We are officially finished with the first part of our trip. We were able to go into schools to teach different lesson to two primary schools and a secondary school. In the United States, those would be grades kindergarten through 8th grade. My group taught Habitats. Our lesson included a PowerPoint and two activities. Our lesson plan had to be changed some for the older students so it could be on their level. Since we had so many classes sign up for our lesson the two of us, in our group, had to split up and work with other groups that were not teaching at that time to teach our lessons. I think our lessons worked very well and we had amazing engagement throughout both schools especially the primary school. We were also allowed to eat lunch and go outside to break times with the students. In my opinion, this was the most rewarding part. I was able to get to know them while talking at lunch, getting to know their favorite colors, favorite sports to play, and just getting to talk to them about their experiences here compared to our experiences in the United States. We also were able to go outside with them at their break times, and again it was all about playing and learning about their lives here. Each time we returned back to the schools it was such a rewarding feeling when they remembered our names or ran up and gave us hugs. I am an agriculture education major with a minor in elementary agriculture education, so i think this travel abroad trip really fit well into my interests. I think being able to go into the school helped strengthen my want to become a teacher, even if it was just four days of teaching, it was an experience I or the students will never forget! We also were able to go on our big hike, Grey Mare’s Trail. The beginning of the hike was very rough as it was a straight up, stepped incline. Once you got past the stairs it leveled out some more and it become very manageable. The views going up the mountain and the top were beyond worth the hike. I was just in awe the entire hike. Overall the first part of trip was so amazing! I was able to learn about myself along with learn about the education and culture of another country. I cannot wait to see what the next week brings for us!
