Week One Complete

3/28/11

Our UNCW students completed their first week in the schools here in San Pedro and it was quite eventful. Many of the students were asked to observe their partner teacher for the first week of schools, while others were asked to “dive right into instruction” as their partner teacher relinquished control quickly. It was interesting to see how our student teachers (and the children) would react. Some student teachers were anxious while others were excited to begin! Teaching in Belize and employing a foreign curriculum can be disconcerting to those students that like to be well planned and informed; while others teachers are more comfortable becoming engaged quickly without the direction provided them in their student teaching classrooms. Many of our students are provided a high level of support structures in Wilmington internships to be successful. I will argue that our teachers are overly supported in some cases. So we observe some students struggle to teach in an environment where those ‘home-based’ support structures don’t exist. But, throughout the week, almost all of our students get familiar with their local environment, if not all together comfortable. I don’t think they understand how capable and well trained they are!

But isn’t that what teaching in a foreign environment is supposed to be about? Placing each of our students in an unfamiliar environment and then asking each student to make sense (and meaning) of their new surroundings is about being adaptive. In science education we call this inquiry learning. We ask our k-12 students to do this, but how often do we ask our teachers to do this? Really…how often? Many of our student teacher are being asked to do just that during this field experience. All of our students are put into a state of disequilibrium when confronted with an environment completely familiar to them. And what is amazing to me is to watch them “work themselves back to stability.” I’m a firm believer that if they can be successful teaching in San Pedro, Belize without the resources they have available in the states, then they can be successful anywhere. We have a combination of students amongst this year’s 18 participants. Some are well traveled internationally. These students tend to adapt to this new environment much better early in the field experience. We also have students who have never left the southeastern part of the United States. Many of these students have a bit of ‘culture shock’ initially. But, after a week, we find that these students grow in ways we could never have planned for. It is an amazing realization to observe! And Susan and I believe that international experiences like this get our students ready for the classroom in ways that I could never do as a teacher educator back in the states.

3/20/11

The international field experience to Belize is well underway! The students (and instructors) have settled into their modest accommodations at Pedro’s Inn. They have had ample opportunity to get acclimated to both the geography of the island and the cultural differences they see on a daily basis. It is interesting to watch the students negotiate their fear of the unknown when visiting and interacting within a foreign land. For instance, observing students intellectually deal with the monetary change in currency when paying for food or purchasing supplies always makes me smile.

The weekend has been quite uneventful. After Friday’s visit to each of the partner schools, students had the opportunity to talk about their initial impressions and share their excitements and concerns at our breakout session. While all have said they are genuinely excited (you can tell by the smiles when they reflect out load), some are concerned with the methodological differences that they have seen so far. Other students have concerns about a student need to constantly touch the teacher. While others are amazed at the class sizes they will encounter at San Pedro Roman Catholic and San Pedro High School. The next breakout session will be Monday after school.

Our UNCW students took the weekend to explore the island, eat at different locations, and even snorkel or dive for the first time. Peter, owner of Pedro’s Inn, hosted an inexpensive pizza reception for the students on Thursday evening. Paul and Sarah, owners of the Belizean restaurant and coffee house Sarah’s Kitchen, hosted the students for a $5.00 Sunday Brunch. Wow…what a deal! This was the most filling and inexpensive brunch I’ve ever had! We thank them for their kindness and hospitality.

Some of our motivated students already began to complete their 20 required hours of community service. They walked the homeless dogs at Saga Humane Society…many of which have never been on a leash before! See the posted pictures.

Lastly, we will spend Sunday evening resting for the first day of school tomorrow. Many of the students have to be up early and arrive at their schools between 7:30 AM and 8:15 AM. Susan and I will accompany different groups to start the morning. I will lead the six high school students at 7:30 AM and Susan will get the six Isla Bonita students started. We will meet the last six UNCW student teachers at San Pedro R.C. together as this is the first year of our working relationship. We are beginning the field experience on as ‘firm of footing’ as I’ve ever experienced so far. Can’t wait for tomorrow!

Welcome to San Pedro! We're back!

