Lots of School Functions

After completing my lesson plans at the beach on Sunday afternoon, I was ready to go for another week at school. We have started reviewing with the students for the exams they will be taking at the end of the month. I’m trying to come up with activities that help the students do the teaching because I believe you learn best by putting concepts into your own words and explaining them to someone else. My students love to come to the blackboard and they enjoy watching each other up there. I’m doing my best to ask open-ended questions which require them to rack their brains and produce the information that should already be there somewhere. Of course, if extra explanation or clarification is needed, then I step in, but so far they have been doing a great job.

At the end of the day on Monday, I took the risk of instructing a music lesson with the various musical instruments collecting dust in the back of the classroom. Using tambourines, maracas, wood blocks and bells, we were able to come up with a pretty cool beat in a short amount of time. I know that if I had tried this with the students two weeks ago when I was still new at the school, it would have been a disaster, but we are continuing to establish a greater relationship of respect and cooperation, so everything worked out well. The students left with smiles on their faces and it was a great way to end the day.

In keeping with the fun and excitement of Mathematics Month, the students have been having fun decorating the classroom. It looks so much better than the boring white walls that I walked in to see three weeks ago. The students even stay in at lunch time and after school to make signs, paper chains, mathematical designs and anything else they can think of. Math and decorating? . . . I can handle that!

After school on Wednesday, we hosted the first parent-teacher meeting of the school year. The meeting was scheduled to start at 4:30, but immediately after school I was back in the kitchen helping to make sandwiches, doughnuts and juice for refreshments. Now, they may not have the luxury of a Krispy Kreme “Hot Sign,” but these doughnuts were a sugary delight coming straight out of the pan! It was fun getting to know some of the teachers better since I don’t get much interaction with them on a daily basis. When they’re not scolding their students, they are hilarious women!

The meeting lasted about 90 minutes, but I was engrossed the whole time. The format reminded me of a town hall type of setting and there were a lot of parent comments and concerns addressed. The district counselor came in to talk for most of the time and spoke about topics such as physical, sexual and verbal abuse; being a good role model; and praising the students’ good behaviors. She was very thorough, but to the point and her whole talk helped me remember that so much of the students’ future behaviors depend on their upbringing and personal experiences which are happening right now as children. Since teachers are with their students for the majority of the waking day, we will inevitably leave an impression on our students. Statistics have shown that most students never forget their first five teachers, so at this level we were warned that every little thing we say or do may have an impact on future events in the lives of our students. Talk about pressure! The meeting concluded with a few final announcements and an open floor for the parents to make comments. Sitting on stage facing the parents, we were thanked for “dealing with [their] troublesome sons and daughters” and congratulated on doing a great job.

The students had the day off from school on Friday because the faculty and I attended a Professional Development workshop at a place called Stony Hill. A popular tourist attraction and even a hotspot for weddings, the mansion on the hill was quite elegant and the view of Monchy and Gros Islet that it offered was astounding. We were able to have the entire meeting in a tent outdoors which made for a comfortable and friendly atmosphere. Various speakers from the district were invited to enlighten us with facts and tips about effective test writing, teaching mathematics at various levels, and making the most of the school based assessments (SBA’s) which are required for all Grade 2 and Grade 4 students. A lot of the information in the first presentation was similar to ideas we had discussed in Dr. Greenlaw’s assessment course last year, and my knowledge from the Multicultural Mathematics course with Mrs. Berken allowed me to contribute to discussions during the second one. Not knowing much at all about the SBA’s (at least by that name), the final session was very informative. She discussed the benefits of in-class projects and other means of assessing student progress (other than tests) and stressed the fact that they allow students to be creative and show off their talents in their own way. Yes, they require more preparation and consume precious class time, but in the long run, are the things that students will remember doing the most. Instead of a test which is a one day, one shot measurement of a student’s comprehension of a particular subject, SBA’s are a learning process where the student is gaining knowledge throughout its completion. I took a lot of notes and kept all of the handouts and will do my best to implement the topics from today into my lessons for the remainder of my time here as well as back at home.

“We begin as three, and end as four . . .”

Saturday’s events deserve their own entry for sure, I just hope I can find the right words to do justice to such a wonderful day. Many months back, when I first began looking at travel magazines and deciding some of the things I wanted to do here, “Climb a Piton” was towards the top of the list. There was something about climbing up the 2,619 feet in order to look out across the entire island that seemed challenging and adventurous, and I was not let down.

