No worries

Please don't worry, everything is fine. The riots did not get close to Dowal School so we were not affected. The police showed up a little later with the water tanks and sprayed the rioters. So all was solved with (thankfully) no violence. Only two more school days left! I am going to miss my students here, but I am so excited to see my students back in the states!

Good luck West Jacksonville!

My students at West Jacksonville have been taking the FCAT this week. Some of my students from Dowal wanted to help me in wishing my students at WJ good luck. 

As you may notice, I only have five students today. This is because of some riots that are going on today out in Tegucigalpa. Teachers in the public schools have decided that they are no longer going to work. As I type this, they are out in the streets blocking roads with burning tires. It has not become violent yet, but once the police show-up, it will be. In the past, they have burned down buildings and at one point they were throwing home-made bombs at cars. It is hard to understand why they are doing this. But as it has been explained, it is because they are not happy with how the government has managed their pension funds. Is that an excuse to cause violence? NO! This is another incident that makes me very thankful for the U.S.A. Please keep the people of Tegucigalpa in your thoughts today and lets hope that no one is injured. I am very thankful to be an educator in the states. I think that we (educators in the states) forget how good we have it. I know times are hard, but we should be thankful for the jobs we have, the supplies that we are given, and the administration that keeps us together! I may not get a job teaching because of the budget crisis, but I will still be grateful to be a future educator in the states.

As promised, the plays!!!

The students preformed the plays today. We had three groups who performed their play. This is group ones play, well part of it!

 

I could only post one portion of the videos because the internet is not working very well. Sorry! Here are the Osc-Stars!! They are all stars, but only one can recive the Osc-Star!

Enjoy and sorry I could not post all of the videos. I hope you all have a good weekend!!

Thursday

Sorry I am a day late. Yesterday we were able to go to the Science lab for an experiment.

We have been learning about how exercise can affect your breathing. So to begin we had the students get three plastic cups  with one cup of water in each, put one drop of food coloring in each, and place a straw in each cup.

After they stired the food coloring in, one student then had to preform an exercise and then come back and blow in the cup. The first exercise was walking, second was jogging, and the last was jumping jacks. After each exercise they blew through the straw into the cup.

(Sorry it is sideways)

(Once again sideways, sorry)

Here is one of the results. If you look at the bottom of the cup, it is a lighter color, almost cloudy. This is because they are blowing carbon dioxide into the cup. The lighter layer at the bottom varied after each exercise. Can you guess which exercise had the biggest layer at the bottom?

Hump day, hump day!!

So far the week of teaching has gone smoothly! In reading we have been reading a play from the textbook. There are three groups of 10, and each student has a part in the play. One of the students gets to be the director for their group since there were only 9 parts. Tomorrow we are rehearsing and on Friday, we will be acting!! I promise to post a video of the plays!! I am so excited to see how they do. We are also holding a contest, the students who are the best actors (they use emotions and expressions) will win an Oscar (a pencil and baseball silly band)! They are very excited, so the plays should be awesome!! We have our spelling test tomorrow on homophones! Whew is that hard, some of them even get me mixed up. For example- stationary and stationery, I can never remember! Imagine how hard it is for them because they are ELL's. But we have been working hard this week! Yesterday the students made illustrations of the spelling words and Monday they made their own crossword puzzles and then traded them to fill it in. So I think they have it, but I know I will be doing a lot of acting when I am giving the spelling test :0)

Other than that, everything else is great. We went to a Museum in downtown this afternoon. It was The Museum of Honduran National Identity. I am a nerd and love museums, so it was very interesting. We learned a lot about Honduran history. Did you know that for 20 years Honduras was the main exporter of bananas? Well if you did, you are special because I didn't! Now the main export is coffee (cafe) and it is some of the best coffee that I have ever had! Also the museum was created to help instill a since of pride in Hondurans for their country and for them to see where they have come from. Hence the name... So if you are ever in Tegucigalpa, stop by the museum ;)

I want to give a special shout out to my 4th graders back at West Jacksonville Elementary! I know y'all have been reading (Mrs. A. told me), and I miss yall sooooooooooo much! So, next week is the big ol FCAT that you have been waiting for and guess what.... YOU GOT THIS!!!!!!!!! I know how hard you have worked, trust me I watched each one of you try your hardest to prepare. I'm sorry that I wont be there with you during the test, but you don't need me! You have Mrs. A, Mrs. Reid, and you have your brain! That's all you need! So get lots of rest this weekend, so that you come on Monday with your game face on. And if you get nervous just remember that face that I give you when you are mad at me! It always makes you SMILE!!! I miss y'all a bunch and I cant wait to see your beautiful faces soon! Anyways... remember YOU GOT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. watch out for a video of Muah next week :0) You know I have to PUMP YOU UP

Buenos noches mi amores

Spelling Baseball

Today we played a fun educational version of baseball. We called it Spelling Baseball! To play, the pitcher (either Mr. Ariel or me) would say a spelling word to the student at bat. The student would then spell and then say the word. If they do it correctly, then they get one base. If they spell, say, and use the word in a sentence then it is a homerun! Here are a few videos of us playing.

