2011+Belize+Blog


 * Belize Blog – Science and Math Curriculum Workshop**
 * Courtney Hughes (Science) and Brenda MacDonald (Math)**

I arrived in Belize City Thursday night, after a long flight and a hectic few days in Canada. I greatly welcomed the sunshine, warmth and smiles from Belizeans that greeted me as I stepped off the plane!
 * Friday July 29, 2011.**

In the morning, after a nice breakfast overlooking the ocean and the sunrise, I met with Mr. Nelson Longsworth at the ME office in Belize City. We jumped right into action! He had a plan in mind, a template for the week to follow, and the curriculum documents coming hot off the press for the teachers, principals and curriculum officers that we would be working with the following week! We also went over, to review, the curriculum piloting guide for the schools, the workbook that I had drafted for the science facilitation, and how Brenda and I would work together to facilitate the workshop with Nelson. When I left the meeting at noon we were ready to go and I was super excited for Brenda to arrive so I could share the plan!

After lunch, I had a meeting with the Parks and Protected Areas Manager of the Belize Audubon Society (BAS), Ms. Dominique Lizama. We discussed the field excursion I had planned to Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary just outside Biscayne, for Wednesday (this was a surprise for our group but Nelson and Brenda knew of course!). We went over what we would cover out there, the facilities that were available to us, the cost (which Brenda and I covered because the BAS is a non-profit organization and we wanted to continue to the excellent conservation efforts they do!). We then discussed the role of Bas in education, where Ms. Lizama went over the work of her Environmental Educator and how busy she is traveling to sites and providing in-class presentations. We spoke of how BAS may be able to support science education in Belize, where we can build teacher capacity to facilitate learning in concepts, skills and abilities. She expressed interest in possibly working with us to develop teacher resources that are Belize-specific, where teachers can use these guides to facilitate learning inside and outside their classroom, and how they can take the learning they have on field excursions back to the classroom! This is so important, especially when learning stops post-field trip (we see this often…). Ms. Lizama said she would be in touch after she and her Environmental Educator have reviewed the materials they currently have that may be of use to teachers, along with statistics they have of educational activities across Belize.

After my meetings I went back to the Radisson where I went over the plan Nelson had given me and reviewed and practiced what I had prepared, in preparation for my meeting with Brenda on Saturday. I was SO excited to get started, meet the Belizeans an begin this journey!

We began the day with a welcome and introductions and were immediately made to feel at home! We had a total of 52 people in the session with a combination of teachers, their principals and district curriculum officers.
 * Monday, August 1, 2011.**

We opened with what their expectations were of the week. What did they want to see happen in this workshop. We heard the audience wanted:
 * To create a community of sharing
 * To see support for curriculum implementation, from their peers to principals through to MoE staff
 * To see the natural curiosity that children hold for science to drive science instruction and learning
 * To increase girls engagement in science; breakdown gender barriers
 * To see clearer objectives in the curriculum that they can meet
 * To enable children to become independent, creative and critical thinkers through their instruction and facilitation of learning
 * To see children LOVE math AND science
 * To learn for themselves the concepts, skills and abilities in science and math
 * To learn problem-solving strategies and motivate students to learn
 * To teach creatively and in a fun way
 * To develop Belizean Scientists and Mathematicians!
 * To integrate learning with their local area
 * To see that children have POSITIVE attitudes towards Science and Math!

A salient point that a principal, and one of the fellows whom worked with us on the curriculum drafts, said: “I hope we don’t come back with chickens at the end of this. Chickens have wings, but they cannot fly. “ – Joe Hernandez

I agreed with him wholeheartedly and added that “We need the children to fly!”

Brenda and I were very keen to get started with the content, based on what we heard the audience wanted, since we had prepared mostly for these expectations. We both had workbooks we developed, to use to guide our questioning and activities. We were happy we were very well prepared but nonetheless spent a lot of time planning together based on the iterative nature of the workshop. We learned from the audience and modified as we went, to ensure we were best meeting their needs.