The hardest part was convincing one of my new family members or friends to tackle the mountain with me. Asking around since the day I got here, I usually heard the same responses; phrased differently each time, but basically “no, thanks.” Finally, my friend, Leton, replied with the fewest number of reservations, so I took that as a “yes.” We arranged to take a boat down to Soufriere with some friends and spend the day climbing while the other two stayed with the boat. I had no idea what to expect, but I was more than excited and I’m sure it showed.

After the man at the tourist center made some phone calls, we were set to go with a water taxi to shuttle us to the bottom of the mountain and another man to bring us to meet our guide who would take us to the top. Confirming that we had enough water, and enough desire to really do this, we began the journey just shy of twelve noon. The water taxi brought us to a small hut on the shore of the island and called out to a man and explained that we wanted to climb Gros Piton. Almost instantly, a man in an extra long t-shirt appeared and with a huge grin replied, “Excellent! Let me just put on some pants.” I knew this was going to be interesting.

He reappeared, this time without shoes, and set a quick pace for us to follow. The whole time, Mark was telling us how he loves climbing this mountain and would love to go up at sunset one day and spend the night up there. Still astounded by the fact that he was barefoot, I figured this couldn’t be that hard. We climbed up and down, in and around trees, rocks and mud for what seemed like forever (but was really only twenty minutes) just to get to the visitor center to find out that our supposed guide, wasn’t there. Not wanting us to be disappointed, Mark offered to take us all the way up instead. So we backtracked a little to return to the trail we were on before and finally started the real climb.

“This is the ultimate stair master!” one of Leton’s comments along the way, is the only way to describe it. On the hot and humid day, we were both sweating within minutes, but trudged on anyway. In between Mark’s promises that “We’re almost there!” he motivated us by telling us, “We are soldiers on a mission!” and “This is a test for your mind, not your body.” Luckily, there were man-made benches along the semi-routed trail which we were able to stop and rest at from time to time. My desire to make it to the top probably aggravated Leton quite a bit because I would never let us stop for more than five minutes. Just under two hours later, with burning legs and soaking wet clothes, we finally made it to the top. Looking out to see nothing but smaller green hills and the sparkling blue sea made the agony worthwhile. The three of us collapsed on a few rocks to enjoy the view and the cool Caribbean breeze. It was amazing. Now realizing that God was the “fourth” member of our team, I felt His brilliance and radiance more now than ever before.

Apparently the fun wasn’t over just yet. We hiked across the top of Gros Piton only to be greeted by another fabulous view looking towards the north. In utter astonishment once again, I was speechless. It’s not everyday you get to see a complete, full seven color rainbow form and disappear because of a rain cloud in the distance. We enjoyed this view for awhile before Mark suggested we begin the journey back down to ensure we return before dusk.

Oh yeah, we have to go back down. Couldn’t there be a zip-line or something? The way down was easier in terms of the amount of energy expelled, but more difficult because the risk of slipping and falling was much greater. We just took our time and eventually made it down past all of our rest stops on the way up. Finally on the soft sand at the bottom, I couldn’t help but look behind me at the massive structure and proudly think, “Yeah, I climbed that!” The feeling of accomplishment neutralized the weakness in my legs and my parched throat.

We graciously thanked Mark for a wonderful time and paid the $50 US before taking the water taxi back to our boat. I threw my bag into the boat and jumped in the refreshing water to both cool off and relax my aching muscles. Exhausted and hungry, we were ready to go home. Apparently the boat had been sitting uncovered in the hot sun for too long, so it wouldn’t start. A blessing in disguise, we were then able to watch the most beautiful sunset while we waited for things to cool off. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to watch a tropical sunset on November 10th again, but I took enough pictures to remember this one forever. The end of a perfect day, we rode home under a blanket of stars and I had no trouble sleeping that night!

No snow here . . . but Christmas is coming anyway

Everything is finally starting to fall into place and I’m establishing a good routine here. It truly feels like I’ve been here much longer than three weeks and I am excited for what the next six weeks will bring. I’m teaching more and more at school each day and taking responsibility for more of the daily routines. The students really liked the Jeopardy game we played in class on Wednesday because they thrive on competition. I couldn’t help but laugh inside at the utter disgust and disappointment on the boys’ faces after losing to the girls. They made me promise to let them have a rematch sometime soon.

