Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Time (10/24)

Happy setting the clock

I had a lot of fun teaching today!  I started with my math lesson where we began learning time.  We had a discussion about time, what we use to tell time, and so on.  Then I set up a large clock in the middle of the classroom.  First, I set the time on the clock and had the students tell me what time it was.  Then I asked students to come and set the clock and I let other students tell what time it was set to.  As usual, the students enjoyed another opportunity to get out of their seats and do some active learning.  I then handed out individual clocks to my students (the school has these-nice!), and called out times for them to set their clocks to.  Then as a class, we checked the time on our large clock.  This activity is something I will definitely bring back with me to the United States when/if I teach time.
Jostus setting the clock

I was laughing as I was teaching this lesson just thinking about all the different problems you can (and I did) encounter in a lesson.  Before you lay anything on the floor, the classroom must be swept.  The kids are great about this, especially by now, since I am constantly moving the desks out of the way in class.  As soon as I ask them to move the desks they move them out and a few kids start sweeping.  Then of course, you can’t just put paper on the floor, but you have to put some weight on the paper, because the windows are open and the wind blows through.  And my favorite “problem” you can encounter while teaching, baby Evan crawling through your clock and moving the numbers all around!
Keneth and Emannuel with their individual clocks

We had another great day in English.  It was really good to see how much the students remembered from the day before-most likely because they were so engaged.  We continued learning with the worm today.  I had the students line up to go outside, and we walked all over the schoolyard placing the worm in different spots and creating position sentences about him.  I wasn’t exactly sure how I envisioned it going when I wrote the lesson, but once we started I decided to have each student get a turn placing the worm somewhere.  It worked out really well because I had the student in the front of the line walk to wherever they wanted to place the worm and then the person behind them said the sentence out loud to everyone about the worm’s location.  Then the person that placed the worm went to the back of the line and the student that formed the sentence became the new leader who wandered through the schoolyard finding a place to put the worm.  We were walking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  The worm ended up under the bicycle, in the dish, on the tree, and so on.  At one point I looked at my watch and thought, “oh boy, this is taking much longer than I expected.”  But then I took a step back and looked at how engaged EVERY single student was, and how great this activity was for practicing the vocabulary, so I ignored the time and just had fun with my kids.  It is so nice to see these kids just let loose and have a good time, and to remember that they are still kids even if they carry babies on their back as soon as they learn to walk, and carry baskets heavier than themselves on their heads, and hunt, and work in the gardens, and so on.  Even my cooperating teacher, Zippora, walked with us the entire time AND asked if she could have a turn.  It made me happy to see her having fun with the kids, and that she was observing one of my lessons. 
The worm is ON the bicycle

Alan putting the worm ON the chairs
The worm is IN the bell
The worm is UNDER the bicycle
The worm is IN the dish
When we came back in the classroom I eliminated one of my extra activities because the outdoor activity took longer than expected.  I gave the students a blank piece of paper and told them I would be giving them directions on what to draw.  So I told them to draw something under, and another thing near, and another thing behind, and so on.  This was not only a good activity for practicing the English vocabulary, but it was just a good English comprehension activity in general, because they had to follow the directions I gave them in English. 

Kato's finished product from the directions I gave them to draw
After I finished my lunch today I was sitting in a chair next to Katie just talking with some students when one of my students came up to me and exclaimed, “Teacher! P1 (my class) is going to play Top class in football!”  This was my invitation to come watch.  And it brightened my day to know that my students cared that I would watch them play football.  So I picked my chair up and went over and watched their match.  As I was watching, some of my P1 girls came over and played with my hair.  They love playing with our long locks, as our hair is so different from theirs, and while in school they must have their heads shaved.  It was nice just hanging out with my kids! P1 won by the way-woo hoo!
  
During games today we taught the kids how to Limbo!  They had a lot of fun with it, and boy, could some of them get low.  They were really funny too, because they had a natural little strut/dance as they went under the hose that we used as the stick.  For the second part of games today I went into the P7 classroom.  Every Wednesday during games, the older students as well as some of the teachers, join in one classroom and just drum, sing, and dance.  It is such a good time, and so fun to watch.  Music is definitely something that brings the people here together, from the youngest students in baby class to the oldest students in P7 and even the teachers, a very unique, and Ugandan way to do community building within a school.  

