The WIFI is Back!

Well, after a week long battle with my wifi, I am finally able to post again. It has been a busy two weeks. I got the chance to stay up in the North with my first host family. We had a special training for 3 days for Peace Corps and it went so fast! We were able to share best practices and learn how to do all the reporting for our service which I knew was coming. It’s a lot of work but it’s expected. It was great to spend some time with my host mom and eat some yummy food that only the North has! I had pizza and ice cream, it was the best!

My literacy class at the church each Saturday is going really well. I have 6 “students” now who are really putting in an effort to come. We have been working on fluency and word recognition. I hope to have more show, in time I am sure it will happen. It is crazy to think that I am teaching every day, 7 days a week. Crazy! I’ve never taught so much in my life. It does get easier with time. I don’t even stress or worry anymore. I am learning so much, especially at school. I am able to teach in a style the kids are more familiar with while still modeling new practices that could help in the classroom. I was able to help my classes write Math poems for Math month! It was really impressive with what they came up with. They are really creative with their writing and I have some promising poets that I want to keep encouraging.

My garden is starting to come along nicely. I have cucumber plants that grow a foot a day! (literally) and I have my carrots, garlic, basil and watermelon which are sprouted and healthy. It rains now every day and my garden loves it. I also asked around and finally got my hands on some pineapple plants which are now planted. I just have to wait…and wait…and wait. Just one plant produces one pineapple once a year…yes, so I will have 2 pineapples before my service is over, 4 if I am lucky. Pretty sad but that’s how long it takes. I have a whole new appreciation for pineapple.

Rumor has it, in February, there is a literacy conference that I will be invited to. The best part is that it is possibly going to be held in Dominica! I am so excited to go to another island. I hope the plans go through, it will be a great experience. This coming week has some exciting moments as well. I hope to share some Thanksgiving fun on Thursday with my classes and make some hand turkeys. I still have to work even though it’s a holiday for me. The best part is all the Peace Corps volunteers are getting together this Saturday to have a Thanksgiving feast! I signed up to bring some pies! I can’t wait to try and bake some in my scary oven. I hope they turn out ok. I know everyone is counting on pie for Thanksgiving. It’s a lot of pressure. 🙂

Playing in the Rain

Last week went pretty well. I had a few more good co-teaching moments and I am gaining tasks at school each day. I now do intervention pull outs in Grades 1 and 2 as well as some individual work with a few students. One in particular comes and works with me during lunch. We are doing some art therapy to help him with his communication. I noticed that he only expressed himself in a physical and negative way. So I am working to help him sort out feeling with drawing and coloring which is one of his favorite things! Mine too so we have a great time. So far, I don’t think he has gotten in trouble for fighting all week. He also told me the other day that he is smart…this is a kid who had no self-confidence and has been ignored for most of his life. So proud of him!

I had another great art class on Friday as well. We did paper collaging, using colored paper and tissue paper to create images and scenes. At first the students were not having it because I wouldn’t let them use scissors! They had to rip the paper by hand. I would like to say I was for art’s sake (which is what I claimed – to give a fun texture and edging to their work) but really it’s because we are short on scissors and I didn’t want kids fighting over them 🙂 I also gave each of them a bottle cap with some glue and a match stick. Seems unkind right but it was very effective in teaching them the proper use and amount you need to glue. They have never been taught that. I also took the opportunity to introduce texture, which they started to explore with the paper. They made cloud with scrunched up tissue paper and someone else made waves in their ocean. They were not allowed to use any crayons or markers, it was a great challenge for them but it turned out great! I hope to find somewhere to display them weekly.

Yesterday, St Lucia got a very healthy dose of rain. It rained hard all day long. There was flooding in most cities since they are located near the ocean and are almost below sea level. (I still don’t understand that) Luckily I escaped any flooding but was house bound for most of the day. With the tap water cut out, I ventured outside to collect rain water to use in the bathroom and for washing. Let me tell you, on this island, there is a very very very strong belief that being in the rain will get you sick. Lucians will not tolerate a single drop to touch them. I have been told so many times to get out of the rain! I don’t mind a little drizzle and I have always enjoyed playing in the rain. With no one to scold me, I did just that. I played in the rain and it was so much fun. I was soaked! I’m sure I looked crazy but I also did something even more crazy. I got some shampoo and washed my hair too! I had to bath anyway and I would have had to carry water in to use so why not? It was a fun experience and my hair is really soft from the rainwater. I don’t know what my host mom would say if she found out. Don’t tell her!

