Ah mi gat wahn gud gud taim

  Hi again!

I want to use this blog as a chance to share some final thoughts and say hello from back home in Vancouver! So... Hello! :-)

I've recently really enjoyed reflecting on the experience in Belize in all its aspects: the workshops; teachers; co-facilitators; administrators; old and new friends; relaxing in the Cayes; adventures in Cayo; the amazing food, and; long bus rides to Punta Gorda.

First, the workshops...

The teachers in Belize District were very willing and eager to learn something new which was made my job so much easier. During week one, I really appreciated the patience exhibited by the teachers while dealing with Hurricane Ernesto, other schedule changes and especially the changes made on the fly due to slow internet connections and other technical obstructions.

 I had a large group (27 teachers) for the first week and I felt that each of them was able to add a few more tools to their pedagogical tool kit. They were also able to come away with new knowledge about how technology integration can benefit them on an individual basis in and out of the classroom in each of their own unique contexts. At the same time, I was able to learn from them and gathered lots of new ideas ranging from ways to use Google Docs for collaboration that I hadn't thought of to issues in education in Belize and Canada that I had never considered.


Then there were the other adventures...

In the seventeen great days Nicole and I spent together in Belize, we were able to seize the opportunity to see as much of the country and take in as much of the culture as possible. Of Course, there was our first weekend in Caye Caulker which included snorkeling with nurse sharks and stingrays. What else is there to say? It was amazing. It was also great to meet up with many of the facilitators in Cayo, and make the most of the postponed workshops due to the hurricane. We were able to see Cahal Pech and Xunantinich - both of which were both educational and awe-inspiring.

One of the highlights of the trip was taking the bus down to Punta Gorda for a weekend and visiting friends there. We all went out to the falls at San Antonio instead of Placencia and it turned out great! It was a fun weekend full of highly anticipated reunions, great food, swimming at the falls and we even squeezed in some relaxation and a football (soccer) game.


We finished off our trip with a weekend in San Pedro and wind down. It was nice to slow down the schedule before ramping it up again when we got home.  So, in closing, I'd like to thank everyone again for the opportunity. It was a very rewarding experience and I am glad to have made new friends - Belizean and Canadian alike, no chroo? I hope to keep in touch and I know I will certainly do all I can to remain involved in the Belize Literacy Program.

Ah wi gat wahn gud gud taim, no chroo?

  We had a great time, eh? ;-) > 

Cheers

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Raining yet again

Corozal received a lot of rain since last night. Many streets outside the town was flooded. There were puddles so big that they could be rivers! Despite the downpour, 29 teachers from the technology session and 13 from the curriculum session still made it to school. Some had wade through the knee-deep puddles to get their child to the babysitter before school, others fell in a puddle outside the school parking lot because the taxi driver refuse to enter the parking lot.

Google presentation with Magazine cover

For most of the day, the teachers worked on creating learning tasks based on their grade level. Many enjoyed using BigHugeLabs and Make Beliefs Comix. 

Some of the students left during lunch time because they were worried about flooding in their homes. Fortunately, I still had enough students to take a group photo.

BTW, here is what we have for lunch today.

Black dinner with rice

Time to Say Goodbye

Hard to believe we leave tomorrow.  Both Nicole and I have had the opportunity to learn with, collaborate and meet some wonderful educators in Dangriga.  It was especially rewarding to watch the teacher facilitators take over and run the workshops.  We see major potential for capacity building! This was supported by the comments and feedback from our participants indicating that they are eager to share new ideas and resources with their colleagues next year. The technology component certainly had some challenges but the teachers persevered and were willing to trouble shoot issues that popped up throughout the day.  Two qualities that will serve them well when implementing technology back at their schools.  I was pleased to see that many of the teachers had their own laptops allowing us to add more people to the workshop.   Such a worthwhile and rewarding experience for both of us!

It's The Final Countdown

August 16, 2012

Final Countdown

The Technology side accomplished much more than they had ever thought possible. Many of the teachers in this session came with no computer experience while others were quite computer literate but had no experience using technology in a classroom. Yesterday, everyone had the opportunity to find on line teaching resources and share with their colleagues. Sharing was accomplished by using Google Docs. In order to share pictures, pdf documents and any other document that cannot be used by Google Docs, the attendees opened a Dropbox account and created shared folders. Some of the skills that these teachers are using are advanced even for Canada! Today will be spent using technology as a teaching tool.

The Curriculum team did a fabulous job yesterday as well. The Learning Coaches led their first day of workshops for the teachers at the 10 pilot schools. The sessions focused on navigating through the curriculum, beginning the process of long term planning, and planning assessment for given learning outcomes.
Well done everyone!

Orange Walk Rotary District Meeting

Patsy and I were invited to the Rotary District Meeting tonight.  We had a delicious dinner and great conversation, all under a "hut" outside a Rotarian's home.  There are 10 Rotarians who are on this committee, only four of them were able to attend this meeting.

Friends and Colleagues

Today was a rewarding day in Punta Gorda as I got to see our enthusiastic new learning coaches begin their work with teachers from surrounding schools outlining the new math and science curriculum. I spent the day travelling from classroom to classroom doing breakout sessions on assessment strategies. 

Although it is near the end of my journey here in Punta Gorda, I feel the connections I have made  with the teachers both as colleagues and new friends  make me feel like I am just beginning to settle into a collaborative working partnership with a teaching staff that I am part of. It has become a warm and friendly community where we share experiences as teachers with a lot of laughter and camaraderie thrown in. 

Even though I know it is almost time to return home, I feel I am not quite ready to leave my Belizean friends and that there is much here for me to share and to learn.

Laurie

An Emotional Day

An Emotional Day

August 14, 2012

The Curriculum group had the last workshops today. Greg took the group through two morning activities. The first activity was a contest among groups  to brainstorm the most ways to assess understanding. The Belizean Learning Coaches were so good at describing unique ways to assess that Greg had to admit defeat. An hour had passed and there still ideas being generated! Many of the teachers felt a sense of confirmation that they utilize a variety of assessments while gaining new ideas from their peers. For the second part of the morning we focused on daily lesson planning. The Belizeans planned Enquiry based Math lessons designed to accommodate special needs. Many great ideas were shared.

The Technology group finished up using Google Docs and Google Earth today. The teachers searched the internet for resources that could be used in their classrooms. The day ended with all attendees blogging! Patrick was requested by the curriculum group to do an extra “after hours” session on cross curricular methods of using books to teach Math and Science.