My internship while in Sydney is with Hoyts Group. Hoyts is a combination of movie cinemas and rental kiosks…sort of like our AMC theatres combined with Redbox. My role at Hoyts is with the CTG or Cinema Technology Group. I work specifically on the support team which means I have two main roles.
My first role is as desktop support. If a computer malfunctions or needs setting up at the corporate office, I help take care of it. Just yesterday I set up a computer for the other intern here, Emily. This role is very hands on which I like, since I have never really had a “hands on” type of job before. I am also pretty comfortable with computers so any chance to work with them is always fun.
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Posted on January 16th, 2013 by jeffreymoree09
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Our week of shenanigans before our internships start is quickly coming to a close. However, I will say that we have made the absolute most of it. After our Blue Mountain and kangaroo petting escapade, we settled down and had our internship orientation with the CAPA advisors (the Sydney representatives in charge of our abroad program). I was advised of the time and place I will have my first interview with DEC PR. Apparently the internship isn’t set in stone until after I interview….yikes. Hopefully I’ll make a good impression. Or I suppose I could just sit on the beach for the next 7 weeks too.. Not only did that little meeting remind I would be working full time in just a few days, but it also that I needed to squeeze in some more carefree adventures before I started! And that we did.
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Posted on January 12th, 2013 by katescharnagle10
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It has been just a bit over one week here in Sydney, and I wanted to share my thoughts so far.
First, we have all been so busy trying to do as much as we can during this week off before we start our internship. Most of us wake up early, before 8:00am, and don’t usually even get home until after 2:00am. The days are long and full of constant activity, but somehow we find the energy to keep going.
This week we have done many exciting things: Read more…
Posted on January 11th, 2013 by jeffreymoree09
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Wednesday morning we all woke up early, put on our teacher clothes, ate a free breakfast, and headed to the schools. A large group of girls greeted us as soon as we entered the grounds. All of the math teachers were excited to see the large group of girls, but I could tell they were nervous. We all went into the auditorium where we went up onto the stage and had a seat. The Alpha girls lined up in about 6 lines and waited. The principle or head master introduced Dr. Egan and then Dr. Egan introduced the math teachers. Then the principle lead the girls in song and prayer. The Jamaican national anthem was absolutely beautiful. The math teachers went off to work and the rest of us wondered over to the Alpha Boys school. We met the principle over there and she told us to be firm with the boys and stand our ground. She explained to us that if we yelled at the boys or were stern or strict with them we were not being mean, but giving the boys the structure they need. A lot of the boys were court ordered to be here and if they don’t shape up at Alpha the next step is jail or death.
After talking with the principal for a bit we went on a tour of the school. Most of the buildings were bright colors like green, blue, or yellow. There was this one big room about the size of a cafeteria filled with 80 bed made up all nice and neat with teddy bears sitting on top of some of them. Like most other places we visited the boys stared at us as we walked along. We ended up in the computer room where we met the man of the hour Mr. Armand. We explained who we were and what we had come to do. He was so excited to meet us and started to help us put together a schedule. Finally we had some structure and could plan more specifically what we wanted to do. Up until then we had no idea what ages we were going to be dealing with and what levels they were at. Then we had lunch and started working with the first and second graders. When I say first and second graders I mean first and second form. We gave each of the first and second graders a pre-assessment to help us get a better idea of ability levels and the differences between the different age levels. That night we had dinner at the hotel. I had more chicken big surprise.
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Posted on January 9th, 2013 by amandacash10
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On New Year’s Eve we visited the local market. The first thing that we did when
we got to the market was to either exchange our American dollars for Jamaican
dollars or go to the ATM to withdrawal money. I went to the ATM and withdrew
Jamaican money. In Jamaica $100 U.S. is about $9000 Jamaican so when I was
typing into the machine how much money I wanted to take out I had to enter the
amount of Jamaican dollars. It was weird putting that many zeros in. Then we
went shopping. We walked past all of the fruit and vegetable stands and got to a
trinket shop where multiple venders were located. Each one of the venders kept
telling me “No charge just for looking” and “You a student I give you a good
price”. All of the stuff from every shop looked exactly the same to me. Outside
there was this adorable little boy running around laughing and playing games with
some of the Augie students. I decided to take a tour of meat market just to see
what it was like. The smell was pretty bad in there. Then we went on a tour and
we got to see a few landmarks and learn about some of the flowers. One of the
flowers was called Touch Me Not. Once you touched it the flower closed.
