Wednesday 18 September 2013

Day 13 & 14 (Monday and Tuesday, August 4 & 5, 2013)

Day 13 (Monday): Today we thought it was a public holiday, so we tried to sleep in. I was all up and ready to do a workout, when Momadi and Keuba came to tell us that it actually was not a holiday and we had to be to the school within the hour. I had no lesson plan made, and no idea about the next chapter of what I was teaching, because I thought I had the whole week to memorize my lecture. Turns out I had to embrace my inner Gambian, and put myself to the ultimate test of how well I knew the manual. I had to teach 3 hours today, so I came up with a few activities on the spot, and I think I taught the children about bacteria in an efficient way. I used glitter and rubbed it all over two of the students hands. I sprayed everyone else's hands with water (which was even more fun than the glitter). The two students had 15 seconds to shake as many people's hands as they could. I then stopped the time and handshaking, and asked who had glitter on their hands. When everyone except one person raised their hands, I then told the students that the two students who had the glitter on their hands initially had a disease, and now everyone who had shaken hands with them and not cleaned their hands may have that disease now too. I think it really hit home with the students on how important it is to wash your hands.

Since the kids are on their third last day of Ramadan, in the afternoon no one was paying attention and they were falling asleep. I got them up to present and playing a few water related games to keep them engaged. So all in all I think it was a great teaching experience. I had to learn today that you sometimes just have to go with the flow, and you cannot control everything in life. I think experiences like this will be good for me when I get home, so I am not so uptight about doing everything a certain way at a certain time.


Day 14 (Tuesday): Today I did not teach because we closed early for the Ramadan break, but I helped Danielle for a while. Then I headed over and watched Amanda’s class put on skits. They were really funny to watch; the kids are so great at drama. It is as though they transform into different people. In class the kids are sometimes super shy, but it is like they break this barrier and show the true them hiding on the inside.

I also almost cried when my students told me they were going to miss me over the break. This also gave me a boost in confidence. I feel like although they test me sometimes, that we are all truly looking out for one another in the long run. I know these relationships will last a lifetime.

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