Thursday, March 17th
We have arrived in San Pedro, Belize! After leaving Wilmington, NC at 7:00 AM, Susan and I flew Delta airlines to Atlanta to connect with a flight to Belize City, Belize. Susan, 8 students and I passed through immigration rather quickly and we left for Ambergris Caye on a puddle jumper (18 passenger Cessna) using Tropic Air. I always love this flight because it provides us with a glimpse of the island from the air providing a small context for where the students will live and be working. The island always seems so much bigger on the ground than it does from the air, and besides, the short flight and small plane is a unique experience for all of us. As soon as we touched group, we were re-introduced to the heat and humidity! It is amazing that any work gets done! It is so hot here, but the Caribbean Sea is so close and so beautiful! I even had a moment to do an interview with the local paper. They were interested in announcing our arrival to the residents of the island. We continue to get more attention, in terms of press coverage, every year…this is a great reflection on the success of the program!
The students used Wednesday to settle into their accommodations at Pedro’s Inn, the dorm like hotel that is housing our student group. It was wonderful to see Peter, Cindy, and Walter again after a year away! Pedro’s is almost like a second home to me, and they are so accommodating to our field experience group. Susan and I have a one bedroom room with shower and sink. The students have the same style of accommodations but they are housed in the property across the street. All of the students share roommates and are housed on their own floor. There is hot water (so far), but we anticipate interruptions over the next 40 days! That is life in Belize.
We all spent the evening together eating pizza at Pedro’s Inn and socializing. Peter provided the group with a rousing introduction before the pizza game. He is such a unique character (a boisterous Englishman), but we would expect nothing less from the expatriates on the island! He even provided March Madness sheets for everyone to complete.



We met as a group at 9:00 AM and walked to George’s Kitchen for breakfast. Maria was working in the restaurant as usual and it was fun to listen to Susan report back about her Stewed Chicken recipe Susan used last year in the states. We all ate well, and began out tour of the island. We walked the Caribbean path to the town and highlighted all the schools, hotels, and businesses as we passed each.


The group visited the three San Pedro schools that we will use on the island: San Pedro High School, San Pedro Roman Catholic Primary School and Isla Bonita Primary School. Each school has a unique character and charm unto itself. We had the opportunity to talk with all three principals this morning/afternoon. It is so nice to be visited with smiles and interest from the principal and teachers! We are looking forward to our field experience beginning bright and early on Monday morning. One last student meeting this afternoon to discuss the schedule and syllabus, among other items. And…we’re off!

This is my first post since we completed the highly successful and initial 2009 Field Experience. I am looking forward to returning to San Pedro, Belize from the University of North Carolina Wilmington for the Spring 2010 field experience. And, I can't wait to see all my friends again at both San Pedro High School and La Isla Bonita Elementary School. I'm looking forward to making new friends at Ambergris Caye Elementary School. They are going to be the third school we will collaborate with on the island. We are gaining traction with the community and look forward to many more. We leave on Wednesday, March 17th.

I'm going to be leading the trip with another University of North Carolina Wilmington faculty member, Susan Catapano. Having Susan's assistance planning the field experience has been so helpful this year. Susan will work primarily with the elementary students and I will work primarily with the secondary students, although there will be lots of overlap.

I have to thank Richard Huber for all the hard work he has done "behind the scenes" to make this a great success. I want to thank Dr. Edward Paul, Honorary Consulate to Belize, for all his leadership and guidance in creating opportunities for our students. And, we need to thank the Office for International Programs at UNCW for handling much of the administrative work to allow Susan and I to plan for a successful field experience.

We have a much larger group than last year...17 students. I must be crazy! But, we've had motivated students apply to the program, progress through an interview process, checked their references, and selected a group that holds as much potential as last year. I'm looking forward to working with each of them. Although, I'm worried a bit that all will adjust accordingly. We will be staying at Pedro's Inn again this year. While the accommodations are sufficient, they are much different from the comforts of Wilmington. We'll see how all of our students react. I've tried to prepare them as best as I can, but anything is possible.

I'll end this first post here! More to come!

Service Projects

Our students have proposed some ambitious service projects to complete. All of the elementary student teachers are engaged in after-school tutoring with their students. Miss Kristen Brenton, Mrs. Amanda Barnes, and Miss Wendy Unsworth have all committed many hours to the primary students. Miss Addy, the school principal as encouraged the student teachers to be engaged in the service. They have participated in student parades during Earth Watch as well as attended many of the fundraising activities that have taken place on the island to generate school funds. The student teachers have proposed to clean and organize some of the rooms in Isla Bonita Elementary School as well as participate in some of the service activities of the high school student teachers.

