"Cherokee Gives Back" is an organization that works to bring education to vulnerable areas around the world. They are located in North Carolina, but send volunteers out to spend 3-4 months at a location to assist in any way possible while also giving Americans experience in their field of work.
Colleen is one of those teachers sent by "Cherokee Gives Back" and has arrived at Kechene! She has a blog that she will be updating as she assists the children at Kechene with Math or whatever the staff needs her to do.
I added her blog to my favorite links so you can read it periodically as I will be doing. I asked several friends and family if this would be something to share and they all thought it was a valuable resource and reading a different perspective of the care point was really interesting. So, here is the entry I read this week, again, you can find the entire blog on my favorite links section in the right column down a ways.
Colleen is one of those teachers sent by "Cherokee Gives Back" and has arrived at Kechene! She has a blog that she will be updating as she assists the children at Kechene with Math or whatever the staff needs her to do.
I added her blog to my favorite links so you can read it periodically as I will be doing. I asked several friends and family if this would be something to share and they all thought it was a valuable resource and reading a different perspective of the care point was really interesting. So, here is the entry I read this week, again, you can find the entire blog on my favorite links section in the right column down a ways.
FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012
Settling in
This past week, I have felt much more useful and much more productive at Kechene school. I am starting to get to know the kids and their different but totally cute personalities, and I literally cannot believe how smart they are! I am also getting to know the teachers well too, and that has been great. We have conversations about education, marriage, and just about life, usually while we are eating rice and cabbage for lunch (the students are totally silent during this time because they are concentrating so hard on eating their own food). And when we are feeling frustrated from the language barrier, we just go outside and play volleyball, and all is well.
I have only ended up teaching one day this week, for about half an hour. And believe me, it was tough (in a different way than in New Orleans, but still as tough for sure). Anyway, I asked the math teacher what he wanted me to teach, and he said "Anything! American math!" And I was like..uhhhh.....help haha. I know nothing about kindergarten curriculum, and at the time I had no idea how much math these student knew! So I decided to teach them order of operations, because it was clear that they could add and subtract (I focused on how to evaluate math expressions when they included parenthesis). Thus, I began my lesson to at least 30 six and seven year old kids. They had no notebooks or pencils, so only a few kids could work out a problem at the same time on the chalkboard, which was quite problematic for my behavior management! Not to mention the language barrier, which was hard (although I am pretty good at counting in Amharic now, I must say!). Teaching was quite an experience... but I think I learned a lot from just jumping right into it, and I have a few ideas for improvement when I teach next time. I really want to teach an African geography lesson (they love pointing out things on their map).
I have found tutoring students during recess and breaks to be much more productive. The first time I had sat in on a class, I noticed one of the students was REALLY far behind the others. So at recess tapped him on the shoulder, and we practiced the English alphabet together. I made flashcards, because I noticed he could only do the alphabet in order. He really liked the hands-on activity. In fact, like five other kids gathered round and were studying with us! It was great. The next day, I started giving kids math problems. Now a few of them walk up to me and ask me to give them a problem right when they get to school, even though they have time to play outside then. Especially these two really cute kids named Besufucato and Limya (Limya has the biggest eyes I have ever seen!). Anway, it makes me really happy that they enjoy learning, this is going to take them far in life.
I am also working on a few other projects for the school, like writing a newsletter about the graduating kindergarteners and editing their school brochure. Also, one of the teachers is starting another school in his neighborhood, because none of the kids there have enough money to go otherwise (government school tuition is free, but students have to pay for uniforms, books, and meals). A church has donated land and labor to build a school house, but other than that they have no funds whatsoever. But this teacher has such a big heart, that I think it will work one way or another. I am helping him write a proposal and budget; it's a great learning experience for me! I hope the school will be successful because the kids deserve it.
So even though there are setbacks often, things are going really well over here. I almost feel like I have been living here for like a year! It's only been three weeks though.... :)
-Colleen
I have only ended up teaching one day this week, for about half an hour. And believe me, it was tough (in a different way than in New Orleans, but still as tough for sure). Anyway, I asked the math teacher what he wanted me to teach, and he said "Anything! American math!" And I was like..uhhhh.....help haha. I know nothing about kindergarten curriculum, and at the time I had no idea how much math these student knew! So I decided to teach them order of operations, because it was clear that they could add and subtract (I focused on how to evaluate math expressions when they included parenthesis). Thus, I began my lesson to at least 30 six and seven year old kids. They had no notebooks or pencils, so only a few kids could work out a problem at the same time on the chalkboard, which was quite problematic for my behavior management! Not to mention the language barrier, which was hard (although I am pretty good at counting in Amharic now, I must say!). Teaching was quite an experience... but I think I learned a lot from just jumping right into it, and I have a few ideas for improvement when I teach next time. I really want to teach an African geography lesson (they love pointing out things on their map).
I have found tutoring students during recess and breaks to be much more productive. The first time I had sat in on a class, I noticed one of the students was REALLY far behind the others. So at recess tapped him on the shoulder, and we practiced the English alphabet together. I made flashcards, because I noticed he could only do the alphabet in order. He really liked the hands-on activity. In fact, like five other kids gathered round and were studying with us! It was great. The next day, I started giving kids math problems. Now a few of them walk up to me and ask me to give them a problem right when they get to school, even though they have time to play outside then. Especially these two really cute kids named Besufucato and Limya (Limya has the biggest eyes I have ever seen!). Anway, it makes me really happy that they enjoy learning, this is going to take them far in life.
I am also working on a few other projects for the school, like writing a newsletter about the graduating kindergarteners and editing their school brochure. Also, one of the teachers is starting another school in his neighborhood, because none of the kids there have enough money to go otherwise (government school tuition is free, but students have to pay for uniforms, books, and meals). A church has donated land and labor to build a school house, but other than that they have no funds whatsoever. But this teacher has such a big heart, that I think it will work one way or another. I am helping him write a proposal and budget; it's a great learning experience for me! I hope the school will be successful because the kids deserve it.
So even though there are setbacks often, things are going really well over here. I almost feel like I have been living here for like a year! It's only been three weeks though.... :)
-Colleen
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