After school, I stayed behind with the principal and the new teachers to discuss some of the teaching strategies and tips we learn about in the States. They were shocked that we have to go to school for four years (and often longer) in order to be certified. One of the new teachers is actually younger than I am and has no certification at all! I learned that many teachers around the island gain a few years of experience as a full time teacher and then take education courses for about two years before receiving their certification to teach on any island in the Caribbean. Somehow I don’t think the DPI would go for that.

We also talked about classroom management and discipline. The major difference between the two countries is that they can use rulers or even just their hands to beat students who misbehave. I explained that if we even touched a student in the States, there would be a lawsuit for sure! I tried to offer up some other punishments we use such as afterschool detentions, loss of recess privileges and a call home to the parents, but they were leery to believe any of those would work here.

As part of Mathematics month, we are supposed to do some crafts and games with the students to promote that math can be fun and exciting. We are also encouraged to decorate the room for when the parents come in at the end of the month. The first activity I tried was creating tessellations, and the students really got into it. After a few practice papers, each student produced a colorful and unique pattern which I hung around the room. They love to point out and admire each others’ work and the papers help make the room look more fun and inviting.

I got the opportunity to see Castries from the top of a tall hill the other night and the view was absolutely stunning. The lights in the houses and buildings and bustle of cars on the streets reminded me of Chicago, but being able to see it without having to be behind the glass of a 50th floor window was remarkable. Like I said before, the city itself is not the cleanest at ground level, but from that high up it is beautiful.

One thing that doesn’t quite fit into my routine just yet is all of the Christmas decorations and music found in the stores already! I was shocked to see huge ornaments hanging from the ceiling in the grocery store last week. It’s so weird to think about Christmas without snow (or even having to wear a jacket!), but as long as I don’t see Santa riding at Jetski, I think I’ll be okay.

Every day is a surprise . . .

St. Lucia is a very beautiful place, as long as you keep your eyes up. Unfortunately, many of the locals throw their waste alongside the roads and into the trees, so parts of the island are actually quite dirty. In an effort called “It’s Our Environment; Step Up and Clean Up” this weekend has been declared as a time to consciously clean up the island. To help promote the movement, we spent Friday afternoon at school cleaning out all of the classrooms, the fields and the surrounding streets. Perhaps motivated by the thought of getting out of class, the students did a great job finding all of the trash and making the school look very nice in a short period of time. Hopefully, the entire island will participate in the movement and the island will be looking beautiful from top to bottom in no time.

The weekend brought more sightseeing and experiences I will never forget. On Friday afternoon, my “sister” Judia asked if I wanted to go with her to pick up a pizza for dinner. I agreed well before realizing what a “quick pizza run” entails. After walking a mile and taking two buses to get there, waiting the twenty minutes after we ordered, and then walking a few blocks and taking the two buses home, we returned two and a half hours later with a semi-warm pizza! I will never take for granted the luxury of delivery service again! Later that night, we hitched a ride to Gros Islet for the popular Gros Islet Friday Night Street Party to enjoy the music (yes, I even sang karaoke!), food and drinks. Fortunately because of the great weather, they can have this party year round so it is a major hotspot for people to meet up and hang out.

On Saturday, we took the half hour bus ride down to Castries to browse the markets and see some of the buildings in daylight. The capital city of St. Lucia, Castries was bustling with people shopping, eating and hanging out in the parks. After looking through the markets for quite some time, (and wishing I had brought more cash with me!) we visited the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The interior, made entirely of wood, was absolutely gorgeous and I really enjoyed the elaborate paintings on the walls. We also went to the library, various street shops and the Derek Walcott park. While my friends went to buy a few quiches for lunch, I made a stop at the building labeled “Public Washrooms.” Expecting to just walk in and do my thing, I was quite surprised when the lady at the entrance made me pay 50 cents and then handed me a small bundle of toilet paper! Things continue to surprise me every day!

We finally made it to the Food and Rum Festival on Sunday afternoon and the event proved to be 90% free samples of rum and 10% of food. The $10 entrance fee was a small price to pay for a fun evening with many other tourists.

I’m finally starting to establish a comfortable routine at school and I’m teaching more and more every day. We are still working with money in math class, but we’ve progressed into talking about profit and loss when it comes to buying and selling. Teaching language arts is a little bit of a struggle for me. I mean, I can handle nouns, adjectives and verbs, and I thought spelling would be a piece of cake, but here they spell some things slightly different. For example, “color” is “colour” and “practice” is “practise.” I guess these are the French spellings, so I always have to check twice before marking a student’s paper incorrect.