After the tour around Port Antonio we piled back into the vans and drove to
Frenchman’s Cove. It was a nice beach and the waves were really big, but the
water was too cold for me to get all the way in the water. There was a shallow
clear part where we waded and watched the fish swim around us. Then we had
lunch on the beach. The food was not the best but I was so hungry I did not care
what I was eating. I really like Jamaican food for the most part. I am not crazy
about the jerk, but I love how fresh and natural everything is. I like to look at the
ingredients on the labels and there are not that many listed and I know what the
ones listed are not like in America where there are a ton of ingredients and
preservatives that I cannot even pronounce. After we were done with lunch we
laid out in the sun while these black birds came and picked at the food we had
not eaten. I guess you could say that they are equivalent to America’s seagulls.
We piled in the vans again and headed to the Blue Lagoon. Needless to say the
water was very blue. The class jumped in and swam all the way across the lake to
a tree where they climbed up the tree and jumped off into the water. I did not
feel like getting wet again so I stayed at the dock with Paige, Lea, and Stephanie
and we played a card game. From there we went to dinner at Anna Bananas.
While we were waiting for dinner a small group of us decided to walk around. It
was nice just to walk around and look at everything.Then we went back and ate.
Anna Bananas food was the best food I have had on the trip so far. I had more
chicken but it was really good chicken.
We headed back to the resort finally after a long day and were talking about
whether we thought we were going to be able to stay awake until midnight or
not to bring in the New Years. Lea and I went for a walk with Dr. Egan to a local
beach to see if anything was happening but the beach was dead. The stars were
amazing though and we got to hear Mike sing along with a song that was playing
from a radio sitting in an open window. Then Lea, Dr. Egan, Tyler, and myself went
to the local bar to play dominoes. First Tyler was my partner and then Mike. I
tried to learn as much as I could from Mike and a local that was playing with us.
The local was really good. He would put the card he was going to play upside
down on the table before Mike had even played his card. I had a lot of fun and
they said I was getting better even though half the time I had no idea what I was
doing.
After dominoes we went back to the Great Huts and listened to a live band. I
made the mistake of sitting up front and I got sarinated during one of the songs.
When the band was done we all got together in one of the huts and waited until
12. Once 12 hit we cheered and headed off to bed.
The next morning, New Year’s Day, we loaded up the vans and headed towards
the mountains. We have all been dreading the mountains this whole trip. We were
told we would be driving up high and that the roads would be narrow and bumpy.
Once we got in the mountains though I was amazed. The mountains were by far
the highlight of my trip so far. They were so high and lush with green vegetation.
The tops of some of them disappeared into the clouds. I took a lot of pictures
but pictures just do not do the mountains justice. We stopped at the Blue
Mountain Cafe in the mountains and at Strawberry Hill for lunch. From the top of
Strawberry Hill we could see all of Kingston down below. I thought Strawberry
Hill was really cool because that is where Bob Marley went to rest after he got
shot. It was probably 20 degrees cooler in the mountains than it was in Kingston.
We survived the mountains even though Dr. Egan’s van did have a run-in with
another vehicle. Finally we were in Kingston a day away from what we came here
to do, teach at the Alpha Boys school. I was excited to finally start teaching,
nervous that things would not go as well as I had hoped, and exhausted from the
traveling but I was ready to meet my new Jamaican students.
Posted on January 9th, 2013 by amandacash10
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Wow. It is hard to put to words how the last three days of the trip went while at the Alpha Schools. To put into perspective how I felt going into this experience I have to admit the anxiety and stress I continuously struggled with as we prepared for the trip, mentally and physically. After Student Teaching in the Fall, I saw myself grow immensely from the 11 weeks I spent with my Cooperating Teacher and 150 6th Grade students by being able to handle situations as they arose and plan instructive, engaging lessons. However, when thinking of the three days I was going to spend with 30 girls I had never met before, in a country I had never been to, teaching content for their exam I had no experience with… You could say I was a little overwhelmed.
