Week Two: National Creole Celebration

October 25th-October 29th 2010

This past Friday the school celebrated Jounen Kweyol (National Creole Day). I came to school earlier than usual to prepare for the celebration and help with the cooking. The teachers were preparing the original Creole dishes and it took an immense amount of time and effort. The students were asked to pay eight dollars for the meal. They had a choice between bouillon (a stew that contains beans, peas, lamb and dumplings) OR salt fish and figs. I chose to try the bouillon because I had already tasted the salt fish before. The bouillon did not look very appealing, but it tasted good. I think my favorite part of it was the dumplings. I saw the amount of time it took to make these dumplings and even helped make a few myself. It is pretty time consuming and your hands start to hurt after a while from kneading the dough so much. They really work the dough until it is completely smooth and round... forming the perfect dumpling. They also had breakfast foods, which included fish cakes, floats (sweet bread/donut thing), buns, a delicious bread (coconut, cinnamon, and sugar), lime juice and cocoa tea. I was fortunate enough to try everything and I really enjoyed it all. The cocoa tea was a little different…it reminded me of hot coco, but it had more of the herbal tea flavor. I thought it was nice that they offered breakfast to the students, but it was not included in the eight dollars they had to pay for lunch so they needed to pay extra if they wanted anything.

Everyone dresses in a certain type of plaid for the holiday, which was pretty neat to see. All the kids came to school in their little outfits and looked absolutely adorable. I spent a lot of the day talking with the kids and learning about the culture. When I first got there the students were firing off bamboo bursts. It is basically a large bamboo chute that is propped on the ground and faces up into the air. There is a small hole on the top of the bamboo where you can pour kerosene in. The grade six boys were shooting them off so they showed me how to do it. You then blow into the hole, light a stick on fire and place the fire into the hole and then blow air into it again. It makes a loud booming sound as the air/flame shoots out the end. It was fun to watch and cool to see all the students enjoying it so much.

The school was decorated very nice with lots of palms, plaid, and Creole signs hanging up all over. The teachers were speaking a lot of Creole, which was hard for me to understand, but they seemed to be somewhat conscientious of it and would translate for me here and there. It was nice because Amber and Brian (couple from the Peace Corps) were there too and they do not really know much Creole either so I did not feel like the only outcast. I have been learning a few words though which is nice, but it seems like a difficult language to catch on to.

There was a man that came to the school and showed the children how to weave baskets which was really neat. He let a couple of the students try to do it themselves too, but it was amazing how quickly he could get it done. I guess when that is your profession you learn to do the job fast and well. One of the classrooms was also basically turned into a dance floor where most of the children gathered to sing and dance to the souka music. Souka music is fast paced and has some vulgar language and words in it, but it is the typical dance/clubbing music that you will hear on the island (I would say it is a mix between rap and a fast reggae). Calipso is another type of music you may hear on the island, but it often contains a story or a message, usually a political one. I found that the students dance very provocatively in St. Lucia regardless of age. It does not matter if you are an adult or a child; they all learn the same dance moves. It looks a lot like what we would consider grinding

The students were each charged a dollar in order to enter the dance room. I thought this was logical seeing that they were trying to fundraise for the school, but I also thought it was unfair because many students did not have the money to enter the room. I think they should have at least told them ahead of time that there would be an activity like this that would require them to bring extra money. I ended up giving one young girl a dollar to enter because she was balling in the corner of an empty classroom. I felt so bad and I figured it was just one dollar. I know Amber ended up giving a dollar to another young boy who was angry and pouting on a chair. Amber and I both thought it was not really fair to charge the students a dollar, but it again was not our place to say anything. We were also a little concerned about the students that did not get to eat lunch because they did not have/bring the money. It did not seem right, but that is the way they do things. Some of the students just didn’t eat and others brought a bag lunch.

It ended up being a really fun day and I was glad I got to be a part of the celebration. Monchy is the community holding the celebration in the northern part of the island this year so that works out great for me. They already had people setting up for it all around the community. They even built little huts out of sticks and aluminum to represent the way people on the island used to live. They have started preparing food, drinks, music, and crafts particular to the natives that were on the island years ago in order for the community to celebrate and understand the culture they have evolved from.

