My internship experiences

I have been fortunate enough to experience teaching in Wilmington back in the states and also here in San Pedro, Belize. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my time teaching. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to come to Belize and try something new. I have learned a lot about the culture and a lot about myself during my time here. One thing I have noticed in the schools of Belize is that things are much more laid back and less structured. The schools here have standards rather than grades. There is infant I which is like kindergarten/first grade, Infant II which is like second grade, standard I which is like third grade, standard II which is like fourth grade, standard III which is like fifth and sixth. One big difference from the school I was in back home and the school I am working in here is the size. This school is very small with very little children and only 5 teachers. Ambergris Caye Elementary has very little resources and money available. That has been the hardest thing for me is planning good activities and lessons with minimal resources available. The school has done a couple of things to raise some funds while we have been here. One thing they do is have rags day. This is when the students can pay to wear their normal clothes. They also had a festival of the arts here in San Pedro for the schools and Ambergris Caye sold stew chicken and rice and beans to raise some money. Another big difference is that the parents are very involved and many of them walk or drive their children to school on golf carts. Parents also come and drop off lunch or stay and eat with their children. There is a lot of note taking here in the schools even in infant II. The students have a lot more free time during the day. My partnership teacher Ms. Mandy likes to keep the parents in the loop on what is going on at school which is really good. She does something similar to my partnership teacher back home which is a homework/take home folder. In this there is a schedule with the test days and other important events. Ms. Mandy also has to the students write down their homework everyday and then she signs it. One thing that is similar to back home is that you have some parents that are really involved and work with their children and then there are those parents who don't even pick up their children. Ms. Mandy often has to drive one of the students home. Ms. Mandy really cares about her students and that is very apparent. She stays after and does tutoring and works with those who need help.