took the boat to one more snorkeling spot where I saw sea turtles, more colorful fish and coral reef. This spot that we snorkeled at was very shallow and had a lot of coral reef. The current was also very strong and they called it a “drifting snorkel” because they dropped us off in one spot and picked us up further down where we drifted. I actually got pushed into some coral while I was snorkeling and scrapped up my arm and stomach, but all is fine. While snorkeling, I also swam to the bottom and picked up a few conch shells to bring back with me. After snorkeling, we took the boat back to San Pedro. It was an amazing day.

When we got back to Pedro’s Inn, where we have been staying, I met a girl named Lise, who is from Denmark. I talked with her for about 2 hours and learned so much about life and education in Denmark. First off, education in Denmark is free and if you are studying (going to college) Denmark will pay you $1000 a month, to cover for rent, food, living accommodations, etc. So not only are they not having to pay for school, but they are getting paid to go to school. Also, it is very common for students to take a couple years off after high school to travel and work. That is why she is here in Belize and is traveling all over Central America. After talking with her, it really made me want to travel more and see what life and education is like in different countries. But, in order to do that I need MONEY. This experience has been so transformative for me and I am so glad that I am able to have this opportunity.

lunch view of the ocean up in a tree house

Teaching at San Pedro High School

I taught my first full lesson to three classes on Thursday. It went very well! I taught the Pythagorean theorem. At first, I questioned students about the right triangle (legs, hypotenuse, etc.) and then I talked about American Football. I gave them a situation with the offense and defense and asked students to come to the board to draw the route that they think the defense should take to stop the offense from getting a touchdown. After this, I showed a short video on how the Pythagorean theorem is used in football and the students loved it. After the video, the students told me what they learned from the video and told me what the Pythagorean theorem is and what it means. After a short talk and notes, I did practice problems with the students. We did some as a class and then the students did some on their own. Afterwards, students had a short worksheet for homework that they started in class.

There are many differences and similarities that I have noticed from teaching at San Pedro High School as compared to the American schools. I have noticed that at the high school here, there is more participation and responses from the students. They ask more questions than my class at Topsail ever did. It is almost as if students here want you to pick on them and they want you to know they understand it. Students here are also always smiling and laughing and joking around in a friendly way. If a student gets an answer wrong, they will just have a huge smile on their face. They also shout out answers and want to say the correct answer first. Whereas in America students are expected to raise their hand, that is not the case here. Although some teachers tell students to raise hands, the norm here is for students to shout out answers and yell “MISS, MISS!” As well, when I am in front of the classroom and talking to the students or doing an example, almost all students are attentive and following along and doing the work. This is difficult to do in my classroom at Topsail because some students just sit there and refuse to do any work. Another difference was the 45-minute periods. I am used to the 90-minute block schedule. The 45-minute classes go by a lot faster and you really need to make sure you manage your time so that you can fit everything into your lesson. One thing that is difficult here is a teacher not having his or her own classroom. When I showed the video to my classes, it was very difficult having to carry the laptop, projector, and speakers to each classroom I taught at. But the students are very helpful and respectful and carried the materials to each classroom for me. Technology is not used very often at SPHS and when it is used, it is very unreliable with the wifi connection and resources. One of the similarities that I noticed is that the classes go at different paces, just like my classes at Topsail. One class can get through a lesson much faster than another class because they understand the material quicker. I thought that this was one of my best lessons and would love to teach this lesson in America and compare to how the lesson went here in Belize. 

San Pedro High School

I can’t complain with my days at San Pedro High School. The day starts off with me waking up at 6:30 and getting dressed and ready for school. I start my mornings with fruit and some freshly squeezed pineapple orange juice from Maria’s Fruit Stand. Me and the other high school students bike over to San Pedro High School around 7:30. It is about a 10-minute bike ride, not bad at all. San Pedro High School is right on the beach, literally. You can walk outside of the school and be on the sand. The view from the staff room and the classrooms on the 2nd floor is a beautiful clear ocean view of the horizon. Class starts at 8:00. There are 8 periods but my teacher only teaches 4 periods. The day begins with the first 3 periods. Student’s stay in the same classroom and the teachers move around to the different classes. Then there is a 15-minute break where students and teachers can leave the classrooms and get food from the cantina, stand where ladies make food and milkshakes, or hang around outside. After the break, there are periods 4 and 5 and then two different lunches, first lunch and second lunch (period 6). Forms 1 and 2 (Freshmen and Sophomores) have first lunch and Forms 3 and 4 (Juniors and Seniors) have second lunch. During lunch, teachers can leave but students need to stay on school property. We leave and go right around the corner to this little stand where a woman makes delicious burritos and garnachas. I usually get 2 garnachas, which are circular crunchy tostadas with beans, cheese, cabbage type toppings, and hot sauce. It is delicious. I then go next door to a smoothie stand and get a banana oat smoothie, which is the best smoothie I have ever gotten. After we get out food we walk the 20 second walk to the beach and sit down on the beach and eat our lunch with the best possible view. My teacher has both lunches so my lunch is about an hour and a half long so I usually hang around the beach. After lunch, there are periods 7 and 8 and the day ends around 3:15. I can’t say that it’s a day to complain about.