The whole island had been preparing for the big celebration, which was supposed to take place this Sunday (October 31st). However, an unexpected hurricane came through the island and all celebrations were cancelled as a result. Apparently they will be post-poned for a later date, but people who live here claim that it will not be the same.

Week One: Monchy Primary School

October 18th-October 22nd 2010

Monchy Primary School has only about 240 students all together from grades K-6 and a total of 15 teachers. The entire school is outside which was something much different than I am used to at home. There is an open courtyard in the center and then all the classrooms are situated around the courtyard. There is one building for the two Kindergarten classes. The classrooms in there are divided by a moveable wall, almost like the walls that make up a cubicle and/or moveable chalkboards. The dividing walls do not go all the way up to the ceiling so the classes can hear each other. There is a larger schoolhouse where the Principal’s office is as well as the classrooms for grades 1-3. Those classrooms are also divided by the moveable walls (with exception to the Principal’s office), so it seems to me like it would be hard to teach in there with so many classes going on at once, but they seem to manage. Grades 4 and 5 are in a separate schoolhouse and each have their own classroom. The classrooms all have no doors and the windows have no screens or glass on them, but instead have aluminum panels that are slit and can be adjusted like blinds. Needless to say, it is usually pretty warm in the classrooms, but the occasional breeze coming through helps a bit. The two grade 6 classes are in a separate building and are set up the same way as grades 4 and 5. All the schoolhouses are very close to each other in proximity so you can see right into one another’s classrooms.

The entire school gathers together every morning for a brief assembly. A different teacher leads the assembly each week. During the assembly, important issues are discussed and the children pray and sing songs together. Principal Jean introduced me to the entire school at the assembly and then gave me an opportunity to speak. (I was not expecting that, but it went fine). I can tell the school has a strong sense of community and religious base. The students are very close to one another and seem to help each other out. It is a Catholic school so religion and prayer are integrated into their daily routine. Everyone returns to their classrooms after the assembly to begin class.

Grade 6 has three different teachers that teach the classes, each with their own subject areas. I will be working with all three, but most closely with the Language Arts teacher, Julietta Benjamin. The students stay in the same classroom with the same classmates all day and the teachers move between classes. This is specific to grade 6 only as most of the other grades have one teacher that teaches all the subjects. Julietta introduced me to both classes and I gave each of the students a Halloween pencil and some candy. They were all very excited and glad that I was there to work with grade 6 (they never had a student teacher before). The classes are mostly lecture based and the teachers use the chalkboard a lot to relay information. The students have a separate notebook that they use for each class and they glue any handouts they get into the notebook. The handouts are limited and the teacher sometimes collects them back so they can be used in both classes. The school has very limited resources, which is one of the main issues there. They have no technology integrated into the classroom either. I spoke with Julietta and she agreed to help me come up with a list of resources that I could give to my co-operating teacher (Stephane) in Green Bay. I spoke with Stephane before I left and we decided that the students back in Wisconsin would have a collection drive and compile some school supplies to send to St. Lucia. Julietta was more than thrilled with the idea.

Monchy Primary School enforces the idea of competition, with the thought in mind that the real world is very competitive and students need to learn that competitive nature now. When students have an assignment or an exam, the teacher reads their scores out loud in front of the whole class before returning them. Grade 6 is also required to take the Common Entrance Exam before they can move onto secondary school. The exam is very competitive as well. The students need to do well on it because it determines the secondary school that they will attend. The higher the score on the exam, the better secondary school the child is able to go to. It is basically like an ACT/SAT for sixth graders! Grade 2 and 4 are also tested at the end of each year with a Minimal Standard Test to make sure that all students are performing at the appropriate level.

The entire school is also divided into four different houses, each with the name of a flower. These houses are used to compete in sports during gym class as well as other academic competitions. The students normally wear blue and yellow uniforms (the school colors), but on gym days or competition days, the students have a uniform that is the color of their flower along with the name of the flower on the back of their shirt.

