April 18, 2012

This morning we went to Isla Bonita School to provide professional development for beginning teachers.  There were ten teachers that we presented to.  My presentation was on classroom management, in which I provided ten strategies that teachers could use in their classrooms to improve classroom management.  Throughout the presentation, teachers collaborated with each other as they worked their way through various scenarios that related to the strategies they were learning about.  I gave the school two copies of the book "Tools for Teaching" and provided them with resources such as interest inventories, observation template, and sample point sheets for documenting behaviors.  I ended my presentation by requesting the teachers to complete an exit ticket so that I would know if my professional development was beneficial to them.  Here are some of the comments that I received.

      



"I feel very excited to try all the strategies that I can in my class."

"I was surprised to learn the causes of misbehavior and I realized that I need to change along with my students."

"I learned that I need to reflect on my behavior and how I can affect my class."

"I was surprised to learn that simple steps can make a big difference in the classroom."

"I learned that it is important to collect inventory of students and we need to assess ourselves and improve in what we can to accommodate each student, and make learning an adventure."

      



This afternoon we met with the principals of the schools in Belize and held small group discussions regarding any concerns or questions the principals had.  The group that I was in met with four principals.  The topic of our discussion was classroom discipline.  Through our discussion, we learned that many of the teachers struggle with classroom management, mostly from lack of experience.  We took the opportunity to share strategies and ideas, and through this conversation, we learned that our schools are not that much different.  We are all dealing with issues such as bullying, disrespect, and lack of motivation.  This seems to be the common language amongst administrators.  It felt good to learn from each other and to share our experiences!

April 17, 2012

Today we met with Carol Babb, the Deputy Chief Educator and Rose Bradley, the Director of Belize Literacy Unit, to discuss Belizean schools.  It was very interesting to learn that many of the teachers are very young, beginning either immediately upon completion of high school or shortly thereafter.  It was also very interesting to learn that one does not have to have a teaching license to become a teacher in Belize. 

Most of the beginning teachers do not have professional development support to help meet their needs to grow as successful educators.  Many of the teachers are also lacking knowledge in classroom management.  Although corporal punishment was banned in Belize for 2 years, many teachers continue to use this practice in their classrooms.  They believe that was how they were raised and it’s the only thing they know.  Unfortunately, there is not a system-wide behavior policy in place; however, each school in Belize has its own discipline policy in which they implement. 

Belizean students are required to attend school through the age of 14 years old.  Students also pay a fee to attend school.  The fees may vary from school to school, depending on grade level.  Unfortunately, if parents can’t afford to pay the fee to have their child attend school, they simply do not send them.  Support has been provided via truancy officers, to locate students who live in Belizean villages that are not attending school.   Many of these children live in the poorest areas of Belize, which is known as London Bridges.  With the assistance of the truancy officers, many families are able to receive support to help get their child in school.

I was very gracious to have been in the presence of these women.  They demonstrated a passion for making positive changes within Belizean schools.  They also recognize the need to reach the increasing growing numbers of students who are not attending school.  My hope is that I may one day have the opportunity to be an administrator at a school in Belize. 

April 13, 2012

Today was our last day in San Ignacia.  We visited the Belize Zoo which was incredible.  I had an opportunity to feed a beautiful jaguar named Junior.  He let us touch his paws and he enjoyed licking the heads of the men.  See all of my pictures to learn about all of the animals that I saw.

          Junior, the Jaguar!                               Me feeding Junior!              

   

    

  Junior licking Mike's head!

Me holding a boa constrictor!

                                     Very large crocodile!                 Tipar, the national animal of Belize!

More pictures to come!

April 12, 2012

Not feeling well today.  I had to leave breakfast early and go back to bed.  Rested for a few hours.  Missed out on the Iguana Sanctuary visit.  I was very upset too, because iguana's are one of my favorite animals.  I did have a chance to get out after feeling better and mingle with the locals.  That was pretty fun!

April 11, 2012

What an amazing experience we had today!  We explored the ActunTunichi Muknal, ATM caves.  These caves are the most sacred and ceremonialo  caves ever found.  This cave has one entrance in and out, which makes for a dark environment.  For our safety, we wore head gear and head lights to see where we were going.  To enter the cave we had to swim into the mouth which led us to lots of twists, turns, ups, and downs in ankle to waist deep water.  Once we entered the ceremonial artifact areas, we had to take our shoes off and walk the cave in our socks.  (OUCH!!!)  The pain was definelty worth going through once we arrived the artifact areas.  Our tour guide, Martin, was extremly informative of the history of the cave.  He was an AWESOME story teller, taking us back into time by having us close our eyes, turn off our head lights, and hold each other by the shoulder as we took our journey through time.  During this moment, Martin played music with the stalagmites that had formed in the cave.  It was very peaceful and beautiful sounding.  He was able to make this music because the stalagmites are filled with water and when he tapped on them they made a sound, very similar to playing music from glasses of water. 

Check out these pictures of the various artifacts that are located in this cave!

The entrance to the ATM cave.

