Just When We Thought it Couldn't Get Any Hotter...

Yesterday was another great day of teaching and working with the learning coaches. Margaretrose ran a repeat session on cooperative learning and Sandra did a repeat session on differentiated instruction. We combined all of the secondary teachers together at the end of the day for the discussion session. This left me to float between the classes of learning coaches for most of the day and it was fun to observe them in action. They are doing great! At the end of last week I felt that they had gotten a lot out of our sessions. After spending yesterday watching them I know that they got a lot out of our sessions. They were presenting to their colleagues like pros.

Yesterday was certainly the hottest and most humid day that we have been here in Dangriga. I think I drank an entire water cooler bottle of water. On the first day here I laughed at the little folding Japanese fan that Margaretrose brought along, but yesterday I envied her as she kept herself a little cooler with her fan.

After we were finished teaching Miss Grace took us to see Guilisi, the Garifina Museum, which tells the history of the Garifina People in Belize. It was very interesting. We had yet another fantastic meal where Marie and Miss Grace prepared some of my favorites Central American dishes for me again - fried plantain and sour sap juice.

Today is our last day of teaching and I will miss working with this enthusiastic group of teachers, but I am also looking forward to getting home and seeing my family. Tomorrow Margaretrose and I head to Belize City and then we fly home on Friday. Sandra's family is meeting her here on Thursday and they will spend a week or so in Belize before heading home.
--Stan

It has been absolutely fabulous presenting to the high school teachers as well as the groups last week. They love the practical, interactive sessions. They all have indicated that there are strategies they will be taking back to their classes as soon as school starts, for most of them that is August 23rd. I had a teacher ask me "Can I ask you a personal question, What do you take to have so much energy. "She made me laugh. She couldn't believe it was all natural. Another high school teacher came up and said, "I was very skeptical about coming to these sessions, but this has been the BEST PD I have had in the last 23 years. This is Really Good. This is really very good." - and he repeated it 4 times. I thanked him for the feedback, but it really shows that the teachers are passionate about teaching and WANT to improve their teaching practice. WOW!! This is so great!! It is a reminder that we are in the best profession in the world. We make a difference and have huge impact on the future, one student at a time!!
-- Margaretrose

Dangriga has certainly been a hopping busy place for educators! We have 150 primary teachers and just over 80 secondary teachers with us for the second day in a row. The sessions are intense, so much information in such a short time! The energy from so many enthusiastic educators has been phenomenal and not only are they all gaining useful and applicable information and tools, they are all also having FUN! You should hear the laughter coming from the classrooms as they work together, share ideas, and discover new possibilities! I don't think this week could have gone any better...
~ Sandra :-)

Flexibility is the Key!

Excited to meet our group of secondary teachers we arrived early at the school for our 8:00am start time. Maragretrose and I had rearranged our secondary sessions to accommodate being a team of two for the day, but we had to quickly rearrange again because the teachers were not expecting to be there until 9:00am. Luckily we are both very flexible and adaptable people :)

We had a good turn out of secondary teachers; 80 of the expected 90 secondary teachers showed up. Maragretrose did a session on Engaging Strategies for Teachers with half of the group and I did a session on Positive Student Behaviour/Behaviour Management with the other half. We switched the groups after lunch and did a repeat session. The teachers loved the interactive games and the variety of activities that we incorporated into the sessions - we had a lot of positive feedback from the teachers.

Sandra arrived from Punta Gorda in the afternoon feeling much better. She spent time observing the Learning Coaches in action. The ministry person said that we had trained them so well that they are doing a fabulous job. One of our Learning Coaches, Irene, had said to Sandra during the training that she realized that we "were not teaching them but helping them to teach themselves." Yesterday she said to Sandra, "Miss Sandra, I did the same thing you did. I had them teach themselves." Irene is a real character. To introduce the topic of CAPS, she made a grad cap out of paper and wore it during the session.

