Teaching on the Beach

I thankfully returned from an amazing week at the beach with my sixth grade class before the current tropical storm hit the island. I teamed up with Reef Check for a week of studying coral reefs in their natural environment. I was reminded why I wanted to work at this school in the first place; to teach students in the most hands-on, experiential, Christ focused manner. It was a blessed and highly enjoyable week filled with snorkeling, searching for critters in the sand, rock climbing, and adventure. I don’t think that learning can become more hands-on than this! My students learned more about coral reefs and the global problems occurring with them in one week on the beach than they would have in sixth months of classroom work. Living with my students was an awesome opportunity to bond with them as individuals and learn to appreciate the differences in our backgrounds. Before I knew it, my 12-year old boys were shimming up the palm trees, kicking down fresh coconuts and hacking them open with their machetes. We spent our days snorkeling and having class on the beach with one of the few marine biologists on the island and our evenings around the campfire or collecting plankton from the ocean. It was a bit crazy to write sub plans for the other 6 classes I teach, and come back to the two weeks of madness before x-mas break, but school was canceled today due to the rains. I live on the same street the school is on, which is fortunately on a hill, so I will be high and dry. Please pray for the families near the rivers in town that are struggling to keep their houses from flooding and energy and patience for the teachers as we finish out the semester.
I have uploaded more pictures from my week at the beach with 6th grade on my webalbum.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ewissema/PlayaFronton