I am with 4 different Form 3 (Juniors) classes. The students are very nice and respectful. They love to joke around. You need to be able to take a joke or joke back with them with this group of students.  I have not taught a full lesson on my own yet, but have walked around and worked with individual students and groups as they were working on problems. Since resources are limited here, students are many of times doing work in groups so that they can share calculators or protractors or such resources. I think this is beneficial for the students because whenever I was walking around, I hear students talking to each other about the problem and asking questions and hearing students explain/teaching to other students what should be done and why. I teach my first full lesson on Thursday on the Pythagorean theorem. I was supposed to teach it tomorrow, Wednesday, but things always come up here and lessons are always moving around and being modified. So, Thursday will be my first teaching Form 3 and I am really excited. I found a great video on how the Pythagorean theorem is used in American football and plan to show that video to the students. Many students here are interested in sports and I think they would like to see that video. Hopefully all goes well!

ATM Tour, Guatemala, Belize Zoo & back to San Pedro

This past week has been absolutely amazing. I had some once in a lifetime experiences. On Wednesday we went to the ATM Tour. I don’t have pictures from it because you are not allowed to bring your camera and take pictures. The ATM Tour was the highlight of the trip for me. We drove about an hour to the mountain. On the way, we stopped at an orange field and picked some fresh oranges and ate them. The best orange I have ever had. We then got into the jungle and hiked for about 30 minutes until we got to the huge mountain/cave entrance.  We each had a helmet with a headlight attached to it so that we would be able to see inside the mountain. As soon as you enter the cave, you are in deep water and are swimming through the cave. You are walking/swimming through water for the rest of the time on the ground level of the cave. This experience was absolutely mind blowing. At one point, it was pitch dark and the tour guide told us to turn our head lights out and hold on to the person in front of us. We walked in the pitch dark for about 15 minutes and it was absolutely insane. All you could hear was water flowing through the cave and us walking through it. Being inside this cave was actually very relaxing. Not only did we walk through it, but we climbed the cave and squeezed through rocks to get to other parts of the cave. At one point, we climbed up the side of the cave and got to a higher level of the cave where there was a HUGE open area, similar to a ballroom. In this area we saw some pretty insane sights. We saw a lot of broken pieces of pottery and clay work. But the biggest surprise was that we saw real skeletons. At first we just saw a skull, which was a surprise to me, but as we walked on we came to a full skeleton of a teenage girl at the time. I could not take my eyes off of it! I have never seen such a sight. It was mind blowing. We were inside the cave for about 4 hours! Our tour guide was the best, he told us stories in so much detail and I learned a lot about the cave and the purpose it held. The ATM tour was amazing. On the way home, we got a flat tire unfortunately. We got it fixed though and as we were waiting, we got out of the car and looked at the stars. I have never seen a sky full of so many bright stars. There was no light pollution whatsoever where we were and it was absolutely beautiful.

Orange tree field

picking oranges

before entering ATM Cave

just holding machete's with one of our tour guides

flat tire:(

On Thursday, it was our free day and a group of us went to Guatemala. Best trip, so glad that I went. We went zip lining in a jungle near Tikal, but not normal zip lining. The guys let us do “superman,” which is when you are on your stomach with your legs and arms in the air, not holding on to the line. It was so exhilarating. Then we went to Tikal, where the biggest Mayan Ruins exist, and it was incredible. I thought Caracol was huge, but Tikal is massive. We explored and climbed the ruins for about 2.5 hours. The largest temple had the most beautiful view. I wish I had a panorama camera because I could of looked at that view forever. After Tikal, we drove to Flores, which is an island in Guatemala. Flores is so beautiful; a very laid back island with LOTS of shopping. This is where I did a TON of my souvenir shopping for my family and friends. One American dollar is equal to 2 Belize dollars. And 1 Belize dollar is equal to 3.5 Guatemala dollars (Quetal). So..1 American dollar is equal to 7 Quetal. Basically, I got a bang for my buck..Flores is the place to shop. And you need to bargain everywhere you go to get the price even lower. If only you could do that in America!

Friday we traveled back to San Pedro but on the way we stopped at the Belize Zoo while we were still inland. I saw so many exotic animals. The one that surprised me most though was the cheetah. It was so beautiful. I got a bunch of good shots of it. After the zoo we drove to Belize City, which is on the shore of Belize. From there, we took an hour and a half water taxi to our beautiful island of San Pedro. It has been great to be back here. Last week was one of the best, most adventurous times of my life. Every day we had some sort of amazing excursion. It is nice to be back in San Pedro and relax this weekend. It was a gorgeous weekend here and we spent it at the beach and pool. On Saturday, Kenly, Julia, and I went to the Kid’s Sailing Club practice to watch and hang out with them. Then, on Sunday, we went to their Sailing Race, which was so much fun to watch. The kid’s love it and I am excited to be doing my documentary on them.

toucan

jaguar

harpy eagle

San Pedro Kid's Sailing Club Race

We start teaching in the schools tomorrow for the next two weeks and I am really excited. I have not taught yet and am ready to start back up with the students. I have no idea what I am teaching this week but I guess I will find out in the morning. That will be very interesting.