Working outside (Nice!)

Friday 11^th June 2010

Reviewed with students what we had covered on Thursday in Casties and confirmed their understanding of understanding of using their particular Banks. Friday is a day for cleaning the classroom so a lot of my work was carried out outside (much cooler!) and it helped me to cheer on the other students as they were playing football in the afternoon.

Throughout the day I helped Danny with the basics of using a computer while inputting information from his project. While I had the computer set-up I worked with Imran and Kevin as they wanted to write a letter to their parents. I found this very interesting as their needs and level of difficulty expressing what they wanted to be included in their letter were so different given the nature of their difficulties. When working with Kevin I employed more visual approaches (images) to help him put down his ideas in a logical sequence.

While I had the internet connected to my computer I introduced some of the students to the webcam and connected with my partner (Andrea) who was working in England; the students were excited to be able to talk and see Andrea from such a distance. This may have potential as a teaching tool in the future. Particularly, towards helping students develop their confidence when communicating with others.

During the afternoon, I had a wander around some of the other classrooms and found the craft teachers and students making dolls from the wool kindly donated. These dolls are sold to gain much needed funds to purchase teaching materials for the school and help to provide students (who are over 25 and too old to stay at school) with a job and to some degree an income.


Doll made from donated materiels

Some of the students are excited about the World Cup starting today, especially Imran, who is fanatical about Wayne Rooney and Manchester United (I know what you are thinking, I don’t know why either, but then again I support Liverpool J ). So, if there is anybody reading this that is connected with Manchester United, a Wayne Rooney football shirt would make Imran’s day to say the least. Caroline the Principal has asked me if I could give a talk to the teachers with focus how the different disabilities, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Mental Retardation (not my choice of terminology) affects them as individuals throughout their daily living and how it could influence their learning. Rodney has made appointments with some of the students’ parents for me to meet with them next week so it will hope be another productive week. Today was a varied and enjoyable day; being able to look at the wonderful views over the Castries while working was a great bonus.

Saturday 12^th June

Went into Castires to catch up with my shopping; went to the main food market, which was amazing, so much fresh frit and vegetable that I had not seen before. I tried the Aki, a local delicacy, which is a small round fruit (about and inch in diameter), very sweat. I also bought a stick of cocoa; this is made locally from roasted and dried cocoa nuts. Apparently it is a 100% chocolate, so no good if you are on a diet. The locals take a piece of this, put it in some milk with hot water, cinnamon and sugar/honey (to taste) to make an amazing chocolate drink.

It was a very hot day and once I had got all my shopping, I still had 2 hours left for the mini bus to arrive so I had a quiet 45 minutes in the Cathedral, which was very pleasant.