In the afternoon we discussed curriculum reform in other parts of the world and how Belize was well positioned for change. We also shared constructivism information, which the audience was largely well versed in, and then quickly moved into the curriculum documents themselves. Their homework for the day was to begin to review the curriculum documents for tomorrow. Brenda and I worked until 9pm, where we planned for integrative instruction for a half day tomorrow, to model the way with our audience.

For Math, participants learned the revised program of studies by attaching meaning to what they do, they need to construct their own meaning of mathematics. The conceptual framework for the Belize Mathematics Curriculum has clear implications for instructional focus in classrooms. Teachers need to interpret the mathematics curriculum through the lens of the mathematical processes and the nature of mathematics.

The workshop focused on 4 big ideas – conceptual understanding, personal strategies and algebraic reasoning and number sense. Students with conceptual understanding know more than isolated facts and methods. They understand relationships among important mathematical ideas and understanding why certain procedures work. They are able to contextualize mathematical ideas. They understand math in ways which enable them to learn new ideas by connecting those ideas to what they already know.

We also looked at personal strategies, where rather than memorizing procedures or simply applying a formula, students are given opportunities to develop their own procedures. They accomplish this through making connects to important mathematical concepts they have constructed. We also focused on algebraic reasoning. The revised curriculum includes an explicit focus on developing algebraic thinking from Infant 1 all the way through.

Algebraic thinking is often defined as “generalized arithmetic and it through generalizing quantitative and visual relationships that children gain a deep conceptual sized understanding of mathematics that is critical to becoming truly proficient. The final big idea was number sense. A true sense of number goes well beyond the skills of simply counting and memorizing facts and the situational rote use of algorithms. Number sense develops when children connect numbers to their real life experiences and when students use benchmarks and referents.

The participants had a wonderful using manipulatives and could understand the concepts being taught.

We began the day reviewing the philosophical shifts in the strengthened curriculum, where math and science were going and why in Belize, and what these changes would mean for their students. We covered the BIG ideas in the strengthened curriculum in Science and Math, and demonstrated (by modeling – we worked together as a team) how we could teach these subjects integrative-ly, where we could introduce a big idea in math first and then practice it in a science lesson (this implies, and we spoke to planning later, that the daily would need to flow from Math to Science).
 * Tuesday, August 2, 2011.**

Since the focus was on Inquiry-based (science) and Problem-based (math) learning, we then had teachers break into table groups. Here we posed the question, “What instructional strategies do you use?” After a group brainstorm on different types of instructional strategies they area aware of, we asked the groups to create a poster on one strategy for science and math that they could use. After they created the poster, rather than having them present the poster, they had to develop a skit they illustrated the strategy they chose. The rest of the audience had to “Name that Strategy.” We had some very funny and overall excellent skits; then the groups presented their poster as a follow-up to the skit.

What Brenda and I focused on was that many of the strategies they chose were applicable to both Science and Math instruction and learning, as well as planning and assessment. Brenda and I also modeled, through some interactive examples, how Inquiry-based (science) and Problem-Based (math) instruction and learning were very similar. Both approaches ask questions and are focused on engaging students through hands-on experiences where they construct learning by doing, showing and sharing.

After lunch (the skits were very well received and we went over time a bit!) Courtney introduced big ideas through instructional strategies. We presented some examples, and had some discussions, on how we could use the instructional strategies we just learned to develop student comprehension, skills and abilities related to big ideas. The Science group then broke away from Math to look at the curriculum in more depth and begin to mind map (making conceptual frameworks!) the big ideas (general, big picture concepts) in the science curriculum through to the specific concepts that students would need to learn, and should learn.