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Soccer ball

"The worm is ON Allan's head!"

In English today I began teaching the students position words.  To teach the words I brought out the little blue, light-up, squishy worm that I have, and we placed him in different spots throughout the classroom-behind my bag, under the desk, in the cabinet, and so on.  The students absolutely love the worm and think he is hilarious, so this inevitably made learning fun.  Not only was it fun, but it was a great way to get the students using the position words in conversation, which is most important for their English development.  We also played the slapping game, where the students race to slap the word that I say-which has become one of their favorite ways to practice reading their English vocabulary.  After that I had the students do an exercise where I gave each student 6 stickers and asked them to draw pictures and place the stickers in various locations.  The stickers were another thing that got them excited to learn.  All of these things together made the lesson very successful and fun.
"The worm is under the chair"

Here's an example of Doricka's work with her sticker exercise
In math today we reviewed the days of the week (as that was supposed to be our next math unit, but was something we already learned in English).  We reviewed by playing the spelling game Sparkle, which the students enjoy, and by singing our days of the week song.  Then I introduced area to my students.  Because my students are only in P1, the area lesson I was supposed to teach just went over what covers more space.  I showed the students some examples, and then I asked them to find some examples of an object that covers a bigger part than another object.  As I have said before, I like to give my students a lot of visuals and concrete examples, as the examples bridge the gap between their English and Lukunzo.  Both the days of the week review and the area lesson were a breeze for the students, which was nice.

Because I brought my worm out for the English lesson, the students were all fired up about playing the game we had played a few weeks ago with it.  We played a game like hot potato, where we passed the worm around quickly until the light stopped and that person was out and then continued until there was one student remaining.  So I promised my students we would play one game of it during games time.  We shut all the windows and the door in the classroom to really let the worm light-up, and we had a blast! 

Today one of my students brought a soccer ball to school for me that he made using fibers.  I had seen the boys playing with a ball like this and started asking one of my students, Kato, about them.  He told me he could make me one if I gave him some fabric and a plastic bag.  We had had this conversation awhile back, but he wasn’t going to forget it.  Every week he asked me if I still wanted a ball made.  So yesterday I brought these things to him (I had to buy the scraps of fabric from a fabric store since I didn’t have any and I finally remembered to do so), and he came with my ball today.  He was in the process of finishing it when I arrived at school today, wrapping some of the natural fibers around the outside.  I am excited to bring it home to Nick and see if he can play soccer with a Ugandan ball! 


Alfred and Kato (twins) with the ball. Kato is the one who made it, and Alfred was the one who kept reminding me about it.


After school today we showed Jamie around town a bit, taking her to the supermarkets in town (where we buy more of our westernized goods), and the markets.   

Cheers!


We arrived at school today and we were greeted by a local reverend.  The reverend was at Rwentutu today giving a presentation to the staff on the purpose and usefulness of using slates (individual chalkboards) in the classroom.  Katie and I were invited to attend the presentation and we stayed for about 20 minutes before we had to go and teach our lessons.  Many of the uses of the slates that the reverend mentioned are the reasons why we use individual dry erase boards with our students in the United States-it holds each student accountable, it gives access to all learners, it provides an opportunity for everyone to practice writing, and so on.  It was refreshing to see such a positive and progressive presentation at the school.  The reverend mentioned that if he thought the presentation went well, there would be a donation of slates made to the school.  Katie and I didn’t quite understand this as we have seen slates already present in most classrooms, but I’m sure they can always use more. 

