"Who's a mzungu? I'm not a mzungu."
"You're a teacher!"
I finally started at Alexia's kindergarten today. I was assigned to the oldest kindergarten class (KG 3) which is equivalent to kindergarten in the US. KG 1 and 2 are equivalent to preschool. I observed as the teacher led them in a few songs and reinforced the topic that they'd been covering all week, water storage.
"Water is life" the kids repeated in unison.
They returned to their seats and I was instructed to help "mark" their "take away" (subtraction) classwork. I helped out one boy who was a little behind the rest of the class. He took a liking to me and ended up following me around the rest of the day, getting upset at the other students who tried to hold my hand.
I saw Alexia out the window with a boy her age.
"Look Alexia! Mzungu!" he said referring to me.
Looking indifferent, "That is my friend."
A few kids had their names written up on the board for talking during their subtraction classwork. The teacher held them behind for a minute while the other kids lined up outside for PE. When the naughty kids emerged they had sad faces drawn on their foreheads in black marker with black tear drops drawn under their eyes.
KG 1-3 all met up for PE so I was excited to go outside with all of the kids. A couple of girls clutched balls made of stuffed blue plaid cloth and tied with string. A group swarmed around me so I kicked the ball around with them for a little while before trying to teach them Duck, Duck, Goose. It wasn't very successful.
When free play was over, everyone gathered together and followed one of the teachers as she led different exercises and stretches. The kids were more interested in watching me than the teacher and I had to keep pointing to the front to redirect their attention.
Today was the second day I introduced the new Reading Stars promotional activity at Kaaga Primary's library. The students were reluctant to sign up at first, but it wasn't long before they all got really excited about it. They kept running up to me with the sentences they'd written about the book they'd read, "Teacher! Mark mine!" I checked their sentences and either sent them back to write more (they needed 3) or gave them a check mark and a sticker on their card as proof that they'd finished a book. They leaned over the table watching my every move to ensure that they received the credit they deserved.
"You're a teacher!"
I finally started at Alexia's kindergarten today. I was assigned to the oldest kindergarten class (KG 3) which is equivalent to kindergarten in the US. KG 1 and 2 are equivalent to preschool. I observed as the teacher led them in a few songs and reinforced the topic that they'd been covering all week, water storage.
"Water is life" the kids repeated in unison.
They returned to their seats and I was instructed to help "mark" their "take away" (subtraction) classwork. I helped out one boy who was a little behind the rest of the class. He took a liking to me and ended up following me around the rest of the day, getting upset at the other students who tried to hold my hand.
I saw Alexia out the window with a boy her age.
"Look Alexia! Mzungu!" he said referring to me.
Looking indifferent, "That is my friend."
A few kids had their names written up on the board for talking during their subtraction classwork. The teacher held them behind for a minute while the other kids lined up outside for PE. When the naughty kids emerged they had sad faces drawn on their foreheads in black marker with black tear drops drawn under their eyes.
KG 1-3 all met up for PE so I was excited to go outside with all of the kids. A couple of girls clutched balls made of stuffed blue plaid cloth and tied with string. A group swarmed around me so I kicked the ball around with them for a little while before trying to teach them Duck, Duck, Goose. It wasn't very successful.
When free play was over, everyone gathered together and followed one of the teachers as she led different exercises and stretches. The kids were more interested in watching me than the teacher and I had to keep pointing to the front to redirect their attention.
Today was the second day I introduced the new Reading Stars promotional activity at Kaaga Primary's library. The students were reluctant to sign up at first, but it wasn't long before they all got really excited about it. They kept running up to me with the sentences they'd written about the book they'd read, "Teacher! Mark mine!" I checked their sentences and either sent them back to write more (they needed 3) or gave them a check mark and a sticker on their card as proof that they'd finished a book. They leaned over the table watching my every move to ensure that they received the credit they deserved.
I started a second health club at Karima Primary today. I asked the students to tell me what they knew about the US or to ask me questions about it. The first and only question I received was "Did the Americans really kill Osama?" Wasn't expecting that!
I asked them to respond to the same statements I'd read to the health club the day before and here are the results for the 22 students that attended:
Their numbers were much lower than those at Kaaga the day before. There is no soap at the school for the students to use which partially explains why only one student said he uses soap when washing his hands.
Here are some interesting Question Box questions that they had:
"Can a person go to the toilet without shoes?"
"WHAT"S THE MEANING OF THE WORD INTRO" I wrote the topics we'll be covering on the board and for today's lesson instead of writing out "Introduction" I just wrote "Intro".
"WHy did boys and girl sex"
"WHY DO MOSTLY BOYS LIKE GIRLS"
"Personal HYGIENE are they important."
"What is peer pressure. How can you control them."
"HIV AiDs is Dangerous to a Person?"
I asked them to respond to the same statements I'd read to the health club the day before and here are the results for the 22 students that attended:
- Shower/bathe daily (13/22)
- Wash hands after using the toilet (11/22)
- Wash hands before eating (13/22)
- Wash hands using soap (1/22)
Their numbers were much lower than those at Kaaga the day before. There is no soap at the school for the students to use which partially explains why only one student said he uses soap when washing his hands.
Here are some interesting Question Box questions that they had:
"Can a person go to the toilet without shoes?"
"WHAT"S THE MEANING OF THE WORD INTRO" I wrote the topics we'll be covering on the board and for today's lesson instead of writing out "Introduction" I just wrote "Intro".
"WHy did boys and girl sex"
"WHY DO MOSTLY BOYS LIKE GIRLS"
"Personal HYGIENE are they important."
"What is peer pressure. How can you control them."
"HIV AiDs is Dangerous to a Person?"