The science group then went outside with a ball of string and formed a circle. I told them that they would have to be patient, as the learning would emerge. I asked them to, as we tossed the string back and forth, each person holding onto a bit of string before they tossed it, Then we started to make observations of what we were doing (the process) and what the product we were creating was looking like (a web). Of course, these teachers have used food webs before but what we got at through this exercise, through prompting questions (its about asking the RIGHT kinds of questions), was the BIG ideas in living things and in healthy environments (curricular strands in science) and how they can use this activity as an introduction to enduring understandings of concepts.

We then went back to our tables and the groups chose a strand a specific topics area from one of the levels to develop a conceptual framework of big to specific ideas. I prompted them to not only think of science, but in their frameworks to also include connections to other curricular areas, such as math, social studies, language arts, physical education and so on. We concluded a day with sharing these and why and how they are useful to connect their own ideas (and gaps in understanding the concepts) with planning to teach and assess learning.

Some Big Ideas we explored in Science included:
 * //Standard 5: Weather and Climate, from Earth and Space Science// – what is weather and how is it different from climate; what are greenhouse gases and what is the greenhouse gas effect; how does weather effect humans; and, how do we effect climate and what’s it got to do with weather
 * //Standard 6: Marine Ecosystems, from Earth and Space Science// – where do you find mangrove ecosystems; why are mangrove ecosystems so important; what can we do to help protect mangrove ecosystems; what species are found in mangrove ecosystems

Through these questions and generating ideas in our group, we learned that you can build on some enduring understandings that students would have developed about **Systems and Interactions** and **Stewardship and Sustainability**, which are embedded directly in the curriculum.

For Math the group explored What are big ideas? These are ideas that underpin a great number of problems, concepts or ideas that we want students to learn. A big idea is NOT a topic like fractions, but might be an idea like fraction only make sense if you know the whole of which it is a fraction. Some people use language like “key concepts” or “enduring understandings.”

The advantages of big ideas are:
 * Simplifies your job of prioritizing and organizing
 * Helps you assess time and attention required by an outcome
 * Helps clarify what aspect of an outcome to bring into focus
 * Helps you look at resources critically
 * Helps you to create appropriate assessments
 * Helps students build essential connections

We cannot assume that students will see the big ideas if we don’t bring them to a students attention. Many teachers, though, do not know what the big ideas in a lesson are, even if they know the lesson goal. After we discussed what is the big idea and the advantages, we looked at the general outcomes in the math curriculum and inferred what we thought were the big ideas for the curriculum and wy they were important.

Whew! This was a BUSY day! We started bright and early at 7:15am, where Brenda and I met the teachers at the Princess Hotel (with the bus) for our FIELD LEARNING experience at CROOKED TREE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY. The group was only prepared to go out into the field, to wear comfortable shoes and clothes, and bring insect repellent if they desired. There were some faces exhibiting trepidation the day before, as well as when we were loading the bus, but as soon as we arrived at our destination, after a drive full of chatter and excited laughter, the group came off the bus with wonder and excitement in their eyes.
 * Wednesday, August 3, 2011.**

Our tour guides, from Belize Audubon Society, were expecting us due to my meeting with the Parks and Protected Areas Manager Ms. Dominique Lizama on Friday. Derek and Stephen were wonderful! We broke the group in half for each guide, so ten went with Derek, ten went with Stephen while the other ~20 stayed with me (Brenda went on the first tour).

My group (which was a mix of science and math - integrative learning folks!) first discussed the importance of connection to place and sense of belonging. We asked: Why would we go to the trouble to visit a site? Is it just about the tour? What more is there? We talked about personal responsibility and ownership to one’s actions in the environment (both human-created AND natural). We looked around and saw some trash littering the ground and wetlands that we were visiting and asked, What can we do about this? If we have ownership, and pride in ownership to a place, what can we do to care for the place? And in doing so, how are we building understanding and community capacity?

We moved into a discussion, initiated and led by the Belizeans, on connecting the science curriculum to the constitution. How can they develop in their student a scientific understanding of ecosystem processes and interactions, and how humans can positively or negatively impact these processes and interactions, and how does this relate to their constitution? What about other legislation (e.g. Endangered species). The discussion and ideas on how to teach these concepts and issues was very rich and very exciting for me. I just stood back and watched, listened and learned!