My first lesson of the day was math.  I continued to teach about weight today.  We once again went outside and talked about weight in terms of the balance (see-saw).  We then came back in the classroom and I emptied several objects that I brought from our house as well as picked out of the classroom into the circle the students and I had made.  I asked each student to pick two objects and tell us which one was heavier and which one was lighter.  The students did very well with the written exercise they did last week on weight, so today I just wanted them to practice using the words heavier and lighter in conversation-and I figured a hands-on way was a good way to do so.  I have come to realize that my students love concrete examples and objects.  The students really enjoyed picking up the different things I brought in and did a great job of forming the sentences.  We even did a small cheer, clap, etc. for each student after they shared which was really fun for both the kids and I.  This is something they do quite often here, cheer and clap for students, which is nice because it keeps a positive classroom environment.  Some of the cheers they do are too funny.  They give each other “flowers”, “soda”, and “meat”, which are all quite a treat to someone here.   So the teacher will say lets give Jane flowers, and all the students will shake their hands in their air so it looks like flowers.  Giving a student soda involves all the students sucking out of straws (all imaginary of course) and blowing out of them at the student.  And then a new one the kids introduced me to today was giving someone meat, where they all pretend to gnaw on a piece of meat and throw it to the student.  Here are some videos of the students “giving gifts”/cheering for each other.  I let each student pick what they wanted to receive, which they also quite enjoyed, having an opinion!

Giving meat

My students giving flowers

Giving soda

Happy deciding if the umbrella or the shoe is heavier
Lovick talking about the weight of the cards and the book
For English today, Katie and I brought our students together to finish working on their stories that they started last week.  It was pretty neat seeing how excited the students were to finish.  I had several P1 and P2 students asking me from Thursday to today when they would get to finish.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Katie and I went through their stories and wrote questions in their books to give them some talking points so they could elaborate on their stories and add some more details.  We felt this was necessary as this was the first time the students had worked on writing their own stories and weren’t familiar with adding interesting details.  We then encouraged the students to illustrate their books and design their covers.  Next time we get together, the students will spend the first ten minutes or so finishing up, and then we plan on having the students share their stories! 



The kids found some old hoses and have been using them as jump ropes all week
After school today our new houseguest arrived.  Jamie is from Canada and will be here for the next five months.  She is the overseas program coordinator at Umoia Operation Compassion Society, a society responsible for building and establishing Rwentutu school and the related projects-the clinic at the school and the women’s micro finance project.  The micro finance project is not something we know too much about, but from what we are told it is a group of women who get together at the school and pool their money together so they can purchase things they need and start up businesses, then they slowly pay it back.  Jamie is going to continue to help the women do these things, but in addition, she hopes to teach them how to sew so that they can start making and selling crafts so they have another way to make money for their group.  

Overdue: Life in Uganda and Cultural Differences


I spent a large part of the day lesson planning and preparing posters and materials for my lessons this week. 

I’ll take this opportunity to fill you in on what my life in Uganda has been like and on some of the cultural differences:

Electricity:  In Uganda, electricity comes and goes.  If you have electricity (which is definitely not everyone, and mostly only an option for people living close enough to a town), you never know when the power will go out.  Thus far, the electricity has been out for two full days, one day, a couple hours, one hour, or just a few minutes.  The changes in weather can contribute to the loss of power, but this is not the only factor.  Because not everyone has power in their homes, there are stores where you can drop things off to be charged and use the stores’ electricity.  This is something we have seen Enoch do with his phone and laptop. 

Cooking chapate by lantern light
Living with or without electricity has been something we have gotten quite used to, always having our lanterns and headlights handy, and doing lots of things by lantern-light (cooking, lesson planning, showering, etc).  This is not to say that when the power comes back that Katie and I aren’t jumping for joy, because we are!  Because the inconsistency of the power, and that fact that so many people just plain don’t have electricity, the loss of power doesn’t really seem to phase anyone here.  The first day that we lost power for the full day was pretty funny.  Katie and I kept asking Doreen when the power would come back on, and she told us early in the day that it would come back on at 7:00pm.  Her answer seemed so confident so we believed it.  Well, once it hit 7:00 pm the power was still out, so we gave Doreen a hard time.  But her response was simple, “If it didn’t come at 7, it will come at 8.”  This had Katie and I laughing and doubtful, but sure enough at about 7:53 the power came back on, and we were all cheering and laughing. 

