Unproductive

Unproductive: that is the one word that I feel describes my first day in the classroom. Unproductive as well as overwhelming, culture shock, affectionate, and unforgettable. I don't mean unproductive in the sense that I got nothing out of the day or that I found myself to be very unproductive, my initial unpacking on my Belizean classroom was that I found the classroom to be unproductive. I showed up to Faith Nazarene School a good thirty minutes late, just adding to the new kid feeling of having no idea where I was suppose to be. I went to the principals office and was kindly showed to my classroom were I found 26 Belizean students that soon stole my heart. As soon as I walked into the doorway of the classroom all of the students stood up and all said, "Good morning Miss, welcome to our classroom!" They showed me and my cooperating teacher a great deal of respect throughout the day, I was very impressed. The unproductive classification comes in my teachers use of time management. Compared to my experience in classrooms back in the states my cooperating teacher spent an excessive amount of time on small tasks. Repetition is important in the learning process, but the students spent a good hour repeating orally how to spell the word "this". My cooperating teacher wasn't even paying attention to them for the whole hour, at one point in time she even sent them outside and just stayed in to clean the classroom. They just patiently stood outside and repeated, "t-h-I-s". I am teaching Infant Standard 2 which is equivalent to 2nd grade in the states, however their reading ability is lacking. The Belizean students are still working on reading sentences as simple as, "The dog is in the house." while students the same age at home are reading and comprehending textbooks with scientific language. I think the gap comes from the lack of books in Belize. I have more books in my closet than are in my second grade classroom and public libraries are very rare in Belize. Students aren't read to and the deficits in their reading show this. The students are also fluent in multiple languages (English, Spanish, Creole) and I am aware that the multiple languages can have an impact on their reading ability. I definitely have my work cut out for me when it comes to teaching language arts in the classroom. Tomorrow, I will read aloud to them as often as I can!! One positive of my day was the 1 1/2 hour lunch break. A lot of the students walk home for lunch so the break for lunch is significantly longer than those in the states. I bought my lunch from the school and was impressed with my homemade rice and beans, baked chicken, and potato salad. School lunches definitely beat school lunches in the states any day! Lunch ended at 1 pm and the Infant Standards are dismissed at 2:20pm. The rest of the school day flew by and I can't think of anything that the students accomplished during that time. I fell that proper time management would help to close the gap in the student's achievement. After a nerve wrecking drive back to the campgrounds and a delicious dinner we had our group devotions. I have really come to love this time every day, we unpack our day, and grow closer as we share our fears and successes. The trip is going great and we have just started working in our classrooms. Continue to pray for us as many of us are teaching in our classrooms tomorrow. We send our love and blessings! God is being so good to us. :)
Things I miss from home: beef, real coffee