We then worked through some group activities on Experiential Learning (an instructional strategy we discussed the day before), along with Serice learning and project-based learning. We developed some ideas on how we can take curriculum topic areas and specific learner objectives and plan for, instruct and assess, conceptual learning by doing in one’s own community through projects that are relevant and meaningful to the child’s life. I then asked. How can teachers (with principals supporting them) plan for and teach in a “place” in their own community. We posed questions related to limited financial ability and resource access.

Teachers came up with a wealth of EXCELLENT ideas on how they can take students outdoors to learn science and math (along with other subject areas) in their own schoolyard, their own community parks or district protected areas (from terrestrial to marine). I was SO impressed at their ingenuity and motivation to take students outdoors to learn with their hands, hearts and minds! I was impressed because the entire group saw the benefit of working with what local resources and environments you have, to introduce student to concepts, as well as help students construct their understanding, skills and abilities in the multiple areas of science.

By the time we were done sharing our ideas and rough plans, it was time for our tour with Derek and Stephen. The group that went with Stephen walked along the wetland edge (for more info on Crooked Tree see the Wiki where I posted the info I used) and we went on a forest trail. We learned about different trees and the uses of trees by the people whom live(d) here, as well as how humans have impacted the forest and the wetland (which is a RAMSAR site, so a wetland of international importance, not to mention critical for the people in Belize!). One our journey we also learned of different forest plant could be eaten or used for medicinal purposes (which is what Stephen’s tour discussed most of all). We also saw some amazing (and ornery!) creatures on the trail. First we saw a hummingbird perched in a tree and then saw an iguana on the boardwalk above the marsh area.

Then one of the group members heard some snorting in the bush and several of us stayed behind to investigate, being the inquiring scientific minds that we are. The others in the group must not have noticed us because we were then alone. Well, not a problem since we were in a pretty well lit and marked area. As we were peering into the undergrowth, a White-collared Peccary emerged – and looked straight at us! I snapped a picture of the little peccary when suddenly it charged me. Whooo! Then he snorted and brought along a friend. At first it was fine and I tried to snap another photo, as the other couple members of the group chatted a bit nervously about the peccary. Then they both charged us (and even though we learned form the guide NOT to run from them) the group ran! Eeeeekkk! So many people have never run so fast! The guide saved the day though – he came running with his stick and scared them off! It was a GREAT learning experience to illustrate that despite what you learn, until you do it and experience it, it may not gel. Well, I learned not to run from a peccary – they chase you! And if you stand your ground to them, you will be fine (as the guide was). ! Great experience though because then we could talk about the peccary and use it in our many examples the next day (for inquiry- and problem-based learning).

After we had lunch, where we discussed Waste Free lunches, the connection of this to the Waste and Our World topic in the science curriculum, and how they can develop sustainability and green plans for their own schools (to model the way!), we then broke the group in two, where some watched the Audubon Society video on the wetlands and their importance in Crooked Tree, and others (about half the group) joined Brenda and I for two different activities in the field.

One group completed a Plot Study activity on the upland slope of the wetland along with in the first at the edge of the trail. This group was asked to measure out a 3X3 square foot grid (perimeter!) in the immediate area using the tape measure and string provided. They had to find twigs as stakes for the string. Then they had to calculate the number of squares in their grid (9 – area!) and make observations from a) standing height, and b) kneeling height. Their standing observations and sketches of the area (listing all biotic and abiotic things they saw) were very general; however, their kneeling observations became VERY detailed and they were surprised to find MANY different things in just one square! We actually had to stop the activity before they were ready to go. An we had some amazing sketches, very detailed, of the leaf shapes, the insects they found, etc.