Internet: My source of Internet here comes from an Orange Stick.  We plug a USB-type thing into our computer and it connects us to the Internet-sometimes.  The sticks were handed down to us from previous groups, but I think they are roughly 50 U.S. dollars to buy new.  Then once you have your Orange Stick, you pay for an Internet plan that allots you a number of Gigabytes per month.  I have been purchasing 10GB per month for $60 (U.S.).  Everything you do on the Internet uses different amounts of data.  But everything we want to do i.e. Skype, video chat, upload pictures and videos, etc., uses up a lot of data.  And even though you have an Orange stick, it doesn’t guarantee you have Internet.  Why, I have not the slightest clue.  There are times where it simply won’t work at all, and other times where Katie’s might work and mine won’t or vice versa, and there is no rhyme or reason, which is the most frustrating.  But for the most part, we have been able to call home daily, so there’s not too much to complain about!

Names: What we have come to realize, and as Doreen has explained to us, is that everyone here has 3 names.  Their first name is related to their birth order.  So all first-born boys have the same name, Buluku, and all first-born girls have the same name, which is Marska.  Then the second born boy is given a name and so on, and same for girls.  If all the children born before you are the same sex, and then you are born the opposite sex, your name is Muhindo.  So my name is Muhindo Danielle Kawleski (but most people just introduce themselves as Muhindo Danielle).  As you can guess, a Ugandan’s second name is what we call our first name, and the last name is the surname.  I had Doreen help me give my family names.  My Dad and Derek, because they are both first-born males are Buluku Dave and Buluku Derek.  My Mom’s name is Kabul Carol.  And Nick’s name is Bwambale Nick. 

Language: The national language in Uganda is English, but the local language is Lukunzo.  It seems that most people know at least some basic English, and some know quite a bit.  In the local language, a consonant must always be followed by a vowel.  So for example, the word help is spelled “H-E-L-A-P,” and it is pronounced just like it looks.  As we have traveled to different parts of Uganda we have come to realize that most Ugandans know several languages.  We have heard Samson speak 2 different languages on top of English and Lukunzo.  To my understanding, they just pick up on the language, because I assume they are all similar.  Although not similar enough that “hello” and “thank you” are not the same, because when I have used these words outside of Kasese Samson always laughs and tells me they don’t speak Lukunzo where we are. 

Some of the Lukunzo words I have learned are (these are all my own spellings and pronunciations):

Obuchire (O-boo-cheer-ay), which means Good Morning.

Wesveeday (pronounced as it looks because I spelled this one on my own), which means Good Afternoon.

Wasinga (Wa-sin-ja), which means thank you

Muzungu (Moo-zune-goo), which means white person

Wangee? (pronounced as is with a questioning tone) which means “Yes, please,” but is most commonly used when we would say “what?”

Buchayi (Boo-chi) which means good bye

It has been very fun learning the few words we have, and all the local people really appreciate it and get really excited when use their language.  So I try and use it as much as I can with the few words I know.

Common Phrases:

When Ugandans speak English, there are a few phrases that you hear quite often.  One of them is “I’m fine.”  Whenever you say hello to a Ugandan their immediate response is “I’m fine.”

We have also heard a lot of Ugandans say, “Wow, wow, wow!”  Which according to my students, is learned from Muzungus. 

“Yes please,” is another common phrase.  It can be used as you would imagine it to be, but it can also be used just when someone is agreeing with you or following along with your conversation or story.

When Ugandans want to express that something is hurting them they say, for example, “My stomach is paining,” or, “My head is paining.”

Although this is not a common phrase that many Ugandans use, it is one that both mine and Katie’s students have picked up on, and that is “oops!”  The students love to say “oops,” now whenever they drop something or make a mistake. 

Weather: Located literally right on the equator, it is hot here in Kasese, Uganda.  With that said, it is hot but not humid, thankfully.  I have no idea what the actual temperature is every day, but my guess is that it reaches anywhere between 90 degrees and 100 degrees every day.  No matter what, every morning I wake up and put on one of my long skirts and tank tops.  Most days it is cooler in the morning and then it quickly warms up.  From about noon to five it is HOT.  Fortunately, it does cool down at night, and with the help of a fan, I have not had many sleepless nights due to heat (except when the power goes out and the fan doesn’t work).  October begins the rainy season here, and we have noticed a lot more rain.  In fact, for most of October we have had rain every day.  It usually rains really hard for up to an hour at the most.  But here and there it will rain for a few hours.  This mostly happens in the late afternoon or at night. 