When the rain stopped, around 3pm, I left for town to start my new literacy class at the church I attend. I have been getting so many requests to hold a class so I am starting now. Since the rain was terrible, I didn’t get too many but I was able to assess those who came so I can prepare what to teach them next week. The people who came can read, they just wish to be more fluent and to work on their vocabulary and pronunciation. So until I have a beginning reader, it will be more of a grammar and speech class. That’s ok with me, I am happy to help.

I hate to end with bad news but alas here it is. One of my sweet little goats died last week. My host dad does not know what happened but it was very sudden. It was the trouble making one of course, Ty. So now there is only Trevor. At first I thought that I abandon the whole idea of having goats but I went to see Trevor today and he was so sweet, I changed my mind. He always remembers me and comes running to the door when I am there. How could I not? Maybe I can find another goat to be his friend, I know I am the only person on this island who is worried about their goat being lonely 🙂 Definitely the one…

Little Steps

On Thursday, I taught my first full, planned, and co-taught lesson in Grade 3. I feel like this is the first successful lesson I have taught so far. I co-planned with my counterpart teacher beforehand and she assisted me in class while I was the lead teacher. I think you would just have to spend some time with me at school here to understand how exciting this moment was. The students listened! They were engaged and participating the whole time. I also know that having their teacher there with me was a HUGE help but still, they seemed to really enjoy the lesson. The 3^rd Grade teacher asked if I could help do an intervention for the whole class on writing. It’s a challenge for this group and so I am introducing a paragraph writing strategy called “PLEASE.” I started with the first two letters which are Pick a topic and List what you know. I had some games, moving around and a competition which they always love. They are very competitive. I was really impressed at the variety of topics that they were able to pick. I will continue to teach next week and soon, hope to see some developed paragraphs. I have also arranged with the IT lab to have the students type their paragraphs after editing so they can be published and on display. (some of you may be thinking that this is normal…not here, this is a different approach for my school) I was very excited to be able to model how I teach with my counterpart teacher and even more excited to hear that she thought I did a great job and was impressed with the student’s reaction. Little steps, little steps…

I also got to do something very wonderful on Friday! I taught the first art class my school has ever had! It really made my heart happy. On Fridays they have started Enrichment clubs at the end of the day and with my suggestion, they added art club to the list that students could sign up for. They told me they have never had any art taught but they can tell that that is what I have a passion for. (because I have told them so many times…) It was so exciting to see how many signed up for Art Club, almost double compared to the others (which are book club, environmental club, choir, and games). We had to even out the clubs but I now 20 students every Friday afternoon for Art club. We started with making our own Art Journals. I have made some prompts that we will pick each week to get students to start learning how to design and create. They have never really been taught that before, all they do mostly is color in a coloring book. The journals will be a free space for them to draw and practice with little prompts that allow me to teach principles and skills of drawing each week. We will also be doing some other media and crafts. I know supplies will be an issue but I am confident we can work around that. Teaching art at the Salvation Army prepared me for being mindful of resources and saving money. The journals turned out well, though many students just looked at their covers for a long while. I gave them markers, paper, glue and foam (which they LOVED!) to design a cover and they soon started to get some ideas. There were still a few who just wrote their names. Don’t worry, they will be creating in no time!

Today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Caribbean celebrated International Day of Service. We met at 7:30am at the church and together, cleaned up the walk way to the beach where we go to do baptisms. It was quite a project since I don’t think it has ever been cleaned. 3 hours later, dying because it’s already boiling hot and humid by 8am anyway, we were able to get rid of 2 huge trips of garbage in a pick-up truck. There were only 4 members, including me. The rest were missionaries. The usual group 😉 We rested and then got dressed in Sunday clothes because after, one of my primary kids got baptized! I was also asked to give the talk on baptism which was nice since I had just given a lesson on that very topic the Sunday before. Perfect! After everything was over, I marched over to the hardware store next to the church and got something that I have wanted for quite a while. It’s something that shows that you are committed to living a Lucian lifestyle. I bought my very own cutlass. The most used tool in the Caribbean, you can do anything with a cutlass! Chop branches, sugar cane, coconuts, weed (which is why I got it – for my garden that I have started in front of my house) and for just looking like a Lucian. Every day I see people walking down the road, carrying a cutlass. I now have one of my own and I can’t wait to get rid of those weeds that keep trying to take over my poor little garden. My cucumber and watermelon beds have some nice sprouts already. I included a picture of my new cutlass, just to show it off!