The other group completed a circumference activity, where they were asked to measure the circumference of three different sized trees in the immediate area, as well as make observations and record their observations of the trees (e.g. approx. Height, bark, leaf and growth characteristics, etc). We told this group we would be bringing this data back to do a group activity on mean, median, mode and range and connect science and math explicitly!

Both of these activities were included in the workbooks Brenda and I developed, so that the group could use them in the following week, along with in their own classrooms!

We saved the previous day’s debrief for the next morning for two reasons; one, the group was VERY tired and two, we wanted them to reflect on their experiences overnight and report back the next day. After the bus dropped us off, Brenda and I had another planning session; we worked till 9pm together and then she at the Radisson and me at Rotarian Maria Price’s (where I had been staying and was WONDERFUL!) till midnight. We were just SO excited for this work and so happy to be helping out in this great initiative.

Some Big Ideas we explored in Science on the field excursion included:
 * //Standard 1-5 from Living Things//
 * //Standard 2: Waste and Our World, from Healthy Environments//

We demonstrated that by learning this big ideas you again build on previous knowledge and experiences that students have had with these concepts, along with enhancing the development of their process skills and abilities to apply these skills. Furthermore, by integrating conceptual learning in a place you can bring back the learning to the classroom and reflect on what you learned, why its important and what you can do about. Enduring understandings that are built on include Similarity and Diversity, Systems and Interactions, Structures and Functions and Stewardship and Sustainability.

The teachers, principals and curriculum officers really liked my suggestion to bring back to the classroom the idea of involving the students’ own local community in enhancing their own environment. What action project can students, supported b teachers and principals, plan for and implement in their own community that relates to what they learn in a place. I gave the example of developing a community Greening Plan, where students lead the development and implementation, as well as monitor and report in its success, a project that works to clean up their community and their school. The school will model the way to a healthy environment, and ultimately a healthy human population.

What was really awesome was that the BAS guide really liked this suggestion because they work hard in their local communities to provide onsite educational outreach to teach community members about healthy environments-healthy people (I too work in this area with Alberta Environment and teach this with my U of A pre-service Science teachers). This got the teachers, principals AND curriculum officers’ creative juices flowing, because they then began chatting excitedly about what they could do in their own communities, how they could involve local organizations like BAS and how it could all tie into meeting curricular objectives for students! Yay!

We began the morning with the prayer and then jumped right into the debrief of Crooked Tree. Members shared their most salient experiences, their learnings they took from the field experience. They included:
 * Thursday, August 4, 2011.**
 * Amazement at the number of plants that can be used for medicinal purposes and the interconnection between science and social studies (properties of plants, traditional use)
 * How engaging a field excursion could be, in terms of connecting classroom learning in science and math (population studies, proportions, patterns)
 * How you can connect learning about science to your community (Crooked Tree is a community-organized operation, where the community plays an important role)
 * The number of topics from the science and math curriculum that you can explore in a specific place
 * How fast a peccary can run (which generated a GREAT problem-solving activity where we used lateral thinking!)

We then had a representative from the Plot Study group present their findings (a LOT of things!) in their 3X3 square foot plot. He shared the methods they used ot observe, infer and identify, as well as tried to classify. He also suggested ways to connect to the local experts (community members) if you could not identify a specific species as well as how students can build their research skills when looking for their answers. He also shared how important it was for him to take very detailed notes and sketches, so that he could use these as reference materials for a later investigation (like back in the classroom!). He also explained how math connects explicitly to this activity, and how they can take this activity and extend it for more than one day (e.g. do it in a place that you can examine over a week). I suggested that there were also other modifications they could explore – adding an element (eg. Banana) tone square on Monday and observing what happens to it by Friday (and every day in between), removing an element (what happens if you take out some plants from one or more squares?). I also shared a lesson plan (on the Wiki and the CD’s they will receive at end of week) that they could use to modify (or as is) in their classroom to explore probability in population sampling in their science OR math class!

After the debrief Brenda had the raw data collected from the circumference activity and completed a group exercise on Mean, Median, Mode and Range. She shared how these concepts can be a) introduced through science, like we did with the field excursion or b) used to reinforce what students have already learned.