We had a faculty meeting at lunch today to discuss some of the activities for Mathematics Month. Some ideas included t-shirts, quiz competitions between the classes, a game day, and an open house for parents to see the mathematics art work the students will do in their classes. It sounds like a lot of fun and seems like it has been a big success in the past, so I’m anxious to see how everything unfolds.

Mathematics MONTH?!

Even though they don’t celebrate Halloween here on the island, the students have learned a lot about it from the cartoon shows they watch. When I asked them what they knew about the holiday, they replied with the standard answer of “dressing up in scary costumes and eating a lot of candy.” True, this is what it has become, but since most of the students are Catholic, I took some time to explain how “All Hallows Eve” is related to All Saints’ Day. Much like American kids, they were way more amused with the costumes and candy explanation and graciously accepted the festive pencils I brought from home for them. They also enjoyed looking at some of the pictures I brought of myself dressed in various costumes from past Halloweens.

Also on Wednesday afternoon, I accompanied the students on a field trip to the Folk Research Center. Contrary to the students’ beliefs that this was a place for old people, it was actually filled with numerous artifacts and displays of ancient Creole tools and toys. It is the closest thing I’ve found to a museum here and the displays were fascinating. I’m sure people in Colonial times used to use many of the same “inventions,” too. Returning home while listening to the 18 students on my bus belt out the words to some song in Creole, took me back to when we used to sing “99 Bottles of POP on the Wall” and “The Wheels on the Bus.” I couldn’t help but laugh and enjoy their energy.

Finishing up the remaining two hours of school with adjectives, mental math and social studies, I was ready to finally go out and enjoy the sunny St. Lucia weather. I knew a new friend of mine was coming to pick me up, but I had no idea we were going to the beach! It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon and was a wonderful break from the massive amounts of rain we’ve had lately. We had so much fun taking as many pictures as we could before we had to head home. I just might have to force myself to take a bus here on a few afternoons to write my lesson plans as I watch the sun set.

Thursday, the students were let out at noon so that all of the teachers from the schools in Gros Islet and Monchy could meet at the Gros Islet Secondary School for a group faculty meeting. The principals arranged for a doctor to come in and tell us about diabetes and how we can start promoting healthy lifestyles in the classroom. It was much like our seminars at SNC except for the fact that there was only one male teacher in the whole audience! I also discovered that a lot of the teachers here aren’t even certified, but teachers are in such high demand that many were offered jobs very easily. After talking with some of them, it was great to hear that they plan on going back to college soon to receive the proper certification so that they may better assist their students’ learning. My principal, Ms. Jean, wants me to have a discussion with the new teachers at the Monchy Primary School to help explain some of the advances and techniques we are being taught in the States, and I hope to learn more from them about the programs here.

This weekend should bring a lot of fun and exciting things including ‘Pork City,’ the Basilica and shopping mall in Castries, playing rugby, and hopefully the Food and Rum Festival in Rodney Bay! By the way, November here is designated as Mathematics Month! What luck! I’m sure there will be plenty of fun activities to write about later, so stay tuned.

$30,000!?! Woo-Hoo!

What a weekend! After going to bed quite early on Friday night since the kids wore me out at school, I was up early and ready for a day on the beautiful Caribbean Sea. The water is bluer than that one crayon color that starts with a ‘c’ which nobody ever knows how to pronounce. ‘Cerelean’ or something like that. Not important. The salty water was different than anything I’ve even swam in before and it made floating a lot easier! Then, after a fun-filled Sunday of hanging out in the Cherubin’s shop, eating all kinds of cultural foods and going into town for a “Taste of Desrameaux” type of affair to celebrate Jounen Kweyol, it was time to get back to work.

It’s only my second week at Monchy Primary School, but I’m already stepping in to teach. My cooperating teacher told me which general topics I should cover in Math and Reading this week and basically said I can form my lessons however I wanted to. Wow, what to do? The math one wasn’t too hard since the students are learning how to calculate the total of a number of items that each have a different price. The activities I planned for this included having the students estimate the price of each item in their school bag and then find out who carries the most expensive baggage every day. We did the same with their lunch bags, too. I also had them bring in items from home with different price tags on them so that we could simulate a small shop where the students can purchase items when given a certain amount of money. I wanted to try the activity where students bring in newspaper ads from grocery stores and build their own menu for the week, but when I asked my cooperating teacher if she had any of the ads lying around at home she had no idea what I was talking about! Oh well, adjust we must.