Religion: Religion is very important to Ugandans.  Most Ugandans are Christian, but there is also a large Muslim population here.  Ugandans believe firmly that God will provide, and this is something they express often. 

Driving:  Driving in Uganda, as I have mentioned, is like a game of chicken.  Everyone just goes until someone gives.  It seems as though cars always have the right away, which goes for Bodas, goats, chickens, cows, pedestrians and so on.  Everything and everyone is expected to move out of the way for a car.  I’m not sure if there are driving laws or if they are more like considerations, but to be driving any sort of vehicle you must be a licensed driver.  I have not seen a speed limit sign anywhere, nor a stop sign, and maybe 2 stop and go lights in Kampala.  The roads throughout Uganda are in very rough shape.  There are some main roads that are paved, but paved and with many potholes in them.  All the side roads are not paved and are filled with rocks (quite large at times), cracks, dirt, potholes and so on.  They are very unpleasant to drive on.  One Ugandan joked with us once and said that sitting and riding in a car on the Ugandan roads is what they call a Ugandan back massage!  The roads are not only filled with cars, motorcycles, and big trucks, but they are also filled with chickens, goats, cows, and people.  *Side note- Chickens, cows, and goats just roam freely throughout Uganda.  They are rarely tied up or kept in someone’s yard.  If you find one of these animals, it is yours to keep if the owner is not near by.  In addition, if you hit one of these animals, it is the animal owners’ fault, and that person is responsible for making repair payments. 
Goats in the road
Cows in the road

Another interesting aspect of driving in Uganda is the police checks.  Police set up checks on the side of the road where they flag drivers down and are supposedly checking for too many people in the car, drivers’ licenses, and illegal goods.  But as we have been told, most times the police will let you go without trouble as long as you pay them off.  In fact, every vehicle that is stopped at a police check (which is all vehicles including cars, taxis, bodas, trucks, etc.), pays a fee.  The fees vary depending on how big your car is.  Interestingly so, we do not have to pay when stopped by the police.  In fact, as soon as the police approach our car and see that there are white people in it, they wave us away quickly.  This is because, as we have been told, the police officers fear us.  Which is ironic, because we fear them. 

Related to these police checks then are the signals that drivers use.  Drivers like to warn other drivers when a police check is near.  So as cars pass they will flash their bights at your car, which means “Where are the police?”  Then our driver will respond with different hand signals.  If he points straight down that means that the police are very close.  If he claps his hand closed that means it’s clear.  They also incorporate other little signals that signal more specific locations, like doing the worm with his arm means over the hills and so on.  And we have seen how effective these signals can be.  Because we always get to pass through police checkpoints, we always seem to be the ones warning people when the police are coming.  Once they get the signal that the police are very close, the cars will pull over on the side of the road and let all of their people out of the car.  We have seen almost 20 cars lined up unloading people before a police checkpoint.  All that anyone says about it here is that the police are corrupt, but there is nothing they can do. 

Besides police checks there are also truck weigh stations set up.  At these weigh stations the tucks are checked to make sure they are under the weight limit and they are also checked for the good that they are carrying.  These weigh stations seem necessary as we have seen about 4 trucks that have turned over or caused accidents/fires due to being overloaded. 



