Before coming to Belize, my friends joked that I would meet someone, fall in love and never return to the states. They were right. I did fall head-over-heels in love. However, it wasn’t with the man of my dreams as they suspected, it was with the students of Stella Maris School. My imagination of what it would be like to work with the students had always run wild, but the moment I met these kids and had the opportunity to work with them, it changed me forever. This has been the chance of a lifetime and the best chapter of my educational life. It saddens me knowing that tomorrow will be our last day to not only work with the kids, but to be a part of this wonderful learning experience.
Of the 7 days we’ve been in Belize, this was the easiest morning for me to wake up and get out of bed. The teachers and students were the first thing that came to mind. I think I speak on behalf of the group when I say our ideas are expanding everyday we are here and we are tapping into a part of our brains that we never knew existed. For this school and all those that are a part of it, we have no limits. As we sat around the breakfast table, we reflected on how we were going to tackle the day and what materials we could create to better help the teachers implement their lesson. It was heart-warming to know that all of us are making the students and teachers our number one priority. Walking into our assigned classroom, the kids cheered for our return. I was asked to start the morning off by reading “The Shepherd and the Wise Men- Luke 2:8-20;Matthew 2:1-12”. I stopped occasionally to ask questions about the material to make sure they were attentive and using their listening skills. As I’ve mentioned in previously blogs, I think it’s wonderful that religion and God is incorporated into every classroom and teaching. This is something that has been eradicated in the public schools in the United States. The hearts of these children are bigger than you would believe. For instance, the student who was chosen to say the “morning prayer” thanked God for family, food, water, every student in the class by name, and ended by thanking God for everyone in the entire world. I was captured in a beautiful moment. These kids are so innocent and so loving, how could I not fall in love with them?
Today’s teaching moments started off with a refresh of the letters of the alphabet, the days of the week, the months of the year, and their worship songs. The lesson of the morning was Antonyms. The teacher allowed my partner and me to intervene and assist the kids in learning opposites. It was rewarding to experience them understand the concept after a good amount of drilling. They are also showing progress in their turn taking skills, and attentiveness. We then engaged in an activity of matching opposites such as,“big and little” and “night and day”. After awhile of play, we returned to the board where they were asked to recall information from the prior activity. This then focused on memory recall.
At Stella Maris, the kids are given 2 breaks throughout the day. I truly believe this is necessary because they tend to lose focus and become fatigued after being drilled all morning and afternoon. During these breaks, the kitchen staff has been so awesome to our group and brings us snacks. Today, they treated us with ham salad and paste sandwiches with a side of homemade cupcakes. I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to work with the kids so after I happily ate my snack, I joined them on the playground. I learned today that children in Belize are serious about their game of basketball. Do not get in their way. They beat me fair and square, I will admit. To cool off, I sat on a bench and observed all of them playing around me. The other day I made a comment in my blog about how I noticed a little boy drinking from the outside water pipe and that I wasn’t sure if this was normal or if he was just really dehydrated. Well, today I watched many kids go up to that same pipe and cup water into their hands to drink. As noted before, this put so much into perspective for me. We are so lucky for things we never take into account. I also noticed the help these kids offer each other. A younger boy, about the age of 4, was wandering on the basketball court where all the older boys were rough playing. A student from another class ran onto the court and nicely carried the little boy off to make sure he didn’t get hurt. I also noticed the students in wheelchairs being pushed around by their classmates outside on the playground. It was such a beautiful sight to see them including one another no matter what restrictions they may face. My favorite moment, however, was witnessing a younger student walking a blind student to the sink and helped him wash his hands. As I remained sitting on the bench, a little girl approached me on the playground and showed me the doll she received from another clinician who evaluated her with an assessment. She told me that was the first doll she’s ever had and she was naming her sprinkle. It’s little things like this that make my heart melt. I reflected on my childhood and wished I could’ve given some of my toys to these kids, who are almost 8 years old, and have never owned a Barbie doll.
Today was library day for the kids in my class. They took a vote between watching Dora and Barney. They chose Barney. This was the perfect opportunity for me to have a one on one moment with a student who is in a wheel chair, has very limited mobile abilities, and is non-verbal. I’ve noticed this week that he is placed in the back of the room and doesn’t engage in the daily lessons. I put a book in his hands and he wasn’t sure what to do with it. He felt every inch of the book and using hand over hand teaching, we flipped through the pages. I kept saying, “Lets close the book”, “Let’s open the book”. Unexpectedly, he repeated the word “close”. The teachers looked over at us in disbelief and couldn’t believe what they heard. It’s moments such as this that remind me why I am in the field of Speech Pathology and what a difference it’s made in my life thus far.
I’d like to give credit to the teachers of Stella Maris School. They are great at what they do. After lunch, the teacher gave a lesson on how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. She asked for my opinion on how she was going to go forth and break it down for the students and wanted to see if I had any further suggestions. We collaborated and together came up with a teaching to simplify the process and make it fun for the kids. My partner asked her to write a list of supplies she needed for her classroom because we want to donate whatever we can to make things easier for her from here on forth. She was hesitant in writing the list and made sure we knew it was greatly appreciated. These adventures we have experienced in Belize, in a new environment, are reason enough to expand our studies in international countries. Tomorrow will be the hardest day our group will have to face. We need to remember and give each other constant reminders that this is not goodbye, but simply a “See You Later, Stella Maris."
No comments:
Post a Comment