As for the reading lesson, all she told me for the topic was, “Teach them the skill of reading to infer.” Not giving me any passages to use as examples and not having access to a printer, I assumed this was going to be difficult. However, I worked around the topic a bit on the first day and had them define the word “infer” and brainstorm some synonyms for it. Then we talked about what we use to make inferences every day. Finally, I had them agree on a passage from their language arts book which we read together. As we went along, I had them predict what might happen in the end and continue revising their predictions as we read more and more. I guess we will see in the next few days whether or not these lessons were truly effective.

We had a special visitor from Canada on Monday morning from the Yellow Birds Foundation. He pleasantly surprised the principal with a $30,000 check to be put towards building a resource room! How awesome! These students have no access to computers or the internet at school, so the plan is to put a few computers in this new room. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see the finished product, but I hope the students and teachers take advantage of the new resources as a way to really expand their knowledge. In a perfect world, the students here would have as much access to technology as do the students at home in the states, but this donation is a huge start.

I have to go and get back to playing with my little six-year-old friend, Jannique. He lives next door, but is over here all the time. Yesterday we had a karaoke session which consisted of belting out songs such as “Farmer in the Dell,” “Five in the Bed,” “Jesus Loves Me,” and a bunch of the other classics!

A Huge Taste of Culture

“Culture: The culture of a group of people means how they live; what language they speak; the clothes they wear; what food they eat and how they prepare it; what types of celebrations and traditions they have and even what types of games they play.” – Monchy Students

Dressed in special plaid patterned clothes made especially for today’s Creole festivities, the students flood into the schoolyard. Vibrant reds, yellows, oranges and greens are everywhere you look and happiness is in the air. The teachers and students at Monchy Primary School sure know how to celebrate every aspect of their culture and I was not about to sit around and be a spectator! From the moment I arrived at school on Friday morning, I was running around trying to experience everything. Right at 8am, I had a knife in my hand and was cutting the huge loaves of bread and cakes that numerous parents had baked for the day. The whole morning was a big “bake sale” of local foods such as coconut cake, golden apple juice, lime juice, fish cakes, coconut tablets/sugar cake, bakes/floats and pami. Of course I had to sample everything, but my favorite treat was the cocoa tea. Unlike the Swiss Miss powder I’m used to at home, this is made from locally grown, hand-grated cocoa stalks and is absolutely delicious! It was funny hearing them talk about how they love drinking it on “cool nights;” nights where we first might result to putting on a long-sleeve shirt.

Soon after that, I was given an even bigger knife and was taken out behind the kitchen to “prepare the meat.” Using the two-foot cutlass, I had to take each slice of the lamb’s neck and chop the bone in the center so that we could cut the meat into smaller pieces. It took a few tries to get my aim just right, but soon I was a pro and could hack straight through the bone with one try. Then we had to go back inside and trim the fat from each piece. This was a long and tedious process, but it was fun working in the kitchen and getting to know the other teachers.

Fortunately, while the meat was cooking, I was able to sneak out and spend some time with the students who were busy singing, dancing and playing games. I kicked off my “slippers” and played jump rope with the girls, and then they taught me a different variation called “Chinese skip” which involves jumping from rope to rope to see who can jump the highest. I sure was tired and sweaty after that, but the children were relentless. Next they taught me some hand slapping games which brought me right back to the playground in grammar school playing “Miss Mary Mack.” Of course, they had different words, but the gist was the same so I caught on quickly and I think I surprised a lot of the students. All those games we played just to fill the time at recess finally came in handy!

Throughout the day, the air was filled with cultural music which includes a lot of drums and rhythmic beating. No matter how much you try, it’s almost impossible to keep from moving along with the beat. I had so much fun watching the students dance around with each other and have a good time. They learn the dance moves as soon as they can walk, and watching the little Grade 1 students dance was so adorable! Much to the students’ amusement, I gave it a shot and was having too much fun to care about how ridiculous I looked.

Unfortunately, lunch was served later than planned, so the students did not get a chance to present the dances and skits that had prepared earlier in the week. I was looking forward to seeing them, but I’m sure I will be engrossed in the culture once again on Sunday when the real celebration begins! By time 3pm rolled around, I was extremely exhausted and worn out. It had been so much fun to see the students outside of the classroom and learn so much about them. And I probably took about one hundred pictures because the students love to be on camera!