Library Before and After

Before…

  

After!

  

I will try to get some better pictures of the whole room. We are still working on a few things but the reading corner is finished and is used daily. We sorted books by reading level and gave them fun names to refer to (Grade K – Grade 2 are Watermelon books, Grade 3 – Grade 4 are Banana books, Grade 5 – Grade 6 are Tangerine books). We also have sections for non-fiction, teacher resource and reference. Each class has a library period once a week and for the first week, I had a library training session with all classes so we could discuss how to behave in the library and how to care for the books. I also have the library open before and after school for the students to use. They love coming in and finding a book to read. The books that we received are amazing and just what we needed. Everyone is very happy and I hope to keep building the library to be used for literacy centers. I hope to have the art/game corner and the writing corner finished by the end of the term.

The month of May is literacy month…so I am glad the library got finished…and we have had some fun activities so far. We are doing a “catch me reading” incentive to reward students who are found reading without being told. We had Round Robin yesterday where teachers scrambled to read a story to every class in the school. It took all morning and it was so much fun. I would see that that Grade K’s room was open so I would hurry over with my books only to be beat there by the Grade 3 teacher. So I had to wait or find another class free. It was great to read to each class and share in the excitement with the other teachers. Today, we had police officers and bus drivers at the school reading to the kids. It was nice to show that other community members read too.

We have a poetry competition this Friday. I’ve been asked to be a judge. I think I will give all participants perfect scores. 🙂

New House and Dominica!

Since my last post, there has been quite a bit of changes. I will try my best to catch up. I now live in a new house in a neighboring community to my old one. My old house had a security issue so I had to move. I’m sad to not live so close to my school but I am enjoying my new place. Ruby was able to come along with me too and we have both settled nicely. I was able to host my mom, dad, and sister in my new house too. My mom came a week before break and helped me to paint the library at school and move. Then I had my two week Easter break from school and my dad and sister came to join us. We had a great time living the Caribbean life. Driving on the left side of the street, bugs, no AC, no water in the tap at one point, the list goes on. They told me they had a fun time, I’m glad I could show them my Peace Corps life, make them local juice and show them beautiful St Lucia. We got to go zip lining and snorkeling and even spend a day at Coconut Bay, a nice resort in Vieux Fort. Of course, we went to different beaches around the island. It went so fast, soon I was back at school. I worked really hard that first week to get our school library ready. The painting is done and I finally finished sorting the books we kept into reading levels. I got the wonderful news that 3 barrels of books that my dad organized and sent, with the help of so many kind donors, are at the port in Vieux Fort. I cannot wait to add those books to our almost empty library.

I then got the amazing opportunity to go to Dominica for a Literacy Conference! For a week, all the volunteers from St Lucia and Dominica came with one counterpart teacher to learn some best practices, the balance literacy approach and how to execute a successful intervention in the classroom. It was very information but didn’t leave much time to explore the lush, green Dominica. I did get to hike to an amazing waterfall and soak in some hot springs. Not too bad 🙂  I also saw some wildlife like the big giant iguanas and really pretty parrots. Summary: I will be returning, there is so much I want to do in Dominica. It was beautiful and the best island for the outdoor adventurer.