Sunday
Hi, It’s Katie! Yesterday was super fun and relaxing. We went to Accra Beach in the southern part of Barbados. Although it was slightly more of a tourist area, there was still a strong sense of Barbadian culture. There was a long boardwalk that went along the beach, which gave us a chance to see the entire area. While Merrill and I were walking together, we got to talk to a few of the locals. They are such friendly people and always make you feel welcome. Also, there were some cool facts about turtles posted along the boardwalk. According to the sign we read, Barbados is one of the most popular nesting grounds for the extremely rare hawksbill sea turtles. I thought it was awesome to see how much pride that Barbados takes in the preservation of their wildlife. After walking on the boardwalk we all ate a delicious lunch and tanned a little bit (Big mistake because I am currently red as a tomato). Overall, it was a fun and relaxing day and was the perfect day before our long week of teaching. Cannot wait to see what the rest of the week will bring, and I am so excited to see the kids grow and learn.
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Sunday
The Barbados boardwalk stretches across Accra Beach, located on the south western shore of the island. It's 1.7 km of beautiful white sand and gentle rolling waves on one side, and on the other, high-rise hotels, restaurants (including KFC!), and other businesses. It's nature on one side, civilization on the other. Seaside, nothing interrupts the beauty and majesty of the setting. But in one or two spots on the other side of the boardwalk, abandoned, dilapidated buildings show how the economic crash of 2008 has reached even the beautiful, hospitable island of Barbados. (See the photos below of one of these properties, and the stunning scenery just steps from the broken windows.) Our host and owner of Villa Marie Guesthouse, Pete, said that construction and renovation projects have slowed down considerably. Recently, when a new hotel did manage to open, thousands of people showed up to submit applications. Maintaining a healthy tourism industry is obviously important to the economy of Barbados, but I hope the country proceeds thoughtfully toward stimulating tourism without compromising its national, natural treasures. Our visit yesterday to Flower Animal Cave was an inspiring example of tourism done well. So much of the natural, majestic beauty of the landscape has been preserved. There are no viewfinders, no cellphone towers, no guardrails, even. A few simple benches have been strategically positioned to allow people to rest and marvel at the views. Concrete steps and a handrail allow visitors to descend into the sea cave, but no other man-made accommodations mar the experience of being in a truly special natural setting. I admired how Barbados kept the actual site as natural and pristine as possible, while affording tourists the amenities they seek: knowledgeable tour guides, restroom facilities, and a stellar restaurant serving popular national dishes. Yes, there are a couple of shops for those who want to purchase trinkets, but nothing is garish or overly commercial; nothing distracts you from focusing on the natural beauty of the place. If Barbados manages to preserve the quiet serenity of its beaches and the magnificence of its natural formations, while sharing these with tourists, that would truly be an inspiring case of civilization working in harmony with nature. Saturday
This morning we drove about half an hour to Animal Flower Cave on the North side of the island. When we were driving to the cave we saw a monkey run a cross the street with its baby. When we arrived at the spot we were shocked by how beautiful the landscape was, and we watched the Atlantic ocean crash against the cliffs. Our group walked around and took a ton of great pictures (it's pretty hard to take a bad picture here). We followed the tour guide down the steps to the cave, we looked through the openings in the cave and saw the same beautiful blue Atlantic ocean. Inside the cave, there were pools of water filled with sea anemones that looked like flowers, also in the cave there were rock formations on the walls that looked like a hand and an alligator. There was a pool of water in the cave that was the perfect temperature for swimming and our tour guide took fantastic pictures of the cave and our group swimming in the cave. The cave was not a "tourist trap", there were no railings and safety precautions preventing you from having an authentic Barbadian experience of the cave. When we finished the cave tour we went to lunch and ordered rotis, wraps with with either chicken or shrimp with potatoes. After the we left Animal Flower Cave, we went to Almond Beach. The beach was beautiful, and we swam in the ocean for a while. When we were at the beach we saw a sea turtle swimming by the shore and he even poked his head out of the water, he was really cute. On the way back from the beach we stopped to get ice cream (before dinner) and it was delicious. For dinner we had fish with mango sauce, fried rice, pasta, and greens, and it was amazing and our cook is incredibly talented. In all our day was incredible and we learned a lot about Barbados and Barbadian culture, and I was extremely grateful to be included in this experience. Saturday
