Home

So I am finally home and settled back in and my blog is now coming to an end. I am so happy to be back with my friends and family but I still find myself missing Pedro's and all of the escapades that happened in San Pedro. The people and the culture are both things that really grow on you and I have a feeling I will be missing them for quite a while. I feel like I am being obnoxious on facebook, constantly posting about Belize and all of the aftermath pictures and articles I keep finding. But, this little town will always have a big part of my heart and the people in it will always be considered something of a family to me. My memories and experiences in Belize will never be matched and I am still blown away at the things that I learned and did during the 5+ weeks on the island. I hope to go back and visit next year but until then I will have to keep missing everything that is and was San Pedro.

Final Writing Prompt

How have your perceptions of disability and inclusion changed since completing the independent study on inclusive education and the field experience in Belize? 

Before my experience in Belize I wasn't sure if I had the skill set or the ability to fully include a student with disabilities. My beliefs fully aligned with full inclusion, but I had never interacted with a student who needed special services and was unsure of my ability to give those services and meet those needs. During my time in Belize I worked with a student who was visually impaired and focused hard to fully include her in all of the activities. I found myself including her with little difficulty by the end of the trip because it is something that Karla prepared me for and something that I slowly got adjusted to. After working with Dayanara I am confident that I can fully include any student with disabilities with a little work and a lot of dedication. My perceptions also changed of students with disabilities after seeing how happy Dayanara was during her time in the classroom. Although she was not fully included she was always happy to be at school and to learn. She also had amazing potential that was untapped because she had never been included before. I learned to never under estimate a student with disabilities because you never know what they are capable of. If you underestimate a student you are automatically limiting their success and who are you to put that cap on their potential.

Mr. Atterbury's Class!!!

Mr. Atterbury's Class!!!! First of all I want to tell you how badly I miss ALL OF YOU! You guys would love it here! I want to thank you so much for the amazing letters you sent me. I honestly was brought to tears. It was a nice reminder that I have wonderful students thinking about me at home. You guys really made me happy! I hope that each and every one of you are having a wonderful semester. I have cards for you from my students when I return to the States and a letter written by the class telling you all about my students. I cannot wait to get back and share my adventures with you all as well as my pictures! We have seen so many amazing rocks and minerals in the caves that I have been in and I have had an amazing opportunity to actually learn and teach Braille to a student who is visually impaired. What a coincidence that we just learned about Louis Braille and the Braille system of writing! Be good for Mr. Atterbury and I hope to see you all soon!

The Final Countdown

Hi everyone! I know you are probably wondering if I am even alive, but here I am to tell you that things are great! School has kept me very busy lately and the prospect of leaving has kept me further from the computer and more busy adventuring and enjoying every last bit of San Pedro before I board my flight on Sunday. The end is so near but I still have one week left of teaching. I have been teaching after lunch every day for the past few weeks and then on Thursday and Friday I am substitute teaching while my teacher is at a Professional Development meeting in Belize City. I will be honest with you, I am so scared! My kids are amazing but their energy level is through the roof (I attribute this to the sale of candy and soda all day at the canteen) and I am not sure if I can last an entire day! Of course I am being overly dramatic, seeing as I have already substituted for 2 days so far, but it is a daunting task. I will try and blog before I leave. We have a lot of going away activities planned this week with friends and locals and we are all excited about Pedro's Star Wars themed going away party for us on Friday. I won't tell you what I am going to be yet, but I will be sure to post pictures! Wish me luck this week!!

Writing Prompt 3

Now that you have experienced the cultural heritage of Belize, what have you learned that gives you insight into the children and families you are working with?


One thing I have learned while staying here in San Pedro is that students have a lot of freedom. Students are allowed to walk to and from school without adults and go wherever they want in town without adults. I was surprised to see students leave school for lunch each day and return at the appropriate time. Students are also allowed to walk around school and use the restroom without asking. This is a big cultural difference and something that I really had to get used to when I began teaching. Students in America are constantly monitored in class and have little freedom in what they are allowed to do on their own. Here in San Pedro the students are allowed to do everything without supervision. On the first day that I toured the school many of the classes did not have teachers in them when we visited. This is a cultural practice that is expected here. After becoming accustomed to this I realized that it is something that starts at an early age in the Belizean culture. When I participated in the Easter camp students who were as young as 6 came and left camp every day on their own. At first this custom made me very nervous because I did not like the idea of students wandering the streets alone but after a while I got used to the idea and began to see the benefits of it. If students are allowed to be independent they will learn that area in all aspects of life and ultimately it could lead to their maturity at an earlier age, which is something I have seen here among the students. I have also noticed that they have more respect from adults and are treated more like smaller adults rather than children. It is a neat dynamic to see and is something that I have grown to appreciate. 

Writing Prompt 4

So far this week has been like a roller coaster! We started out on Monday with a really tough day. The kids were really keyed up and had a really hard time focusing throughout the day. The usual behavior plan that I use was not working for my students and I knew that I needed to switch things up. On the plus side, the class did our first science experiment together. The students got in groups of three and were given a glass coke bottle, a cup of ice, and a coin. The students were to hold the glass in the cup and cool the top of the bottle and then place the coin on top of the bottle. They then put their hands around the bottle and the bottle heated up and caused the coin to pop off of the top. The students loved it and had a great time doing a hands on activity. I was really impressed with their ability to understand how heat caused the reaction after seeing it happen. I had my visually impaired student hold the bottle to create the heat so that she could participate actively in the experiment. I have also continued to take her out of the class for an hour each day to help her work on her braille. We continue to practice feeling and memorizing letters as well as typing them on the machine. We also use manipulatives for her to feel and then decipher what each object is. We then spell each word out by sounding it out and then type it on the machine. For example, I had an Easter egg for out first object. Dayanara felt the object, decided it was an egg, and then we sounded the word out and typed it on the machine. Dr. C brought a few braille books from home as well as some games that we are just beginning to use. I am also continuing to try and differentiate my lessons so that she can participate as much as possible. I continue to write out workbook pages for her in large bold print so that she can read and also help her write her own responses. We have been working on sounding out words when I spell them for her. She is very strong in Spanish so sometimes it is easier for me to spell words in Spanish for her or to use Spanish words just to get her to practice sounding out words that I spell. During math we use manipulatives such as cotton balls to help count and add and foam stickers to practice her shapes. I try to call Dayanara to the board to help underline and identify words as well to keep her engaged in each lesson. She is continuing to show progress and I am excited to see where the next week takes us. Unfortunately she is in Cayo visiting her Grandmother for the rest of the week but we will continue our work when she returns.

Writing Prompt 2

As you participate in the service projects, identify something you learned during your service week about the Belizean culture that you didn't know and that is important for you to know as a teacher. As you start to recognize how cultural difference impact education and teaching, you can bring that awareness into your classroom next year.

One thing that I learned this week about the culture of San Pedro was that they plan many camps for their students to help enrich their learning when they are not in school. We helped out with an Easter Camp during our week of service projects which included fun crafts and entertainment as well as read alouds and other enriching activities. We also have started to plan a reading summer camp for the students of San Pedro. Students come for a week long camp of reading enrichment and development. We are planning full lessons for volunteers to use in order to help strengthen students' reading skills over the summer break. I know that we have summer camps in the states but I don't think we have specific camps geared towards reading especially during our educational breaks. I believe that these camps that are made both fun and educational would help students to garner a better feeling towards reading. I think this could keep skills sharp during times of recess while also engaging students in activities to develop their skills further and help them to appreciate learning on a new level.