After spending hours co-planning with the math team (which was quite the difficult task at times with 6 people), we created a plan to accomplish numerous objectives regarding Geometric Transformations. Although we were as prepared as possible going into our first day of teaching, with an 11 page outline, I was still nervous for our arrival to the Alpha Girls School. My nerves were not due to lack of confidence in myself or our plan, but rather how the interaction with my students would go. One of my reoccurring nightmares regarding teaching in general is that my students will not be able to benefit from my instruction. On the eve of my first day teaching the girls at Convent of Mercy Academy in Kingston, Jamaica, this thought haunted my mind due to the added language and culture barrier I would need to overcome in order to be successful. I hope I am not over exaggerating this event by describing my nerves going into the experience. Instead, I hope to clarify how I felt in anticipation of the trip and why I was so passionate about this Teaching Internship in the first place, (regardless of the personal obstacles I was going to need to overcome in order to be a successful teacher).
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Posted on January 8th, 2013 by kathleencluver09
Filed under: Jamaica, Uncategorized | No Comments »
So my plan to blog after the Great Huts was a complete fail. However, there were still some interesting things that happened. After those first two days at the huts, we spent a lot of time traveling around and visiting different beaches. After going to the blue lagoon, the group went to Hanna Banana. Even though the food was fine, I had a much better time just walking around before we got our meal. 8 of us went and walked around the streets to try and find something interesting to do while we waited. We ended up buying some oranges from a street vender who looked no old than 12.
After staying at the huts, we traveled through the mountains to get to Kingston. Event though the road was rough and there was much complaining, the trip was awesome. It’s hard to describe just how beautiful and peaceful it was once you stepped out of the car. Greenery was everywhere!
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Posted on January 7th, 2013 by isaactrostle10
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Well, it is day 3 in Sydney and I am loving it. This morning our group was supposed to go on a bus tour of Sydney, unfortunately the bus did not show up. Most of the group went to the beach safety course but a few of us guys ventured off towards North Sydney to do some exploring.
We got off the bus in North Sydney and then walked back over the Harbor Bridge which gave us some great picture opportunities. We also were able to see the business district and get a feel for the business culture here in Sydney. After walking back across the bridge, we headed over to The Rocks which is an older part of Sydney. There were lots of cool stores so we shopped around for a while and had lunch.
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Posted on January 7th, 2013 by jeffreymoree09
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Jamaica- Feelings of Leaving Alpha
I do not even know how to begin to describe my feelings over the three days at the Alpha Boys school. I was surprised when on the first day, the principal warned us that many boys were there because they have gotten in trouble with the law and are trying to turn their lives around. I, however, did not notice any bad behavior. Of course, the boys would mess around with each other and I would see the occasional play fighting out by the basketball courts, but if it ever happened in class, we were able to stop it right away. Each student was so respectful, and I could get used to being called “Miss” in a polite way all of the time!
Our last day was again hectic and somewhat unorganized. Many of the boys were returning from “holiday”, so we had many students placed in our class that had not been there the past two days. We also had to fit all of the students into the morning sessions (which we were unaware was going to happen), so it was a bit difficult to split students into groups when the student needs were a wide range and we were not aware of the prior knowledge of the new students. But teachers always find a way to make everything work!
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Posted on January 6th, 2013 by kaitlynainsworth09
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Kingston
We made it through the mountains alive! It was a pretty crazy drive but the scenery was beautiful. Once we were in Kingston, the atmosphere completely change. Before arriving to Kingston, we stayed and traveled to serene places with beautiful vegetation. Kingston on the other hand, while still beautiful, is full of city noise and smells, traffic, and loud honking. We stayed in the Knutsford hotel which was a very nice hotel. Our first meal in Kingston was Pizza Hut and I will have to admit that it was nice to eat the greasy food that I am use to having.
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Posted on January 6th, 2013 by jennanelson10
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