One of the nice things about our travel schedule is that we arrive in time for only one day of teaching – always the hardest, with the biggest adjustment – before we have the weekend to regroup, relax, catch up on some sleep, and plan our next week.Today was a catch up day. We agreed to try to leave at 10AM this morning to go to the “Animal Flower Cave” which is at the very northern tip of the island. It is gorgeous with rugged, rocky cliffs and waves crashing against it. The shoreline is breathtaking. The cave is privately owned, so you pay a small fee to have a tourguide take you down a set of stairs to a cave carved out by the waves. The cave has several chambers and one has a pool big enough to swim in. It is spectacular and hard to describe. You can see some photos on our photo page. After a delicious lunch (rotis of various kinds), we drove to Heywoods Beach. It was so quiet and beautiful, and we were able to use a hotel’s beach chairs (and wifi) for free without anyone asking us about whether we were hotel guests. Two of the girls rented a jet ski. Some of us put our swim goggles on and watched the fishes and turtles. All of us went for nice walks up the beach. It was a beautiful day. After another delicious dinner from Selena (it was Asian fusion tonight!), we met to brainstorm for the week. As always, I am impressed with this group of students. I know, I know… I say it every year, CSG girls are amazing. They are always poised, kind, and put their best faces forward. But each group has a distinct personality. I think because this whole group are sophomores, they seem really cohesive. It’s the first time I’ve had a group made up entirely of the same grade, rather than two or even three grades, but not only are they a good team, they are adventurous and really, really appreciative. We went to the cave today and they were so expressive about how gorgeous it was. We spent more time in the cave than I anticipated (it’s not that big, really) and kept talking about how amazing and beautiful it was. I agree, it was amazing and beautiful, but the fact that they so openly expressed their appreciation for it was noteworthy. It was the same thing at the beach. These are girls who have seen beautiful things on many other vacations. They could easily say something like “it’s not as good as such-and-such a place.” Instead they seemed to really genuinely appreciate everything they were doing, including driving across the island to get to the cave. They have already made plans for several of the after school days, and tomorrow are hoping for a snorkel trip. There’s one other thing about this group that I’ve noticed. They jump right in and take charge when there is something that needs to be done. When I discussed creating a blogging schedule, they immediately created one. Normally, students wait for me to create it, then wait for me to remind them each day of who’s blogging. When I discussed taking notes for teaching, they immediately created a google doc that they could then share, adding the blog schedule into it so that everyone could remember their days. They share the chores of washing dishes and prepping breakfast. They plan activities. This group knows how to step up and get work done. They are truly a pleasure to work with. Thanks, Moms and Dads!!! Friday:
Today we taught for the first time. We arrived at the school and we were told that we were teaching two classes in one day, not just one. This was surprising, because we had prepared our lessons for teaching one class for three hours straight. Although this surprised us, we had been warned that we needed to expect anything. I don’t think I really understood this until we got to the school. In our first class, class 3 (which I believe is the equivalent of 4th grade), the children were very subdued. It seems like they were trained to be very quiet and obedient. Their teacher was very strict, but it was clear from talking to her that they were expected to fit a mold and be very quiet. They were much more polite than American 4th graders. They all called us “ma’am” (which sounded like “mom” in their accents). This class had a lot of fun playing with the XO computers. Many of them asked if they could keep them, and they were very excited to learn that we were going to be there for a whole week. They loved the game where they typed something in and it would say it back to them. Some of the things they were writing were “Emma is awesome” and “Katie is beautiful”. It was very sweet. We gave them a lot of time to play and we did not get as far in our lesson as we had planned, but overall, the kids were