The students have an hour long lunch from 12:00-1:00. They all eat and run around and play during this time. I decided to walk around and talk with the kids and teachers during my lunch, which was a great opportunity to get to know everyone and get a sense of the school. The children are SO sweet and I got an endless supply of hugs from them. The children look so adorable in their uniforms too! They were all eager to show me around and talk with me. It made me feel very welcome. I also got lots of compliments from them and I took plenty of pictures. They really liked being in pictures, making lots of silly faces. The school area is fairly big and although all the children seem to be running wild, they are definitely aware of their boundaries. There is the main courtyard, a church, restrooms, and a kitchen in close proximity to the classrooms. Other buildings near the school include the library and health room, although they are down the pathway a little ways. Then there is a small hill you can walk down to reach the soccer field, basketball court, a small school store where they sell snacks, water, etc., an ice cream shop, a little restaurant, and a post office. It is basically a small community just for the school. The students are allowed to run around anywhere in this area seeing that it is all part of the school. The teachers do not have assigned areas to supervise and therefore most just sit in the courtyard area or their classrooms to eat lunch and watch over the students. I found it odd that they let the students wander all around with little supervision, but the students did not prove that they needed anything different. It seems like the students know where they are allowed to go within the confines of the school and they do not try to test those boundaries. It also helps that the older students watch out for the younger ones.

The school day runs from 9 am to 3 pm for grades 3-6 and 9 am to 2:30 pm for grades K-2. However, the time slots are very flexible. If the teacher is in the middle of a lesson and needs to continue, they may do so. Some of the classes end up cutting into the next period anywhere from 15-30 minutes. This is something I will definitely need to get used to. Therefore, sometimes the students do not get out of school until well after 3 pm. The bell is rung, by hand, at the appropriate time, but the class does not always end right then. Oddly enough, the students are not watching the clock or waiting to pack their things up, but are engaged in the lesson the entire time.

Classroom management does not seem to be a huge issue at Monchy. The students are very well behaved and show a great amount of respect for their teachers. However, if discipline does need to be put in place, most of the teachers either move the student to a different seat or have them stand at the back of the classroom for a few minutes. The teachers do not want to send them out because then they will have to spend their time re-teaching the student what they missed. Corporal punishment is also allowed in St. Lucia, although it is not institutionalized. The teacher may choose if he or she wants to use that form of punishment. Mr. Nestor, one of the grade 6 teachers, says that he strikes a student on the hand with a stick 4 times if he/she gets a 50% or lower on an exam, 3 times for a 51-64%, 2 times for a 65-79%, and 1 time for anything below a perfect score---Not exactly sure if the percentages are correct, but around there. However, I have not seen this done at the school so far.

Julietta had me correct the spelling tests, which was definitely different because they do not use the same marks that we do in the U.S.A. They put a check mark by every answer that is correct and a dot by the answers that are wrong. It took me a little bit to get used to that seeing that we normally put a check by answers that are wrong. I was able to pass back their spelling tests and some other papers so I could start putting names to faces. I read the names out loud, which the students found funny because I pronounce them differently than they are used to hearing. It is weird to be in a place where I am the one with the accent!

I spoke with Julietta about the school system in St. Lucia and found out some interesting things. Anyone may become a teacher immediately after they graduate from high school. They do not need any type of degree or certification! They have an orientation prior to teaching that focuses on teaching methods, but that is all. They may go on to get a degree and/or certification, but it is not required. However, the more education they have, the higher they are paid. This shocked me, seeing that I had to go to four years of college before I could even enter the classroom. However, Julietta said she feels that the U.S. way is more effective because she felt so overwhelmed and under prepared when she entered into the field and going to school before hand would have eliminated some of these uneasy feelings.

We also spoke about differentiated teaching in the classroom and the approaches they take in St. Lucia. Julietta says they basically do whatever they can to help every student, but they have not come up with any revolutionary solution. Correcting the spelling tests gave me an idea of the wide variety of skill levels that each grade 6 class consisted of. Some students did remarkably well, some were average, and some did not do so good. There were two students in particular whose test caught my attention. The spelling words were a jumble of letters, some not even containing a single letter needed to spell the word. I honestly asked Julietta if it was written in a different language, thinking maybe they were writing in the French Creole. However, this was not the case. I was appalled that these students were so far behind! How do you even begin to teach them when they never even mastered the skills they should have in the first grade?!? How did they get this far in the system without getting help? Julietta asked herself the same questions and said if I have any ideas they are more than open to trying them. I plan on brainstorming about this and hopefully can find some way to help them!