Day 5-Teaching Day 2

Teaching Day 2

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” -Bill Bryson

Relationships between teachers in Belize and teachers in the United States are very similar in some ways and very different in others. In Belize, all teachers and students have an hour for lunch at the same time. Students typically go home to eat, and teachers congregate in a classroom and eat together. This gives them time to build relationships with each other and to learn about the interests and lives of their colleagues. It builds community and allows the teachers to grow closer to one another. Teachers in the United States have more strength in collaboration. Teachers have multiple classrooms within each grade level, and these teachers collaborate in PLCs to ensure that students in each classroom are receiving similar instruction.

The separation from home and familiarity has revealed that we rely on others, but we can also find people to rely on within the community. Those of us on the trip are growing closer and are exchanging teaching strategies, ideas, and more. This trip has taught us how to build relationships with those around us. It has been nice to be able to take a break from the outside world and live in the moment. However, we miss our friends, family, and students at home and can’t wait to share this experience with them upon returning.