Pottery used in sacrificial ceremonies.

The skull of a ruler.  It is easy to tell that this individual was a ruler because his forehead had been flattened.  Mayan rulers used to bind the heads of their infants to make their forehead flat. 

The remains of a yound female.

Click link to learn more about the ATM caves http://www.chaacreek.com/tours-activities/tours/caves/actun/

April 10, 2012

Today was fantastic!  We took a trip to to Caracol, the most extensive archeological site in Belize, which consists of a plaza center that was used by the Mayans.  Here are many of the things that I learned while there:

• The Mayans used granite to make tools.
• Pine was used as a fire resource.
• The soil is composed of granite; however, underneath the soil is very acidic which makes it difficult to grow vegetation. 
• Mayans were unable to settle in this area due to lack of natural resources so they settled in the surrrounding forests.

Caracol

We did lots of climbing and walking, which made me realize that I am definetly not in shape the way I used to be.  Oh yeah, I also ate some termites, which were surprisingly pretty tasty.  Tastes minty!!!  We dug them right out of their nest and ate them up,  Yum, Yum!!! (Video footage to come)

Check out these pictures of the wonderful things I observed!

This is one of the temples in the village. Can you believe that I walked up all of these steps.  They are nothing like the steps in the US, they are much steeper and each step is pretty tall.  I had to climb them on all fours because I was afraid that I was going to fall.

This is one of the rooms located in the temples. These rooms were used as living quarters.

           Here is a view of all of the temples from the highest point.

         

The drainage systems of the temples in the village consist of holes constructed into the walls which allowed the water to flow into an underground cistern so that it could be used again.  The drainage holes were also used to build scaffolds as the Mayans built the high-rise temples.  In addition, the Mayans used the drainage holes to place fire torches in them to light the village at night. 

This is a ball court for Mayan basketball which is called Popauvh.  This is a ceremonial ball court which was started by one of the Mayan rulers.  It was played either one on one or two on two using a rubber ball.  To play the game, the participants had to hit the rubber ball onto markers which were located on the court.  (It sounded very similar to playing horse shoe).  The winner of the game was sacrificed, which was an honor to the Mayans.  They believed that they would go to the underworld and be reincarnated. 

                                                      Markers they hit with the rubber ball.

The Mayans eventually abandoned the cities due to drought in the area, which began the first decline of Mayan civilization. 

Rio Frio Cave

The second place that we explored today was the Rio Frio Cave, which means Cold River Cave.  The water in this cave comes from the Mayan mountains and flows to the Mecal River.  I swam in the river with many of the locals on the first day that I arrived. 

On our way to the Rio Frio Cave we passed through a village that had been managed by the government from 1970-1980’s.  This is similar to government housing in the United States.  During this time period about 200 people lived in the village.  Unfortunately, in the 1980’s, due to the government discontinuing funding, the village quickly became abandoned.  Currently there are approximately 6 people living in the village.  Here is a picture of one of the living quarters in the village.

Fall of Five Sisters

Our last adventure of the day was a visit to The Fall of Five Sisters.  This was very refreshing after a long day of climbing and walking.  The only downside was that we had to take a very rocky, rooty, trail downhill to get to the waterfalls.  Once we arrived we took a dip in the cool waters.  Several folks jumped from the side of the cliff into the waterfall basin.  I was tempted, but didn't want to take the chance of hurting myself.  Okay, I admit it, I was CHICKEN!!!  It was fun watching everyone else as they enjoyed themselves.

Click this link to learn more about the Caracol!  http://www.belizex.com/caracol.htm

April 9, 2012

I can't believe that I am here in Belize!  I didn't get much sleep last night because I was so anxious about the trip and I kept thinking that I would forget something.  Finally went to bed at 3:30am and arose to the annoying buzzing sound of my alarm clock at 4:30am.  It's a good thing too, because I had forgotten to pack all the delicious snacks my mom bought me for the trip.  And so began my first problem of the day.  My suitcases were packed to the fullest, which meant that I had to leave some items at home.  Too bad, I had to sacrifice a few books I had planned to read.  Who can turn down snacks and treats from their mother?  Not I, so I brought them along for the journey.

I arrived at the airport at 6:20am and we were off in the big blue skies at 7:10am.  The plane was much smaller than what I am used to traveling in, but it was a pleasant trip.  We arrived in Atlanta at 8:30am, changed planes and arrived in Belize at 11:00am.  Since we had to wait for our driver, we had our first meal in Belize city, a spicy chicken sandwich and fries.  That was the first time I had a ground chicken sandwich.  Very tasty, I must say.

Our hour and a half trip to San Ignacio was relaxing and informative.  Our driver, Salvino,  talked to us about the history of Belize which included a Civil War that actually began over a disagreement over fruit.  Since it is the Easter Holiday, the schools were closed, but we passed several on our trip.  We learned that the schools were run by the churches, but the state provides funding.  We saw a few police stations, bus stops (they use old school buses for city buses), lots of chickens, and other cool stuff.