A Day in the Life of a teacher in Toledo

I suppose that every profession has it typical ups and downs, pros and cons, positive and negative side.  I know that I’ve been guilty of complaining about the tortures associated with teaching middle school.  How can one be unaffected by the drama and politics that can happen within a school building or district?  Teachers are some of the best complainers.  Ask a teacher.  They’ll tell you.  If they don’t admit it at least they can name names of those who are.

Let me share with you some of the hardships that teachers in Toledo have to endure.  The day starts early, around sunrise.  Must get up early to get a few things done around the house since you won’t be back until late.  Hang laundry, make breakfast, the usual.  Buses leave early usually 6am if you work in the village schools.  If you live in town, you may have between an hour or two trip to travel 20-30 miles over rough roads.  Bumpy to say the least and not exactly an easy opportunity to grade or read a book.  Sleeping is a possibility if you don’t mind being jostled around.  Now, if you teach at one of the more remote village schools, you might have the option of staying at the “teacher house” made of wood board covered by a metal corrugated roof.  Several schools have such a building on the school site to accommodate a teacher and possibly his small family.  They may live there during the week and return to their home for the weekend or they may stay the whole month, coming back at month’s end.

Upon arrival, teacher often are assessing the aftermath of last night storm.  Did the roof leak?  Is there any damage to the out of date books that get daily use in the classroom?  How about the homemade charts and hand drawn posters?  It is so hard to get tape to stick to concrete walls!  They are constantly falling from their place.  Then, on to preparing the room; sweeping, arranging desks and writing the day’s headings on the board.

Lesson planning is not a step to be skipped.  Teachers often have two or three grade levels in the same classroom.  Effective multi-grade teachers have discovered that they can present relevant topics to support differentiated instruction…or teaching to each student’s ability level.  A common topic is presented.  Then, students are assigned independent work of varying skills and difficulty.  In addition to this hurtle, although English is used in banks, business, government and schools, it is a secondary language to everyone.  Belize is a wonderfully diverse culture and I counted at least eight different languages are spoken in Punta Gorda alone.  Often, when 5 year old students enroll in Infant I, this will be the first time they have heard and be expected to use English.  Basically each student is already 3-4 years behind in acquisition of the English.  I believe there is research out there to support that children should be instructed to read and write in their native tongue first. These are things that teachers have no control over; most teachers have heard or said the phrase before, “I have to teach every kid who walks through that door, no matter what their story.”  The same rings true her in Toledo.

Discipline is not easy.  Many times the students in the village can be more reserved but that is not always the case.  Evidently, corporal punishment was relatively common in these school systems until recently.  Teachers are asking how can they keep discipline and order in their class if this is not an option.  “Ah those were the days, “some may say, “You did what the teacher told you back then.”  Even parents are often too busy with farming, cooking, travelling and such to be bothered by school matters.  Phones and email are not a part of this equation.  One strategy that teachers regularly use for improved communication is the home visit.  Having your teacher walk home with you cannot be a pleasant experience.

Okay, school’s open, kids quiet, lesson started.  Then a truck pulls up.  Great! It’s the Department of Education coming by for a drop in visit.  They will move class to class and locate all the essential charts prescribed by their office.  Maybe disrupt for only an hour or two.  Okay, now time for the afternoon session.  Oh, what’s this?  A large van just pulled up with visitors who are ready to play games and teach lessons.  Oftentimes, the poor access to communication here means that these surprise interruptions are common.

The PSE (Primary School Exam) is Belize equivalent to the MAP test.  This standardized test will determine whether a student will attend high school.  Oftentimes, the results from these assessments can make or break a teacher’s reputation.  It is only recently, that “the powers that be” are saying that the entire school is responsible for the student’s performance due to the fact that schools are ranked according to high scores.  Schools are highly concerned about who ranks first; when in reality, most students are underperforming evidenced by the fact that the district average centers around 50%.  Teachers are expected to hold “extra classes” in the morning and evening to increase student’s performances.

One comment that my stateside colleagues regularly posed is “Wow! It must be so different there.”  I would say that there are a lot of obvious differences that one might perceive at first.  But once you look at the heart of the matter, you begin to realize that there are more similarities than you originally thought.  If at any point while reading the above, you said “I know how that feels” then you get it.  Education is very much that same.  The faces might be different along with the walls of the class or resources available, but in the end, good teaching is the same.  All of us must accept the students who arrive in our room as is, develop experiences for them that expand their knowledge and skills using whatever resources we have.  All the resources in the world won’t make a bit of difference if not for the right teacher.  So go about your day and be grateful for the opportunity to build young minds, it’s a global profession.