My First Lesson in Belize

Yes, that's right... I finally got to teach my first lesson on Tuesday! It was a science lesson on "heat". For 5 year olds that means we talked about the sources of heat and how we use them (the sun gives us heat for drying clothes outside, we use heat for cooking, etc). The kids were great during the lesson and my collaborating teacher said everything was good, which I was pretty excited about! Part of the lesson including the kids drawing a picture of how they use heat and filling in the sentence on the paper. I have to teach for my University of Belize supervisor on Friday, and it's going to be another lesson on "heat". Say a little prayer for me if you think about it!

Here's what my kids came up with... they turned out to be pretty cute!

Also, I found out today that Alex (the little boy in my class that I think is absolutely hysterical) is the previous Prime Minister's grandson... pretty cool! And, the new Prime Minister's daughter is in the Kindergarten class at Hummingbird! He picks her up everyday!

While sitting in the seaside park today after school, I noticed how trashy the shore was. In fact, I've been noticing that Belize is definitely not the most eco-friendly place with all the trash that lines the streets. It's really kind of sad that this place can be so dirty at times. For instance, this morning we saw a horse eating out of the garbage on the street. What's more sad about that situation is that the horse was tied to a pole with just enough slack to let him put his head down to the ground to get into the garbage. The pet situation here is pretty much depressing since that's the meal for most dogs, cats, and other animals around here. I can't tell you how many dogs I've just wanted to pick up and rush home to feed, but I'm sure they have all kinds of medical issues because of all the dirty food and water they're consuming.Sorry to be so depressing, but it's been weighing on my mind since the time we got here.

 

On a more uplifting note, the girls and I are checking out a children's home for abused and abandoned kids tomorrow after school with one of the teachers from Hummingbird. She is in the process of adopting a child from there right now who had never been to school until 2 years ago... she's 14! We're excited about meeting the director of the home and hopefully working out a schedule so we can volunteer there a couple days a week after school. I'll definitely keep you posted on that!

By the way, I also hear that the new church is near completion upon the paving of the driveway, so I'm super anxious to see all the pictures when that happens!!! Thanks for keeping me updated on everything happening back at home!