School Days and Safaris

Jessica and I combined classes to do some buddy
reading between my 5th graders and her 2nd graders.
The older students practiced reading aloud and talking
about what they read, explaining it to the 2nd graders
and helping them with comprehension of the text.  

Teaching has finally begun!  This week in Primary 5, we are studying fractions in Math, and letter-writing in English.  I am responsible for these two classes, as well as any additional periods the teachers end up being busy  for or just want me to teach…posing some interesting dilemmas!  Although I had only planned for my regular Math and English classes on Friday, I ended up teaching for an extra hour: “whatever you have prepared…or if not, play games!”  That is a direct quote from the teacher that was meant to be teaching that hour.   I then taught debate, which, thankfully, the kids walked me through and pretty much ran themselves.  I knew this might happen-teaching unexpectedly more periods than we were told to prepare for.  The teachers at the school certainly have a great deal of confidence in us…the truth is, we have more education than them, but they have much more practical experience.  The key will be to find the balance of working together because that is what will best meet the needs of the students. 

Along these lines, one challenge the Ugandan school system faces is that teachers are taught to teach (wow, try saying that five times fast) “middle of the road” students, according to Dr. Gillian (the professor we met at Makerere University in Kampala).  This means that they do not have many strategies to either challenge students who are performing at a high level, or help students who are below grade level to get to where they need to be.   In short, differentiation of instruction really does not exist. 

I am finding that my chief struggle is trying to get to know this group of students well enough in the course of a day or two in order to plan effective lessons.  This is difficult when my own philosophy of education states that knowing each student well is essential for effective teaching.  I firmly believe that a teacher who has a deep understanding of each student’s abilities, background, and interests can better prepare lessons that will engage, challenge, and motivate students to learn.  So with that in mind, I am spending two weeks at a time in each of four different classrooms, fighting a language barrier and a curriculum I am not familiar with…but what a fabulous and exciting challenge! 

And the students themselves are so worth it.  Below you will find examples of some of the introductory letters I asked them to write to me as part of our letter-writing unit.  Most centered on themes of netball, soccer, and school fees, but all were extremely polite and expressed such excitement for having us as teachers.  

I think at least half of the students told me they loved me-

pretty good for only two days!  I think that might just

be the Ugandan hospitality talking though.

The letters made for interesting reading.  Most
centered around netball, school fees, and excitement
about having us as teachers.  

Aaaaand this weekend:

On Saturday Jessica, Bri, and I braved the Ugandan road system for the first time on our own to drive down to Queen Elizabeth National Park!  We picked up Enoch along the way, and proceeded to our first Safari experience (after making a quick stop at the equator)!  Upon entering the park, we were informed that lions had recently had a kill near the road.  Unfortunately, we must have just missed them, as we saw the fresh kill (a wild pig), but no lions.  However, it more than made up for missing the lions when we were set upon by a herd of elephants crossing the road directly in front of our car! 

Waiting for the elephants to clear the rode so we could carry on!

We spend most of the day “getting lost” (upon Enoch’s instructions) in the bush with our car.  We saw bush bucks, buffalo, pelicans, warthogs, impala, and hippos, although these were mostly from a distance.  Except the warthogs, which did not seem to even register our presence, and the pelicans, which kind of looked like creepy old men.  We did have another interesting elephant encounter, however.  While driving out of the park, we came upon a large, solitary elephant walking directly down the road at our car.  As he drew nearer, he began to pick up the pace, at which point we began to panic just a bit.  At the last minute he swerved to the side and melted back into the bush…needless to say that got our hearts pumping!  We ended our day out at a salt lake crater called Katwe, the main source of salt locally until Europeans brought “muzungu” salt into the region.   Oh, and muzungu is our new name, by the way, the word used for any white person and one you will hear repeated constantly should you travel to Uganada and walk, well, anywhere. J   

Standing with a foot in each hemisphere!

It was a busy and fulfilling day, and we spent much of Sunday relaxing, and catching up on communication with home, and planning for our first full week of teaching!