Introspection

Just enjoying some volleyball on the beach.

Belize has been a whole new world for me.  While at times it’s like paradise, I don’t quite think it’s the place for me to settle down and live.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it here and extended vacations will be necessary in the future (unfortunately, summer is the off-season and for teachers long vacations usually take place during summer).  In the last 3.5 weeks, I’ve learned a lot about myself.  Nothing concerns me and as a matter of fact, I’m just more excited to be better-rounded.  

Starfish just hangin out.

1500m race on a grass track track while barefoot.

            In Belize, you must know how to go with the flow.  In the US, you must be planned in order to have a lesson run smoothly.  I’ve discovered here that I can teach a lesson being assigned the class five minutes before class started.  One of the teachers had to run to the bank because of a major mix-up so I covered her class.  Here, I’ve been teaching physics but I had to cover a math class.  The topic was area of irregular polygons.  The class was also very rambunctious.  However, I went over a few examples.  I let the students lead the class by having them tell me how to break the figures into several more familiar shapes, find the area of each individual shape, and then find the total area.  However, the majority of the class consisted of me trying to keep everyone on task.  The biggest challenge here is the discipline.  I have one class that consists of the most motivated and the best behaved students but the rest challenge me to hone in on my classroom management skills.  I’ve discovered I can raise my voice.  I’ve discovered I can motivate students to have an education.  And I’ve discovered I can let them have their wild moments as long as it’s not during class!