After the sessions were finished for the day Miss Grace took us to the Marie Sharp's hot sauce factory for a tour. We got to meet Marie herself and I bought a ton of hot sauces. With all the hot sauces and rum I have purchased I don't know how I am even going to lift my suitcase.

--Stan

Weekend in Paradise

Maragretrose and I are back in Dangriga after a relaxing weekend in Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is a very laid back and it was nice to just lounge in a rooftop hammock with a book, swim in the ocean, play cards, and catch up with other teachers participating in the literacy program at other sites. There is something magical about a day where one's biggest decision is whether or not to go snorkeling. Spending hours in the ocean ordering rum drinks from the swim-up bar at the end of the island was definitely a highlight.



The weekend wasn't all relaxation though - Kristin got us moving with a late night Zumba dance class and Greg kept us limber with a early morning yoga class on the roof top. Who needs to go to the gym when you have skilled and enthusiastic colleagues who make you dance and stretch for fun?



Unfortunately, Sandra got sick while in Punta Gorda for the weekend and so she is coming back to Dangriga later tomorrow. Margaretrose and I are going to run the sessions for the secondary teachers and hopefully Sandra will be feeling well enough to teach on Tuesday. I know that it will help her to feel better to know that I am keeping up with the blog :)


To welcome us back to Dangriga we had dinner at the mayor's house. He is a neighbour to Ms. Grace and his wife is a Rotarian and a principal that participated in our workshops last week. We were served yet another delicious Belizean-Spanish dish called escabeche.



I am looking forward to meeting the secondary teachers tomorrow and to finding out how the learning coaches do with presenting the material that we covered with them last week.

--Stan

The End of Week One!

I can't believe that the first week has already gone by. Our learning coaches are so enthusiastic and engaged that it makes the teaching fly by.

I am excited to see how they do next week when they take the presentations that we gave and present them to groups of primary teachers.

We continue to be treated so well by the Rotary club here. The Mayor invited us to his air-conditioned office for lunch where he presented some cultural gifts to us. The Rotarians took us to the local Chinese restaurant for a delicious dinner.

After a week of high-energy teaching we are excited to spend the weekend relaxing. This morning Margaretrose and I are off to Caye Caulker and Sandra is going to catch up with Charmayne in Punta Gorda. I am looking forward to doing some snorkeling, lounging in the hammock, and drinking some local rum.

--Stan

It was tough to say goodbye to the administrators at the end of the week. We wrapped up with a fun activity and it was fabulous to end with huge rounds of laughter. Great networking and ideas were shared, also ways to implement some of the strategies presented this week. I was treated with some departing gifts and huge thanks from all. They are an amazing group of individuals who are passionate about making a difference to the students in Belize! WOW, what a week. I will miss the crew! - Margaretrose

A Night Out in Dangriga

After a full day teaching and a quick rest, the three of us were looking forward to being special guests at the weekly Rotary meeting in Dangriga. Before heading out, there was the exciting event of watching Ms Grace prepare the breadfruit to bring to the pot luck dinner we would be having prior to the meeting. Everyone was amazed with the idea of a 'breadfruit' and even more impressed with its actual appearance. Watching Ms Grace expertly cut it up for frying was as Stan said, 'like watching a celebrity cook on TV'!

Breadfruit in hand, we headed out the door to pick up Jenn from the hotel thinking we were heading right over to the meeting. Ms Grace had other ideas, however, and provided us all with another tour of famous spots in Dangriga. We got to visit the drum making centre which is outdoors right along the ocean on a small island connected to the mainland. We had the opportunity to meet one of the last authentic drum makers in Dangriga and see how he makes his drums. He encourages young people from Dangriga to work with him to learn the craft of drum making so that it can be kept alive as part of the Garifuna culture.

Our next stop was at a building where Garifuna dancers and drummers were practicing for an upcoming festival. Ms Grace took us in to watch some amazing dancing and drumming with moves and energy that are impossible to describe. It was definitely a highlight of our visit so far!