The secondary student teachers are working on a variety of initiatives of their own. The athletic court behind the high school has been in disrepair for some time as the salt winds and the always sandy/dusty environment is unrelenting. Kristen Trotter has acted as painting supervisor! All teacher interns have begun to clean the outdoor concrete surface and are readying to re-paint the athletic courts at the request of Mr. Kelly, the science teacher and coach, and Mr. Vasquez, the high school principal. Alberto, the school carpenter and groundskeeper, has acquired the necessary materials and the student teachers have begun the work. John Derian and Margo Ennis is currently gathering teacher information to add to the school website. Mr. Palma, the school’s technology coordinator, has granted the students access to the San Pedro High School’s website. The students intend to add this teacher information to the web site as static web pages. Many of the students at San Pedro High School are technologically literate and would appreciate access to instructor web pages for informational purposes. The final student project includes the creation of a short documentary for the school’s promotional efforts. Will Fassbender will lead the effort to collect short video segments. He is looking forward to generating a 10-15 minute video for the high school with many images integrated.

All the efforts have been well received by the San Pedro High School faculty and staff.

Inland Week, Complete.

I missed last week’s post…sorry! While we have had intermittent e-mail access, the real reason for the delay: we have been busy! So, we are back in San Pedro Town after an eventful week traveling around Belize. We arrived back on Ambergris Caye Saturday afternoon after traveling via the San Pedro Express ferry. We’ve seen many things during our inland trip! We’ve ridden packed busses, hired unique and knowledgeable guides, met old friends and family, established new relationships, traveled to Mayan Archeological sites, visited the zoo, and dined at local flavorites. See our experiences as I write about the highlights:


Caves Branch – I think the accommodations at Caves Branch and the waterfalls tour was one of my favorites! This was quite a diversion from the hustle and bustle occurring daily in San Pedro Town. The location was halfway between Belize City and Guatemala to the west. Caves Branch is a natural setting described with adjectives such as, serene, peaceful and inviting. The teacher candidates and I stayed three to a cabin, and we reserved three cabins for a one-night stay. Upon arrival but after ‘settling in’ to our cabins, we decided to take a pre-dinner excursions and short bus ride with a Cave’s Branch tour guide to the ‘Blue Hole’. There, we walked down a large hill to the awaiting river below. The swimming hole quickly revealed itself to us! We all swam in the deep, fresh water hole about as blue as one could imagine. The swimming hole was an obvious local favorite as around 10 Belizeans were already enjoying the water. The ‘Blue Hole’ is part of an active national park system that transverses the nation (http://www.centralamerica.com/belize/parks/bluehole.htm).

We had a hearty dinner and light breakfast in the ‘mess hall’ before heading out on our excursions. The students chose to participate in three different excursions: river tubing, repelling, and waterfall exploring. I chose to explore the waterfalls. The well trained guides drove the group through rows and rows of orange trees. We rode on old school busses and prepared ourselves to hike into the forest on our way to the cave’s entrance. From there, we entered the cave with helmets secured tightly to our heads and illuminated lights strapped around each helmet. We entered the cave’s opening along an exiting river of water. As we hiked deeper and deeper into the caves we observed both biotic (insect and fruit bats, scorpion spider, cave cricket, catfish) and abiotic (stalagmites, stalactites, cave openings, rock types) factors. But, we had little idea of what was to come as all of us tried to avoid getting wet in the river by jumping from dry rock to dry rock. While we had come to see the picturesque waterfalls, many of us were unprepared for the invitation to jump off into awaiting pools below. All-in-all, we climbed above and jumped into around 5 large cave waterfalls ‘hooting and hollering’ each time. The water was chilly, but not cold. All of us were quite comfortable as getting wet was the theme of the day’s hike. We enjoyed a well deserved lunch in one of the large chambers of the cave. We exited the cave and drove back to Cave’s Branch, anxious to tell our stories to the others. (http://www.cavesbranch.com/adventures/caving.html)

I think my only regret is that we only spent one night at Cave’s Branch. During future excursions, I think we will spend two or three evenings here as many other students enjoyed their excursions just as much!