Well they didnt score any points, I guess I am a good pitcher! lol. Here is Mr. Ariel pitching to my team...



Of course we ended up winning 4-0!!! Go team Mrs. Amy!!!! The students also had elective period today. I followed the students who went to dance. Here they are...



I taught the spelling and reading lessons and they went smoothly. I think that we are adjusting well to eachother. Tomorrow we begin reading a play from our reading book, it should be fun. A few post ago I talked about some of the differences that I have noticed in the schools. Another thing that I have noticed here is a lack of authentic literature. Back at West Jacksonville, most teachers (especially Mrs. A.) have a full wall of books for the students to read. Here, I have only seen a few chapter books, but they were kept at the teachers desk. Also, the textbooks that they have are all 10 years old! It makes me thankful for the resources that we have in the states for the students. I believe authentic literature plays a huge role in not only learning to read, but it also helps students who are learning a language. Maybe that can be one of the suggestions that I leave for the Dowal School.

I hope you enjoy watching my wonderful students play Spelling Baseball. I know I am going to take this game back to the states and incorporate it into my future class! Buenos Noches!!!!

Copan

Once again, sorry I have not posted in a few days. I have been without internet since Friday morning! Lol, it was horrible! But it was completely worth it because I was in Copan. I cant even begin to explain how beautiful it is there. I will just have to show you pictures ;0) We got to Copan around 2:00 on Friday, but it was too late to go to the ruins because they closed at 4:00, so we decided to be a little adventurous! We found a place to go ziplinning, it was amazing!!!

This was on the drive to the Canopy. Its hard to see, but the locals were bathing in the river.

I got stuck so the guy had to reel me in, lol!

  Saturday morning we got up early and went straight to the ruins. It is probably the most amazing thing that I have ever seen! I wish all of you could experience it too.

This was our wonderful tour guide Antonio. He wouldn't smile because he only has two teeth and he said he didn't want to scare everyone!!!

This is the sacred Mayan tree, La Ceiba. The Mayans believed that spirits landed on the branches from Heaven and they went to the underground through the roots. There are a ton of spikes on the tree trunk and they would pierce their tounge with the spikes to draw blood which would connect them to the Gods.

Hard to see, but all of us with our bus driver, Elmer.

The first rock is where they would make sacrifices to the Gods. They would put the persons head in the middle and there is a tunnel hollowed out for the blood to travel down.

I was just amazed at the detail of everything considering what they used to carve with.

One of many. Isn't it amazing?

One of the Gods that watched over them while they played their sport.

This is where they would play their sport, I cant remember the name! You had to keep the ball off of the ground, and you could use any body part but the hands. They would bounce the ball up on the sides and try to hit the carving on the sides.

This is where all of their history was written. It is all along the sides of the steps. The altar in the front was for sacrifices. They keep it covered to preserve the color of the stones. At one time they were a deep red.

Antonio told us that one of the big mysteries here is the trees that grow from the ruins. After the Mayans left Copan, the trees began to grow from the temples and they don't know how because there is not earth underneath, only old temples that they built over.

There is a massive temple underneath this one, but we could not go inside.

Supposedly this is what the temple looks like underneath the one above.

I cant remember which God this was.

This is where the upper class lived. They have not been able to explore inside of the homes yet, but they believe the people are still buried inside.

This was my favorite sign. It meant look so you don't fall.

Another amazing view.

Antonio said this was his great-grandfather. They both only have two teeth, lol!

They call this God Tony the Tiger, haha.

This is the temple that is connected to where they play the sports. On the right you can see the slope that they bounced the ball on.

Well, we are back to school tomorrow. I will begin teaching spelling and reading starting tomorrow. Wish me luck. It is a lot different teaching the students here than it is back home. I hope that you enjoyed the pictures. I had an amazing first week in Honduras and I am so thankful that I have been given this opportunity. I hope that the next two weeks are as much fun as this last one has been. Buenos noches.

Ketchup!