After this morning session we then broke into our Science and Math groups, where I worked with the Science folks and explored more Big Ideas in the curriculum, where they completed group activities and shared with their peers their own understanding and how they came to that understanding, and then moved into Scientific Reasoning (since we had pre-empted this piece with the big ideas!).

We explored Inductive and Deductive Reasoning and Lateral Thinking as a group, based on questions and statements I posed and the group individually and then in pairs thinking through the problem and trying to find solutions. I also presented other questions, statements and even games (pictionary – Name that Process!) that teachers could use to get children thinking inductively, deductively and laterally, and how this all relates to solving problems and addressing issues. I posed a “brain stumper” of a problem to…they had to connect 9 dots equally spaced out in three rows with one straight line, without lifting their pencils from the paper. It took a math person to solve it over lunch! J

After lunch we dug into the curriculum and planning. We remained in our science and math groups respectively, where we used unit plans from Alberta Education as a guide, along with lesson plan templates from Belize’s MoE to work out how you tease apart Specific Learning Objectives from the curriculum and explicitly embed them into their lesson plans. They had great ideas and insights on how they could be resourceful in their own classrooms, using materials and locations they had readily available.

The group continued to plan and troubleshoot their plans based on feedback I provided and insights they had with their peers. Overall, they began to think “inquiry-based” where they asked great questions and their plans incorporated the elements we had been learning about over the week. We even had a couple groups share their plans and how they would go about teaching and assessing learning.

Big ideas from Thursday in Science included:
 * //Standard 3: Nutrition, from Your Body and You// – we discussed the ways that you could actually integrate learning about nutrition (an practicing what was learned) throughout the entire school year. This got a discussion started on planning and planning for effective instruction and learning, where you want to ensure that what your planning to do makes sense not only to you as the teacher, but also to the student’s readiness levels for learning, time of year (doing a field excursion in the heart of rainy season ma not be the best idea….), financial abilities to purchase supplies and if not, resourcefulness, etc.

We also had the groups plan for other curricular areas that they were LEAST COMFORTABLE with teaching now, so that they could begin to ask the most difficult questions now (and I could help where possible, or draw on the expertise of others in the group). We effectively covered other areas and I planned for (which is included on their resource CD) a lesson introducing the concepts of electricity, which is an area most teachers are uncomfortable with.

On Thursday in Math we looked at some of the big ideas and important concepts in patterns an d pre-algebra. We looked at the rationale of why we teach patterns and pre-algebra. We also looked at
 * Simple patterns are everywhere
 * There are different types of patterns – numerical and non-numerical patterns
 * The same pattern can be expressed in different ways
 * There are different types of pattern – repeating patterns
 * There are different types of patterns – increasing and decreasing patterns
 * Pattern rules generalize relationships
 * Equations express relationships between numbers – equality and inequality
 * Equations express relationships between - variables

We used manipulatives to assist teachers to construct their understanding of the concepts and reinforce points mention above. After we completed the study of patterns and pre-algebra we then created lessons using the lesson template required by the pilot schools. The teachers worked on their lessons and were asked to complete lessons for homework. In addition, teachers were asked to prepare a demonstration of some portion of their lesson for Friday morning. The teachers would be evaluated on their lesson using the evaluation template that will also be used to evaluate the lessons created during the pilot.

Mr Nelson Longswoth led this session. The focus of the session was practicing the lessons that were developed the previous day and providing feedback and constructive criticism to presenters so that the lessons they developed and presented could be enhanced, tested in the classroom and then finalized for inclusion in a resource book that will be developed for Math and Science, and each respective level (Infant 1 to Standard 6).
 * Friday, August 5, 2011.**

A guiding discussion was then held for what was expected on the piloting of the curriculum in the schools in each district (the number of teachers to pilot curriculum will vary depending on the school and other factors). More details will become clearer after next week, after the Learning Coaches and principals, along with curriculum officers, return to their districts and implement the training workshop for their own schools’ teachers.