Belize Zoo – Despite our early disappointment in missing the Belize Zoo at the onset of the trip, Margo, Kristen, and I decided to depart San Ignacio on a public bus for Belmopan ($2.50 each way). Upon arrival, we paid the $5.00 entrance fee and quickly encountered the Tapir, the Belizean National Animal. This animal is otherwise referred to as the mountain cow. The animals are so close to the visitors that in many cases you can reach out and touch them. Kristen trotter did just that! But, we just had to be careful to not get too close to many of the other more dangerous animals. The Spider Monkey’s exhibit was a highlight of the visit. The animals are threatened due to poaching, viral outbreaks, and capture to satisfy the dangerous pet trade. They really put on a good show for us! We traveled through the small park seeing white-tail deer, keel-billed toucans, paca, scarlet macaw, collared aracari, jaguaroundi and ornate hawk-eagle. The Ocelots (or tiger cat) were some of the more beautiful big cats I’ve ever seen! The big paws and the leopard-like coloring were really neat. The ocelot rubbed the fence as a common household cat would, purring and waiting for dinner. The black howler monkeys were in true form…howling and yelling at pitch and decibel levels that are amazingly loud. The very endangered harpy eagle was the size of a human. Two were on display and it was the closest I’ve ever been to one. But, the Jaguar (tiger) was the highlight for me! Such a beautiful and majestic animal…one could see that protection of such a species is paramount. The agility and the grace were present in the large cat. We had the opportunity to watch the cat being fed treats. (http://www.belizezoo.org/zoo/zoo/mammal.html)


Navigating the Countryside – Many students enjoyed the challenge of traveling inland Belize using public transportation. BUT, I had to navigate the need to get to students to the accommodations on time while allowing all students the flexibility to travel in unique ways. Many folks had warned me about the challenges and sometimes the dangers of traveling on the public busses. And, it is true, the busses and system seem antiquated by our standards in the states, but there is raw enjoyment to conquering (maybe never understanding) the journey from one city to the next. We never really knew which stop was the correct one or when to get off of the bus, but we never encountered any problems or any unpleasantness. It is really been pleasurable to see many students overcome their fears of this type of foreign travel while many others have lead the group in one travel conquest after another. All in all, we navigated airports, busses, boats, taxi’s, private transports, golf carts, bikes, and feet! (http://belize-guide.info/getting.around/buses/)


Lamanai – This was another highlight of the travel experience inland. Lamanai (submerged crocodile) is a Mayan ruins that covers over 10 miles of riverside. John, Kristen B., Kristen T., Margo, Will and I decided to take the popular river boat tour from Orange Walk to reach ruins. We were lead by Carlos, our fearless leader! The river boat held around 30 passengers, had twin 200 Yamaha engines, and quickly navigated the small river flowing from the ancient lakes over 20 miles from departure. Along the way, we stopped to observe crocodiles, watch wading birds, and feed spider monkeys.

We slowed past canoes of fisherman with stringers of fish and swimming children jumping from docks emerging from the shoreline. We even pasted a Mennonite village along the way. It was interesting to learn that the Mennonites made up 10% of the overall Belizean population and produced 70% of the agricultural products for the country. But, the highlight of the visit was arrival at the Mayan site and bearing witness to the ten story temple that emerged out of the river mountainside. We quickly ate lunch on the shore, visited the museum and gift shops, and departed to explore the once thriving village! We hiked through the ruins to emerging at the base of the Mayan temple. It was thought that 40,000 to 60,000 people considered the site home during the first millennium. The climb to the top was steep and we had to use a rope to assist in the assent. But, what a view from the top of the temple! One could clearly see why the top was considered a place of convening with the Gods. I think I will “require” this excursion of all our students participating in future field experiences. It was a great visit! (http://www.belize-vacation.com/belize/lamanai.htm)

Two weeks down!

