Sunday, March 22-2009

Today was a beautiful day in Jamaica. I started off the morning eating porridge and coffee at 23/7. After breakfast, Nicole and I went with Kay to the hardware store to get the paint needed for our service learning projects. It came up to $27,000 (but remember, that is in Jays so about $400 US for paint).

We got back to the Whistling Bird just in time to head out on a glass bottom boat to the Royal Palm Reserve. We walked about ½ mile from the river to the Reserve tour. We were pretty much the only people there. The Reserve is a snapshot of Jamaica with birds, flowers, and trees to view and enjoy. It was pretty and I think everyone enjoyed it. This evening we will go out for supper, though at the moment is in pouring rain. Jamaica is currently very dry so it isn’t quite as colorful as when there is adequate rainfall. Still, this is a beautiful island.

Saturday, March 21

Yesterday was our first day of exploring Jamaica. We went to YS Falls where some of the more courageous people did the canopy zip-cord tour. I would not be one of those people. Heights aren’t exactly my specialty. I was very content just laying on the rocks watching the water falls. The colors of the flowers and the water here in Jamaica are just amazing. There were little hummingbirds by the trading post (souvenir shop) that were just gorgeous. The male birds had long tail feathers making them even more colorful than the females. To get to the Falls, one rides a on a wagon pulled by a Massey Fergusson tractor (no green ones down here- they use the good stuff). Ahhh… it reminded me of the hay wagon rides we would do on the country roads with friends when I was little.

Robert is not only our driver but is also our friend. He spent the whole week with Candy, Kimberly, Nicole and I last year so we really got to know each other. On the way back from YS Falls, Robert took us to his home. It was an honor to have him share his home with us. Robert’s home is small yet meets his needs. He said that when he gets money, he would like to fix his ceiling that was damaged by Hurricane Ivan. In his back yard, Robert has a chicken coop. It looks very different than the chicken mansion I have at home. There are also goats in the back, but this is Jamaica so there are really goats everywhere.

When we leave, Robert doesn’t know when he’ll work again. The American recession has also affected the tourism industry in Jamaica. 60% of Jamaica’s economy comprised of tourism. Thus, America’s economic downturn has greatly impacted this already poor country.

We stopped at a grocery store on the way home and got a few provisions. Upon our return to the Whistling Bird, we got ready for supper and walked a tiny bit down the beach to Irie for supper. It was good. This year the menus had prices in American money instead of Jays. Our dollar is equal to about $79 Jays though the conversion rate fluctuates.

Yeah! We're in Jamaica...

Today Friday, March 20, 2009- the first official day of the 2009 Service Learning Trip to Negril, Jamaica. We flew out of Minneapolis, MN at 5:15AM today. According to airline recommendations, we arrived at the airport between 2 and 3PM. Interesting, Transportation Security Administration and Delta Airlines don’t begin checking baggage and persons until 4AM. Needless to say, we almost missed our flight due to the time crunch (but we didn’t so that was good). Our gate was changed at our connecting flight in Atlanta, Georgia so we had a chance to grab something to drink and a bit to munch on. By 10:00AM (CST), we were all quite tired. We made it to our resort, The Whistling Bird by 3ish. I’m pretty sure the word for the day is EXHAUSED. Nicole and I discussed the plans for the week with Kay, the leader from UW-LaCrosse. After an awesome Jamaican supper on the beach, several of us visited the local hangout, 23/7. Jon, the owner, remembered us from last year. The feeling of being at the Whistling Bird and going to 23/7 reminds me of being home. It’s so nice to be back.

[I realized this is posted a day late. I figured the students could do their blogs first.]

Tomorrow is the big day!

I am so excited to have the opportunity to explore Jamaica with the 2009 Service Learning Trip participants. Months of hard work and dedication are about to pay off in a way that I know those going will never forget. We have a very packed schedule, both in service and in learning. I welcome the NTC community, our families and friends, to join us in this year's adventure. Please feel free to post comments or questions about the trip or our daily activities.

Let the adventure begin...

Final Day for Assessment in E-Learning

This was the shortest 8 weeks of my life. Really. So much has happened personally and (like always) I'm doing 5,000 things professionally. The completion of Assessment in E-learning will be my "Yipee" moment for the night. During the past 8 weeks, I have learned about Breeze, AMaps, Glogster, Exploratree, Googledocs, Edublog, Blogger, Bubbl.us, Inspiration, Survey Monkey, and many other different free Web 2.0 tools. My tool box is literally overflowing! I can't wait to share this information and incorporate it in the classroom, both online and face-to-face. This week we read the article, Benefits of An Online Discussion List in A Traditional Distance Education Course (Bradshaw and Hinton, 2004) which reinforced that I have taken some quality points of e-learning and incorporated them into the classroom (such as discussion rubrics). I also completed my final project for the Child and Adolescence class that will run over the summer semester. I look forward to the next class I will take in toward the E-Learner certificate. However, due to life happening, this might get pushed back a bit in the time frame.

It's March already!

Wow! How many people can say they have a new laptop after less than one year? I can. It's interesting to me that I bought a new laptop for $499 with 3GB versus the $599 I paid last May with 2GB. I wouldn't have bought a new laptop had it not been for the accident, but I like my new Toshiba. I bought my husband one too. I had to teach him how to turn it on and off. I'm very worried for him, new into the job market, with no computer skills.

This week in Assessment for E-Learning we had to complete our final assessment and submit it online for peer review. I love writing curriculum. I've now had the chance to do it twice and I really enjoy it. I like thinking about how to best meet the needs of learners. I also created a survey using Survey Monkey this week.

We only have 11 days until we leave for Jamaica. It has been so much more work this year than last year. Hopefully, we'll have smooth sailing until we leave for this year's Service Learning trip.