When we finally made it to the Rotary meeting in the office of Mr. Godfrey's tour company, we were welcomed to MORE of Marie's mouth-watering BBQ chicken, Judith's sister-in-law's garlic bread twists, salad, and of course, fried breadfruit! We are all going to be not only spoiled by all of the wonderful food, but probably a few pounds heavier as well...

The Rotary Club of Dangriga impressed all of us with the many service projects that they have taken on. Here are just a few:

• Building a new playground through District 5370's Belize Playground Project
• Helping out the Aids Centre by donating a computer
• Supporting the installation of a computer lab at a local high school
• Scholarships to pay for students to attend high school (nine this year)
• Planning to replace a roof at a local school
• Summer mentorship program
• Weekly summer reading at the library
• And, of course, hosting three educators from Alberta for the Belize Literacy Program!

Pretty amazing for a small Rotary chapter of only 11 members!

Our own Stan Bissell, member of Rotary Club of Edmonton Whyte Avenue, donated $300B toward the Dangriga club's service projects.

To top the night off, the mayor of Dangriga dropped in to see his wife (Rotary member) and daughter and invited us all to drop by his office Thursday for an official welcome. That's our lunch plan for tomorrow!

Rotary is alive and well in Dangriga

I had a wonderful day on Wednesday with Margaretrose and her Dangriga Principals.They are an awesome group and so engaged in their workshop.Tomorrow I will be with Sandra and Stan and their wonderful group of Learning Coaches.The great day was complete when we all attended the meeting of The Dangriga Rotary Club.We were again transported by Ms Grace and she took us enroute to the meeting to a local class of dancers and drummers.They were wonderful.

At the meeting we met the Dangriga Rotarians,an absolutely dedicated and inspiring group led by their President Maria and Past President Judith. They welcomed us into their fold and fed us well.

We were so impressed with all their projects and their plans for the future.We also met The Mayor of Dangriga at the meeting and he has invited us all to his office tomorrow.

Jen

Boy, Is It Ever Hot!!!

Today was definitely a hot day in Dangriga. We're not sure if the extra heat we felt today was from the energy of our principals and teachers but boy was it hot!!!

After a night of pounding rain, we woke to a sunny and muggy Wednesday morning. We had another tasty breakfast cooked by Marie and then headed off to the school with Ms Grace at 8 AM.

There's always lots to do first thing in the morning once we get to school... setting up the screen and projector, unpacking more boxes, gathering up supplies, and greeting the teachers who arrive early for the 9 AM start.

Today we worked on positive classroom management with the teachers in one group and on instructional leadership and supervision with the principals in another group. Our teachers spent the day working in groups talking about what positive behavior looks like in their school, reasons students might have for inappropriate behaviors, how as teachers they can connect with and understand better the motivations of their students. The discussions were full of passion as these teachers worked together and shared their expertise.

We had a real treat for lunch today! As a fundraiser, the Dangriga Rotary barbequed chicken for all the teachers and principals who wanted to order for lunch. Mmm it was delicious!!! A special thank you to Marie, Grace, Judith, and Godfrey and others who assisted with the lunch...

The teachers spent a busy afternoon finishing off the classroom management work and then moved into a block of time put aside for them to start to prepare materials for next week when they will be facilitating sessions with an expected 200 more teachers from the Stann Creek area. They were so enthusiastic, they worked past our 3:30 PM finish time!

With all of the rain last night (and the night before, and the night before that) it remained sweltering and muggy all day long. I'm not sure what the temperature was but it felt pretty much like I was melting into a puddle. Drinking water continuously helps a bit but it was HOT!

We also had a bit of excitement later in the afternoon when the beautiful sunshine was quickly erased by some fast moving clouds and a mini-hurricane blew through our classroom sending papers flying everywhere. No sooner did we get the shutters on the windows all closed when the rain starte pelting down with giant raindrops. It was quite the experience! It didn't deter the young boys playing soccer in the field behind the school. They continued to splash through the long grass and mud in their bare feet kicking the soccer ball back and forth.

Off to a Rotary meeting this evening!

~Sandra :-)