very well behaved and they listened, and followed our instructions well. The second class was much more difficult. This was class 3, the equivalent of 3rd grade. This classroom was divided into two classes by a half wall, so it was very loud. This, combined with their soft-spoken voices made it very difficult to hear them talk. In addition, this class was much larger, and the children were less disciplined. They were not as willing to follow our instructions and that made it hard to teach them. This was very challenging, because we had a lot of trouble teaching them things. It will be interesting to see how they progress throughout the week. Something that I was shocked about was how connected the kids were. When we asked them what they do with computers, they told us that they like to watch YouTube and Netflix. This was a nice reminder that we are more alike than different. After a long day of teaching, we spent some time at the beach and drank (virgin) strawberry daiquiris. It was very fun to bond with some of my classmates who I have known for so long but never have been close with. I am looking forward to the rest of the trip. Friday:
Today was our first day teaching at St. James Primary school, upon arriving at the school what I first noticed were the kids. All the children watched as we entered the school eager to meet the strange visitors. They quickly crowed us and began to talk with us as if we had been there the entire year. We soon realized that we would in fact be teaching 4 classrooms in total spread over the three hours. We began by teaching a group of children ages 9 and 10. Merrill and I were in one room while Emma, Leah, and Katie taught in another room. The children were eager to learn and before long, could easily maneuver the XO computers better than myself. As the kids began to explore the computers, I was surprised by their understanding of technology and their desire to play games such as temple run, subway surfers. These small children were trying to find games and YouTube, such things I didn’t even know were available to the kids. In the first class room, we played games with them such as a drawing game and an instructional walking game in order to help the kids understand how to give instructions to their computers. We were able to also begin working with Scratch and it didn’t take long for the kids to realize how to make their sprites dance and move. Before we knew it, our time with the first classroom was already up, and we had a small break which gave us time to carry the computers to the other classes that we would teach. These kids were ages 8 and 9, and something slightly difficult about teaching these kids was their classrooms were connected and only had a small barrier to divide the classrooms, in addition these classes were bigger than our first class. As in the first class, we were able to play the games, and helped the kids begin their projects on Scratch. After teaching the “surprise class”, I was already time to go! We packed the computers into a closet at the school and then left for the day. Many of the kids had asked us all day if we would be back or if they could keep using the computers which I thought was really cute and heartwarming. After leaving the school, we spent the rest of the day at Mullins Beach where we played in the crystal clear water and laid on the beach in the sand. After having a great time at the beach, we went back to Villa Marie for dinner. My advice for students next year, is even if you’re surprised with who you may be teaching, such as two classes instead of one, it’s going to be okay because it’s easy to shorten the lesson plan. Although it may be slightly more challenging, in the long run you are giving more kids the opportunity to learn about computers and learn how to code. Teaching was so much fun, and I can’t wait to see the kids again on Monday! Friday
In some ways, walking into a primary-school classroom in Barbados felt as familiar as walking into one at CSG. The walls are covered with colorful posters: word groups, math conversions, homework assignments, and inspirational quotations. The students are in uniform; they're roughly the same age (nine or ten); they love playing sports or reading or singing (sometimes all three), and their favorite foods are pizza or chicken and chips (french fries). But these Barbadian classrooms held both boys and girls, and they called their student teachers from CSG "ma'am," and today, for the first time, they began learning how to code on XO computers. As a teacher, I found myself strangely anxious for both our CSG students and their St. James students. I wanted things to go smoothly. I wanted both groups to learn: the younger students, valuable technological skills and logical processes; the older students, equally valuable communication skills, as well as patience, flexibility, and time management. I needn't have worried. The St. James students were enthusiastic and nimble. They gave (quiet) cheers when they learned to make their sprite cats meow, and they quickly picked up on how to make that cat do other things. And the team of CSG students balanced each other's strengths wonderfully. One would take the lead in directing the class, while the other two would work with individual students. It was a hectic morning, but by noon, we had accomplished what was essential: establishing a rapport with the students and getting them enthused about the computers and coding. I was proud of our CSG student-teachers. They were serious and warm and approachable, and they've set themselves up well for the week ahead. Thursday:
