It has been great to be back in Haiti, a country that has
really become like a second home. I am
continually blessed to see old friends and meet new ones. I am continually impressed by the progress I
see in their country. And, I am
continually humbled to be received and welcomed which such grace, humility and
genuine spirit. I knew in my heart that
working in Haiti was a long-term call for me and one that would take patience
and a willingness to let our program work itself out from the ground up. I feel good knowing that we are continuing to create a sustainable and empowering professional
development program as true partners based on the specific needs and desires
from each community I work with.
It is gratifying and reassuring to talk with people here and
to have them tell me that working with me is different, because their opinions
matter and are valued. No decision, even
financial ones, is made without discussion with our Haitian partners.
During my 2 weeks here I have had the pleasure of hosting
two teacher seminars, one in Williamson and one in Thoitte. These communities are both committed to doing
anything and everything in their power to strive for a bright future. There are great Haitian leaders in each of
these areas that are starting to come together as a cohesive team to
brainstorm, hope, dream and act on real, attainable goals that will hopefully
improve and sustain their local education system, economies and the overall health
of their citizens.
Williamson’s training was held July 9th and 10th
and we had 42 teachers from 8 different schools. This year, by some amazing feat, we came in
under budget at about $900.00! Even with
a significant inflation in the exchange rate that started a few months
ago. This year’s focus was on the psycho
and social development of children and how it affects how they learn. We discussed psychologists like Bloom and
Freud and I wish we had more time to explore more. Understanding development and how students
learn is such an important, often overlooked part of being an effective
teacher, even in the U.S. We also had a
review of how to effectively use a curriculum and the importance of having
clear and detailed goals and objectives to ensure that you are checking for
understanding and scaffolding the content for your students throughout the
year.
This year the trainers gave a short exam to access the
teacher’s retention of the concepts we have been learning over the past 3
years. Unfortunately, many of the
teachers were not able to successfully complete this exam. This brought a new area of support to the
forefront of this program. A constant
request from every teacher and school director here is to have more days, more
trainings and more support. So, our
planning team met after the seminars and, god willing, we are going to try to
have 3 training sessions for the 2015-2016 school year in Williamson. The goal is to try to support teachers
throughout the school year as they implement the strategies and concepts they
learned this July. We will try to have a
one-day seminar at the end of the 1st and 2nd trimesters
and then a 2-3 day training the following summer including some sessions
presented by American teachers like myself.
I hope and pray that the funding will be available to make this a
reality and that I can form a small team to travel with me next summer to help
with the training.
Unfortunately, I forgot the cord to upload pictures from my camera (should have just used my iPhone!) so I will post pictures from Williamson when I get back to MN!
Thanks for reading and for all your support!
Donations from Normandale French Immersion in Edina, MN! The teachers loved the maps and science materials in French and are starting a school library for the books! 