The principals were thanked for their commitment and participation, and it was acknowledge that they are integral to the implementation of the new curriculum. They themselves acknowledged that they will have to be flexible and support their teachers throughout the implementation of the curriculum. They will model the way for change so that we can achieve a Belize that they want.

At this point Brenda and I reviewed the expectations that the Belizeans expressed on Monday. We had hit them all; we even asked if the workshop as what they expected and if we had missed anything. Nope was the resounding answer. The formal feedback showed that:
 * The group found our integrative approach very useful to their own instruction (we modeled the way)
 * The group really liked the new or enhanced strategies, activities and/or games that we used (they would use them too – we had VERY attentive note-takers and questioners)
 * The group really enjoyed the field excursion, where they learned how easily it can be for them to incorporate experiential, outdoor learning into their lessons for science and math (and other subjects) and that it can be very engaging for the students
 * By modeling the way (we were very animated and engaging facilitators – “Ms. Frizzle” from The Magic School Bus is my role model!) you can encourage students to learn and foster positive attitudes towards science, math and other subjects!

Many times throughout the week Brenda and I noted that Belize was on a path that is posed for ultimate success; they have the motivation, the passion and dedication to achieve the change they want to see in their country. Brenda and I reiterated the fact tat Alberta, let alone Canada, can learn much from Belize’s dedication to seeing success in their future. We can bring back our own learnings from this week and support our own teachers, principals and Ministry staff in being the change we want to see.

We have some ideas on what we can do to continue to support Mr. Longsworth and the MoE, along with the many teachers, principals and curriculum officers in Belize. We hope to be back in late November or early December of 2011, to visit the districts with the most need (Toledo, Stann Creek, particularly rural areas) to meet with the Learning Coaches in Science and Math and provide them with PD on topics and issues they have identified while piloting the curriculum. We also hope to return at least twice in 2012 to provide the same support to other districts, along with bring all Learning Coaches, principals, and curriculum officers back together for another session in August. We truly are dedicated to this project, to seeing curriculum reform and enable teachers, principals, the MoE and ultimately students, achieve their best in mathematics and science education. We know Belize is poised for incredible success and they are well on their way to get there! =Courtney and Brenda :)= =________________________________________________________________________________________________= =2011 Belize Blog=

=﻿Monday, August 1, 2011= Courtney and Brenda

We had a marvellous day at BIM with 48 Math and Science lead Teacher Coaches, principals, and six curriculum officers (54 total). These lead teacher coaches choose to be in the pilot project of the new science and math curriculums. They were extremely passionate, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and eager to make change happen in Belize. It was exhilarating just being around them. This Belize math and science piloting of the new curriculum is extremely innovative and unheard of in other countries introducing new curriculum. The pilot process is a 4 phase process - pilot design, training stakeholders (this week and then next week they train others), monitor and support the pilot of the curriculum and analyze the data and review the curriculum and make changes on the curriculum based on data and feedback. The monitoring includes daily logging, ongoing monitoring, curriculum monitoring, assessment monitoring, and stakeholder input. Once this year is complete they will finalize the curriculum and continue with the training of their teachers in Belize through professional development. Their teachers will have been inserviced all year long, training other teachers in their schools, monitoring their own progress with the curriculum and then sharing what they have learned in the process with others.

In the morning, Nelson shared with the participants the amazing relationship that has been established with Rotary 5370. He spoke that the curriculum reform could not have been possible today without the support of Rotary. It was a great way to begin our day as Rotarian volunteers. We were honoured to be part of the team. Theresa facilitated the getting acquainted activities which included: 1. name, 2. expectations and 3. give a "wild" prediction of the best possible outcome of the math and science training and new curriculum. Some of the expectations included:
 * strategies and knowledge to become a better teacher,
 * clear understanding of the new program of studies,
 * effective strategies for all learners,
 * what is new in mathematics and science,
 * strategies to solve problem,
 * fundamental skills in Math and science,
 * strategies, strategies and strategies and
 * more engaging activities for students.