Today is a picture ketchup day! I'm sorry I haven't posted any in awhile, it just takes sooooooo long for them to upload. We have done so much along with teaching. Yesterday I didnt share any of the funny questions I was asked. So here they are: When I told them I was from Texas, they asked if I was a cowgirl and if there are still stand-offs with cowboys! lol- NO! They asked if I watch the show Friends everyday- lol I told them that the show has already shown in the states and it is over. They told me no its not over because a new one comes on every night! There are so many more, mostly about TV that was shown when I was a kid. They thought Ninja Turtles was new, so I didn't burst their bubble on that one! Other than those, they mostly ask me about words. They have a very hard time with pronunciation. Like yes becomes- jes and flair becomes flur. That is actually what we are working on today- pronunciation of spelling words. 

Here are some fun differences in the schools that I have seen so far: Students can only use pen, never pencil! Students call me Mees (miss) instead of my Mrs. Elder because it is a sign of respect to just say Miss. Students never question the teacher and always respect what is said. Every morning when we come in the class, the students stand up and great us with a wonderful good morning! Female teachers have to wear aprons while teaching, im not sure the reasoning, but it is rule (they make you look fat).

So now to the pictures:

This is the class, no A/C but two big fans. I LOVE them!

Here is an inside look of the school. My class is on the second story to the left.

I dont know what the students said but it must have been funny! Ha, oh and I know I look fat, blame it on the apron.

Here is one of my students with skittle spray...

Here is a look at Tegucigalpa. It is so smoky because the farmers are burning their fields in the mountains right now.

This statue of Jesus looks down on the city of Tegucigalpa from the top of Picacho Mountain.

This is the only Mayan Ruin in Tegucigalpa, it was amazing. If you squint, you will see us at the top!

Streets are very steep because Tegucigalpa is in the middle of four mountains.

 Here is a look at central park with some of the police man guarding the statue.

One of the many beautiful cathedrals in Tegucigalpa!

This is my favorite sign that I have seen yet! Lol, parking for disabled, pregnant and old!

This is a market street in the City of Angels (dont ask me to spell that in Spanish!) It is beautiful there!

And last but not least... The only coke I have had so far and it was wonderful lol! They sell coke in glass bottles here so that they can refill them at the coke factory here. We were shopping in the City of Angels!

Buenos dias mi amores!

In Love

Yes, I am in LOVE with Tegucigalpa ((Sorry Issac)). Not only the city, but the people and the children! Today was my first day with the students and it was such an amazing experience. I wish that I could stay here forever! The school schedule is very different here. Homeroom teachers only teach science, reading, writing, and spelling. There is a huge emphasis (from what I have seen so far) on grammar. There are separate teachers for the MANY electives and math classes. The school I am at is a bilingual school, so we teach in English for all subjects except for when they have Spanish class once a day for 40 minutes. So the homeroom teachers really only teach four classes and then guess what.... After those four classes, they plan and hang around the teachers lounge! Can you imagine if we had days like that in the states? I was laughing at them because they were complaining about teaching the four classes in a row!!! They are only 40 minute classes... so that is only about two and a half hours of teaching and then they are done! I explained our "typical" schedule to the teachers and they were shocked! Lol I told them not to complain about how long they have to teach around me!!!

Since it is late I am going to end here today, but I promise to have lots of pictures and more about the city tomorrow! Buenos noches mis amores!

First Day of School

Today was wonderful! It was not quite a normal day because the students did not have to come to school, only teachers. At the end of every nine weeks, the school holds an open house for parents to come pick-up the report card and speak with the teachers. The school never gives the students the report cards, the parents have to come get it from the front office. From there the parents have a choice to speak with the teachers, and most do. I think we spoke with all of the parents today! Isn't that amazing? But holy moly, I am sooo tired after all of those conferences! I finally understand what an ELL (English Language Learner) goes through when they come to school for the first time. It is absolutely exhausting trying to translate and understand what is being said. I wanted to lay my head down too, in fact I think that is why I have a headache now. One thing that every parent knew to say in English was "Nice to meet you". Everyone has been so welcoming and I feel  very blessed! I am very excited for tomorrow because the students will be there. The directing teacher that I am working with is Mr. Ariel! He is a blast, and thank goodness he speaks fluent English! He told me that the students are very excited to meet me. In fact he did not make any plans for the morning reading class because the students are going to have a million questions for me. I cant wait to tell y'all what they ask! I'm sure it will be lots of fun!

Now lets get down to the nitty gritty, the serious stuff... FOOD! I don't think I can even begin to explain how amazing the food is! Last night we ate chorizo and it was the best chorizo I have ever had! We also had homemade tortillas with beans. I think I am going to gain 20 pounds in the three weeks I am here, if not more! This morning was amazing as well, we had quesadilla bread which is made from corn, and you dip it in your morning coffee (kind of like a scone, i think). When I told the nanny what a quesadilla was in USA she laughed and said that North Americans don't know the meaning of Latino food!! Lol she is so sweet and such an amazing cook! i can not wait until dinner time tonight, I know it is going to be amazing.

