Visits to the Schools

So I’m awake at 6:30 on a Saturday…I would have NEVER imagined that!  I feel like the time goes by slower here.  Sometimes all of us from UNCW will go to the beach or something and we feel like one hour has gone by but only 15 minutes have gone by!  

So I have experienced a lot in the past few days.  The beach is amazing.  We have been going to a dock at this place called Ramones.  It is absolutely beautiful.  You can see fish under the dock while you are swimming or lying on the dock.  I am getting sunburned, but that was pretty much expected with how pale I am.

On Thursday, I went to the infamous chicken drop.  What happens is there are the numbers 1-100 on a 10 by 10 huge board.  People pay $1 for the square they think the chicken will “drop”.  You can make no more than 4 bets in the same round.  People volunteer to put the chicken on the board.  If you are chosen you have to spin the chicken in a circle 3 times, shake him up and down 3 times, and blow in his butt!  Then you drop the chicken and wait for him to use the bathroom.  If you are the winner you have to use the $100 bill to pick up the mess! It was definitely an interesting experience.  After the chicken drop most of the group went back to the Inn and we played trivia.  It was interesting and literally just random knowledge.  My team came in 4^th or 5^th I think.

Friday was one of the best days so far because we had the chance to go to the schools.  I was so AMAZED by the high school.  At San Pedro High the students were presenting their science projects, but there were projects of all types going on.  Students had animals, propane, food, all kinds of things.  I played twister with a few of the girls because one person made a Twister that relates to language arts.  I really liked it.  Basically instead of going by colors you go by pronoun, noun, verb, or interjection.  And they are all scrambled up on the twister board so students have to look at the words and find the correct one.  So on the spinner yellow would be pronoun, red verb, blue noun, and green interjection.  It is definitely something that I’m going to take back with me and use in my future classroom.  After the language arts room we went to the math magic room.  It was really interesting because the students were explaining to you different concepts like geometry (shapes and lines) and converting fractions to percents.  We were able to play a little trivia game with the different areas they had set up.  We also went to the animal room where students had puppies, a huge dog named Rufus, a parrot, and many other animals. 

After going to the high school we walked down the street to Isla Bonita the elementary school.  I was able to walk around a few of the classrooms and meet the students that have special need in reading, math and behavior.  I was placed in Hector’s room and spent about 40 minutes with the students.  They were so adorable.  They already started giving me things like pictures and notes.  I could tell they were really excited to have someone from UNCW in their classroom.  They also talked about going snorkeling during the school day and going swimming and to the pool.  If that happens it will be great, but it is something that could never happen back home!  I found out that I can work with students in the conference room and the teachers seem to know the basic needs of their students which is very nice.   After meeting my class I went back to the High School.  I was able to talk to the Principal and the Guidance Counselor a little.  They both seemed very passionate.  I could tell they really want some help for their students with special needs and they really want all of the students to excel in school. 

As of right now I’m going to the high school on Monday.  I’m going to help with the testing that the High School gives.  I think it is a placement test in to high school.  There are a couple of students that need help on the test.  One student needs help writing and another needs help with reading.  It should be interesting to see what their test covers and how the students handle the testing.  I think Tuesday I will be heading to Isla Bonita though.  I’m not sure exactly how my schedule will run but hopefully there will be time to figure that out.  I am kind of worried that 3 weeks isn’t long enough, but I know that every little bit of assistance helps.  I just know I’m going to want to do more.

Last night was fun.  We all hung out at the Inn.  They were serving Paella.  It was delicious.  It was like jambalaya except so much more amazing. We were able to spend time together as a group and get to know each other.  I realize that on this trip, we are probably all going to get to know each other pretty well.