Wildest predictions include
 * I can reach all students,
 * our students enjoy math and science and pass the exams,
 * fun for both teachers and children,
 * students apply what they have learned in their daily lives,
 * creative thinkers and risk takers, and
 * develop renowned Belizean Scientists and Mathematicans. My favourite!!

We discussed the global issues and trends driving curriculum reform. We then looked at the front matter and student centered constructivist approach to teaching science and mathematics. The day was filled with hands on activities to demonstrate the underlying philosophy of both the math and science curriculum.

The math and science teams were split to further investigate the perspective subjects. At the end of the day, an observer from the math and science teams were asked to reflect on what was accomplished and what they learned. The observers were extremely thrilled with the day and excited about returning tomorrow.

Overall it was a fantastic day! The curriculum teams went away happy, tired and with homework - familiarize themselves with the new curriculum.

We are planned, still preparing for tomorrow but looking forward to a great day again tomorrow!

=Sunday July 31, 2011= Brenda M. It is so nice to be in Belize. I am looking forward to meeting our Math and Science Quality School participants tomorrow. We collaboratively planned this afternoon and finalized our presentations for tomorrow. I finally finished my edits and preparation for tomorrow and it is only 11:30 p.m. I am feeling good!!! It was so nice to see everyone yesterday and today! I wish everyone well tomorrow and the rest of the week. Have a great day!

Cheryl R We're finally in Belize! We left severe thundershow and arrived in downpours. But these are the kind of run-around-in-rubberboots rainstorms with your tongue out, though. Warm and fun. My first big laugh: the sign over the toilet in the airport bathroom "Please do not flush with your feet". Is that a real problem here? Does it merit a sign? My big surprise: Belizeans jog. I went out this morning on the seawall, and greeted several Belizeans out for their morning exercise. A couple of scraggly guys looked like maybe they'd been there all night... I still said hi. And then ran just a little faster. At this point, we've heard "the big ideas" enough we could all write a book. The lesson plan is done. I have this idea of what the classroom will look like, and I'm wondering where I'm getting that from. I mean, how would I know what a classroom looks like in Belize? Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'll be dressing in my slick (and somewhat sweated-up) red shirt and heading out to Belmopan.

Dedicated to the six people who had their luggage lost: "I got new underwear yesterday. Well, it was new to me anyway."

=Tuesday, July 12, 2011=

Cheryl Severe thunderstorm warnings here, again. Really, how can the weather in Belize worry us at all? I go through about six clothing changes a day: pajamas, to jeans and a sweater, to shorts and a tshirt, to running clothes, back to shorts, and then back to jeans and jacket at night. No wonder Canadians pack too much when we go away. I'm excited. I'm also at that bottom of the bucket point where you wonder if everything will come together in time. It always does, I know. Who will we meet? Here's a cool thought: There's someone on the other side of the world right now that doesn't realize what good friends we're about to become:)

"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking"

Friday, July 15, 2011 Cheryl R. It's Friday morning. Our week is ending, and there's no mixed feelings on the part of Corinne or I. We both loved our time in Belmopan, and will miss the wonderful teachers we met here this week. Let me tell you, though, it was tough. Not the teaching. The combination of hot, open-air classrooms, shouting over thunderstorms and bathroom construction, a forty minute drive to and from San Ignacio, and then prepping until late. Despite that, we're in good spirits today, and ready to share this power point with our group from St. Martin's government school and Our Lady of Fatima Catholic school. All the captions were phrases they wrote at the beginning of the week after being posed the question, "What is your dream for this project? What are the best possible outcomes for you, the children, and the community?" Their answers tell the story about what an amazing group of educators we were priviledged to work with this week. It's been fantastic, and we hope to continue our new relationships over email, and perhaps skype with our two schools.