Alem is the granddaughter of my house-mother and is living in the main house also. When I came back from school today she made me a little card with a poem about me. It says: Amie has brown ise (eyes), yellow hair, and beash (beige) body, the end! LOL she is so sweet! She is in the second grade and is learning English so she tries to talk with me and also translates for her grandmother and nanny. She is a blessing since they barely speak English and I barley speak Spanish.

Buenos noches my friends! I hope that y'all have a blessed evening! Thank you for following me :0)

Sunset!

Sunset in Tegucigalpa!

I made it!

Well after two flight cancellations, I finally made it to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The flight from Miami was interesting to say the least... There was a roach that was crawling around in the seat pocket in front of me. We kept seeing it but the flight attendant didnt believe me. He finally saw it, but we couldnt catch it. I am a little afraid that it ended up in my carry-on and is now staying with me! EWWWW

The family that I am staying with is wonderful! Yall would not believe their house!!! It is absolutely beautiful. Here is what you see when going through the gates-

 Once inside, it only gets better. The whole family lives here. To the left is the main house and the right are two smaller stacked apartments where the son and daughter live. I am very lucky because all I have to do is walk out of the gates and I am practically at the school, see-

The shorter buildings are the school and the taller building is some kind of mall I think. Overall (besides the roach) everything is great. I have a wonderful host family with a beautiful house. There is even a bannana tree outside of my window. There is no A/C, but the mountains provide a nice breeze that cools the house. I am going to try and catch a picture of the sunset tonight, it is supposed to be so beautiful over the mountains. 

I start at the Dowal School tomorrow in the 5th grade. Wish me luck. I already toured the school and it looks amazing! I cant wait to tell y'all how it goes. But for now I am going to relax and enjoy a delicious Mango from the backyard :0)

Still waiting...losing patience

Well my flight was scheduled for Friday morning at 9:35 am, but as soon as I got to the airport they cancelled the flight. The flight was rescheduled for today at 9:35 am and again as soon as I got to the airport, the flight was canceled. We are scheduled for tomorrow at 9:35 am once again, please send out prayers that this time it doesn't get canceled! Evidently there was a fire in one of the fuel reserves at the Miami airport on Wednesday night. This is causing all of the cancellations because they don't have enough fuel now for all of the flights. So I guess I should be thankful that I am not stuck in Miami waiting... or on a plane without enough fuel!

So for now keep your fingers crossed and hopefully tomorrow I will be leaving!

Patiently Waiting

Before I even begin this blog, I want to thank Mr. Probyn Inniss once again for his generosity. He chose me out of all the students at UNF to receive a scholarship that helped pay for this trip. Also, thank you Maris Brien for being so informative and helpful. As requested by Maris, I am going to blog about my experiences while in Honduras to keep UNF, family, and friends up-to-date on my adventure.

I guess I should begin by explaining why I am going to Honduras. Last semester I received an email from one of my professors suggesting that I apply for a study abroad program in Honduras. In the program, you go with a group of other Elementary Education students to Honduras and teach in a class for three weeks. At first I was hesitant, I mean I had no idea about Honduras, and ((yes I am a teacher and yes I am admitting this)) I didn't even know where Honduras was. But I took it into consideration. First I talked with Isaac (my husband) about everything. I wanted to make sure that before I even began the application that he was ok with me taking on this adventure. Of course, he was supportive and told me that if he can leave me for 6 months at a time, then I can leave him for 3 weeks! Now the parents.... that’s another story! But hey a girl's gotta live her life right?? Love you Mom & Dad! So I applied (Thank you Chad for your help) and the process began. I was chosen and here we are... four days away!!! As I begin packing I am feeling all kinds of emotions. 

• Sad- to be leaving my students at West Jacksonville Elementary School, I am going to miss those amazing kids! They have definitely gotten to my heart!
• Excited- why not? This is huge!
• Nervous- I have never been this far away from any and everyone that I love! Even when Isaac deployed, I had friends nearby who gave me support.
• Hungry- I LOVE hispanic food so I am hoping that Honduras has some amazing food! I am sure yall will be hearing lots about that!

Overall I am excited and ready to go ((well besides the packing part)). We are going to be having a little fun outside of teaching. But teaching is always fun. I am excited to see how different the teaching styles are and I am excited to meet my students there. I am ready to teach them all that I can in three weeks! So for now I am going to get back to my list and anxiously wait for Friday morning.

I am not going to post again until Friday night hopefully after I have met the family that I am staying with and I am all settled in. I promise to keep everyone up-to-date on everything that I experience. I hope that you join me on this adventure in my life.