What a second week we have had! Our teacher candidates have assumed many of the teaching responsibilities from their host teachers. The elementary teachers have had the opportunity to switch teachers and learn from teaching students in different standards. While many our secondary teachers have been teaching the same classes for the better part of week 2. Many of the current high school teachers had to travel inland with their students for the yearly senior field trip. This allowed our UNCW teachers to lead the high school classes on their own. Both the elementary teacher candidates and the high school teacher candidates have done an outstanding job. In fact, I’ve even had the pleasure of working the student lunch cantina during the day. The proceeds from the student lunches served go to an annual faculty trip at the end of the year. The teachers travel for a week of celebration to places like Las Vegas, Puerto Rico, Miami, Monterrey, etc.

We head inland Saturday morning to explore all that Belize has to offer! Our itinerary looks like this:

· We depart from San Pedro Town in the morning for Belize City on the passenger ferry. It is around a 1 hour commute to the mainland by boat. Upon arrival, we will visit Old Belize in Belize City for a couple of hours. See the site here: http://www.oldbelize.com/

· We have hired a tour operator to pick everyone up from Old Belize and take us to the Belize zoo in Belmopan in the afternoon (http://www.belizezoo.org/)

· After our tour of the zoo, we arrive in Caves Branch for our first night of accommodations and an evening of relaxation. We plan to river tubing on Monday afternoon. See the web site here: http://www.cavesbranch.com/

· We depart Caves Branch on Sunday afternoon for the foothills to the jungle and the town of San Ignacio (http://www.belizex.com/san_ignacio.htm)

· We will arrive in San ignacio on Sunday evening by bus. We intend to stay in town for four exciting days and will depart on Thursday morning. Our accommodations are at Cahal Pech…as described on their website: “Cahal Pech Village Resort is located in the heart of the Mayan world, San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize. We offer professionally guided tours of local and other Mayan ruins in English and Spanish, as well as access to Mayan Healing, Culture and Art. We also offer Eco-tours, Jungle Adventure, Horseback Riding, Reef Diving and more. Relax at our Pool, or see Belize’s Beaches and Caves, Waterfalls, Sink Holes and Zoo.”

Sounds like fun, huh? See: http://www.cahalpech.com/.

Our tours may include the following
o http://www.tikalpark.com/ - Wikipedia says, “Tikal (or Tik’al, according to the more current orthography) is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now modern-day northern Guatemala.”
o http://www.belizex.com/xunantunich.htm - Belize Explorer says, “Xunantunich is located across from San Jose Succotz, a few miles from the western border. The partially-excavated and largest pyramid, El Castillo, rises 130 feet above the main plaza and offers an impressive Panoramic View of the Belize's Cayo District and nearby Guatemala.”
o http://jaguarpaw.com/ - From their website, “Jaguar Paw is an all inclusive Belize Resort that is located in 200 Acres of the Rainforest on a River and Cave System. On the grounds activities abound. From Cave Tubing on Caves Branch River system or Crystal Caves - Rock Climbing and Repelling - Zip Lining through the Jungle Canopy, and so much more.”

· On Thursday morning, we travel North for the village of Orange Walk and a river boat day tour of Lamanai (http://www.lamanai.com/index.htm. We will explore the mayan ruins maybe even spot a Keel-Billed Toucan! From the travel Belize website, “The Maya Site of Lamanai, one of Belize's largest ceremonial centers, is located on the banks of the 30 mile long New River Lagoon in North Central Belize. With one of the longest occupation spans in the Maya World, Lamanai was occupied continuously for over 3,000 years. The Lamanai Archaeological Reserve also contains a museum, the remnants of two 16th century Spanish churches and a colonial sugar mill that was established in 1860. Set in tropical forest and providing spectacular views from several of its large temples, Lamanai provides a unique experience into the culture of the Maya and the biological diversity of the tropical forest.”

· On Thursday evening we travel to Corozol Town. A quiet city found on the North end of the country and home to many of the teachers in San Pedro. The country also lies on the border with Mexico. See the website here: http://www.belize-vacation.com/belize/corozal.htm. We are hoping to use our time to visit a Mayan archeological site, Cerros, “an important Mayan trading center during its heyday from 400 B.C. to 100 A.D.”, and the Community Baboon Sanctuary, “a unique conservation effort bringing together eight villages to protect the population and the habitat of Black Howler Monkey”.

· We leave for Belize City on Saturday and back to San Pedro Town for the final two weeks.