Mural #5, check. Done. That’s right, this mural thing has taken off for me. Of the six public schools in the area, I have guided the painting of 5 and will begin the sixth next month. I have found mural painting to be an incredibly fulfilling activity for me as a PCV. Upon reflection of this fulfillment, I have realized that I like mural painting because at the end of the day, I can see a product. A concrete accomplishment. This “International Development Work” thing is hard. Seriously. Come in as a college-educated know-it-all American and try to motivate folks to change their behavior (whether it be fishing sustainably, not throwing trash on the ground, saving money, or attending a meeting) … and do it in a kinda-second language. But I try. I get up in the morning and paint trash cans with kids, remind people about meetings four times, and talk about the importance of parrotfish for cleaning corals and producing sand. Progress is slow. The educational system here is pretty bad, so many people don’t know how to learn. Mix that with mistrust of an extranjera (and a female at that!) and what you have is very tedious, often-without-noticeable-results type work. I do love it. I’m not complaining, just letting you know it is hard and that’s why I love mural painting. At the end of the day, there’s a product. If nothing else, I painted a mangrove today. Get it?
So back to murals and the title of this post. When I work with an area school, I ask the director to choose 15 eighth graders. I then meet with that group for 8 sessions. With each session I teach an environmental theme, then we paint related to that theme. (Re: this whole environmental education thing—the master plan is that by next year, the teachers will be trained in executing the lessons themselves and can use the mural as a teaching tool). Anyway, here are the lessons;
Session 1: Importance of water & where is it – Paint water
Session 2: Habitat, niche, ecosystem, food web—Paint sea grass & mangrove “ecosystems”
Session 3: Mangroves & Sea Grasses—Paint animals that live in mangroves & sea grasses
Session 4: Coral Reefs, coral polyps—Paint hard & soft corals, sponges, algae
Session 5: Wonders of the reef—Paint lobster, dolphin, grouper, etc.
Session 6: Wonders of the reef cont—Paint parrotfish, flamingo tongue, barracuda, turtle, etc.
Session 7: Living with the natural world (sustainable fishing, trash disposal, etc)—Paint fishermen & chosen phrase for mural
Session 8: Fieldtrip—We go to Punta Cana to snorkel at the beach to see sea grasses, then go on a boat ride to the reef, plus visit the mangroves to explore what’s living in them.
So last week we arrived at Session 8 and I took a group of kids on the fieldtrip. Before going to the beach we stop at the airport for a tour. Towards the end of the tour we saw some drug-sniffing K9’s. Our guide explained what they do and one of my students leaned over and said “So its NICHE is to sniff for drugs & bombs”. !!!!!!!!! Yes, kid, yes. You got it. I taught you the concept “niche” weeks ago and you remembered! Seriously, this was a huge moment for me. I know it seems so simple, but if you’ve ever struggled to teach, you’ll understand.
A few hours later we’d arrived at the beach and the kids were all splashing and playing in the water. A girl picked up a handful of sand and said, “Colleen, this is parrotfish poop, right?” !!!!!!!! Yes, kid, yes. You got it. Parrotfish help produce a lot of the sand on our beaches because when they eat the algae off the corals, they also chew up and ingest coral fragments, which they defecate as the sand….the sand that attracts the millions of tourists here.
So, poco a poco, kids are learning. But I think I am learning more.
So back to murals and the title of this post. When I work with an area school, I ask the director to choose 15 eighth graders. I then meet with that group for 8 sessions. With each session I teach an environmental theme, then we paint related to that theme. (Re: this whole environmental education thing—the master plan is that by next year, the teachers will be trained in executing the lessons themselves and can use the mural as a teaching tool). Anyway, here are the lessons;
Session 1: Importance of water & where is it – Paint water
Session 2: Habitat, niche, ecosystem, food web—Paint sea grass & mangrove “ecosystems”
Session 3: Mangroves & Sea Grasses—Paint animals that live in mangroves & sea grasses
Session 4: Coral Reefs, coral polyps—Paint hard & soft corals, sponges, algae
Session 5: Wonders of the reef—Paint lobster, dolphin, grouper, etc.
Session 6: Wonders of the reef cont—Paint parrotfish, flamingo tongue, barracuda, turtle, etc.
Session 7: Living with the natural world (sustainable fishing, trash disposal, etc)—Paint fishermen & chosen phrase for mural
Session 8: Fieldtrip—We go to Punta Cana to snorkel at the beach to see sea grasses, then go on a boat ride to the reef, plus visit the mangroves to explore what’s living in them.
So last week we arrived at Session 8 and I took a group of kids on the fieldtrip. Before going to the beach we stop at the airport for a tour. Towards the end of the tour we saw some drug-sniffing K9’s. Our guide explained what they do and one of my students leaned over and said “So its NICHE is to sniff for drugs & bombs”. !!!!!!!!! Yes, kid, yes. You got it. I taught you the concept “niche” weeks ago and you remembered! Seriously, this was a huge moment for me. I know it seems so simple, but if you’ve ever struggled to teach, you’ll understand.
A few hours later we’d arrived at the beach and the kids were all splashing and playing in the water. A girl picked up a handful of sand and said, “Colleen, this is parrotfish poop, right?” !!!!!!!! Yes, kid, yes. You got it. Parrotfish help produce a lot of the sand on our beaches because when they eat the algae off the corals, they also chew up and ingest coral fragments, which they defecate as the sand….the sand that attracts the millions of tourists here.
So, poco a poco, kids are learning. But I think I am learning more.
1 comment:
LOVE your lesson plans--I want to sit in, hear your schpiel, and paint along! Never underestimate the value of what you are doing, Colleen. Some of these children--and others--will remember you (and some of what you said =) for years.
Love,
Mary Lemmenes
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