Hey everyone! Today and yesterday, we traveled all the way from Columbus to Barbados. It is one of my first time traveling without my family, so I must admit I was a little nervous, but it has been fun! On the first day we all went to the airport, said our goodbyes to our families, and then boarded our plane. The flight to Miami was a little stressful because there was bad weather so our flight was longer than expected, but it’s all good because once we got to the hotel we ate ice cream and had a good nights sleep. Today we woke up early and caught the flight to Barbados. It is beautiful here. The weather is warm, the people are friendly, and the ocean is absolutely breath taking. Our place is also super cool. All of our rooms are super spacious and the showers are AWESOME. Once we got settled we ate an amazing dinner that was cooked by our incredible caterer. After dinner and a little grocery shopping, we got to plan for our first day of teaching tomorrow. I am so excited to teach all of the little kids! I am a tad nervous because I haven’t taught little kids for more than an 80 minute period, and we are going to be teaching for three hours, but I also love kids and am excited to get to know them all. It is awesome to know that what we are doing is going to make a difference, and that we are going to be able to share everything we learned with them. Cannot wait to see what amazing experiences the rest of this trip will bring! Thursday:
Wow, that was about the longest trip I could have imagined. Well, actually it could have been way worse, but we definitely got caught up in that weather in Florida. After a slightly delayed departure because Miami was slowing down it’s arrivals for the weather, I was feeling hopeful that we’d have a smooth trip. But next thing I know, we land in Fort Meyers! They shut down Miami for arrivals due to the storm and our plane didn’t have enough fuel to keep holding. So we landed in Ft. Meyers to refuel and then back up again for the 20 minute flight to Miami. Not too bad. Instead of arriving at 9PM we arrived at midnight, but then it was so late we struggled a little to get the shuttle to the hotel. Still, not bad. We had a good, albeit short night of sleep before departing for Barbados this morning. And… more weather delays. Fog or something slowing down the departures brought us in to Barbados an hour late. Then the line at the immigration was really long. Anyway, long story short, we were too late to pick up the laptops today. We will have to do that tomorrow, and hopefully not be too late to school. Still, it is great to be here. We had a fantastic Bajan-themed dinner from our amazing chef, Selena, a warm welcome from our host, Pete, picked up groceries for breakfast tomorrow morning, and had a really great meeting to plan tomorrow’s lessons. This group is SO thoughtful about what they are trying to teach and how they will try to teach it. You’d think after doing this for so many years I’d remember how impressed I ALWAYS am by the way our students approach things, but I found myself yet again being in awe of them as I listened to their thoughts about tomorrow. All year long they have surpassed my expectations in just about everything I’ve asked them to do. I can’t wait to see how they manage the classroom tomorrow and next week. Here we go! Some housekeeping: We will be working in two different classrooms, so there will be one student blogging from each room each day. Patricia and I will alternate with teacher additions to the blog. So you’ll see three posts per day, except on the days when we will be together (weekends, and travel days). We will add a daily photo directly into the blog, but the bulk of our photos will be in the photo gallery. We hope you enjoy following our adventures! Some housekeeping: We will be working in two different classrooms, so there will be one student blogging from each room each day. Patricia and I will alternate with teacher additions to the blog. So you’ll see three posts per day, except on the days when we will be together (weekends, and travel days). We will add a daily photo directly into the blog, but the bulk of our photos will be in the photo gallery. We hope you enjoy following our adventures! |
Trip BlogWe will post daily during the trip. Please also check the photos page for peeks into our experiences. Archives |