Transportation: People move from place to place in various ways here.  Lots of people walk, and they walk very far distances.  And when they walk they are always carrying something, be it on their backs, their heads, or in their arms.  A lot of people also use the Boda-bodas, which as I have mentioned are little motorcycles that are used like taxis.  The motorcycles are probably made for one or two people but I have seen as many as five people on one.  A lot of people also ride bikes.  Bikes are also used as taxis.  Some bikes have an extra seat on the back where people can sit and ride.  Other biker-taxis I have seen let the passenger sit on the seat and the biker just stands and pedals-hard work!  Bikes and Boda-bodas are also used to transport goods.  You will see piles of sticks loaded up on them, sugarcane, matoke, lumber, jerrycans and so on piled up on the back.  There are also taxis (or what we would think of as a city bus) that are called matatoos that are like mini busses/vans that run certain routes.  There are also people driving just regular cars that they use as taxis. These are usually jam-packed with people and goods, and are always riding just inches off the ground because of all the weight.  People pile in the backs of pick up trucks as well and ride from place to place-even on the roads where they are going 120km/hr.  People will pile onto just about any moving vehicle in fact.  You even see people piled up in the large trucks that are comparable to semis here.  And apparently, it is legal.
A woman carrying bananas on her head

People walking from place to place

Apparently this is legal

This is a matatoo (a broken one)

Bikes loaded up with matoke

Bike loaded up with pineapple

Kasese Day


At the Rwenzori Craft Shop! Look at the beautiful fabrics!

Today Katie and I went into town for one of the last times just to wander around a bit.  We stopped in at our favorite craft store-Rwenzori Arts, Crafts, and Tailoring, and bought the last of our gifts.  Then we went to two more craft stores-one we just found for the first time today!  After doing some shopping we had lunch at White House.  We had a nice lunch with 2 rolex, 1 order of vegetable curry, and 2 sodas all for $5.40 (U.S.) so just under $3 each.  We even came home with enough leftovers for lunch for tomorrow.  Finally, we went to the Market to buy a few things to get us through to Monday when we will probably stop again after school. 


Having lunch at White House

Our walk to town

What I look at every day
I spent the rest of the day Skyping with Nick throughout the day, and also made calls to my Mom, Grams, and the cabin-Dad, Derek, UJ, and Grandpa.  

Tying up loose ends!


Katie stayed home from school today so she could rest and get better.  I went to school just for the morning again.  I did a morning meeting with my students and then I had them work on finishing up some of their work from the rest of the week.  All of the students needed to finish their letter to the students in America and draw pictures, some students had to finish up their math work from Monday, and others had to finish their drawings/pictures from earlier in the week.  I also had my students and Katie’s students sign a card for Katie.  Whenever anyone here knows that you are sick or you are paining, they say “Sorry,” so that’s what I wrote on the cards.  All in all, it was a nice, relaxing morning with the kids.

Evan with the card we made!
I left after I taught this lesson, as no more learning would be taking place for the day.  From 11 to 1 the teachers were going to meet and discuss the midterm exams.  Unfortunately, I was told the meeting would be in Lukunzo, so it would be hard for me to get much out of it.  It would have definitely been an interesting experience, had I been able to understand what everyone had to say.  I did spend a lot of time as the midterms were taking place talking with my teacher and Katie’s as well as talking with King James, so I felt good knowing that I had some information on the exams.  And then after the meeting was over, the students would be having a netball tournament the rest of the afternoon.  And it wasn’t terrible that I went home, as I think I am coming down with a bit of a cold here. 

10/18


Today was a shortened day for Katie and I.  Katie ended up getting a skin infection that caused her to spike a fever Thursday morning, but our plan was to go to school and teach our two lessons and then maybe leave a little early so she could rest.  When we arrived at school Enoch, our supervisor was there, and when we told him our plan, he insisted we teach one lesson and then head back to Kasese with him afterwards.  So Katie and I taught our English lesson together.  We wanted to follow up with the students from their writing that they did on Monday, and we wanted them to extend their creative writing.  So this time, we gave each pair of students their very own book that we put together.  Once again the students had a picture on their first page, and we wanted the students to work towards writing a story about the animal-the first time we did it, the kids wrote facts about the animal and gave it an identity rather than develop an entire story.  Katie and I once again demonstrated how the students should work with their partners.  We showed the brainstorming process of what we wanted our story to be about.  Then we demonstrated again the writing process of taking turns writing, helping each other sound out the words, checking for capital letters and punctuation, and so on.  We once again stressed to the students that we wanted them to use inventive spelling when they write.  And this was something we also demonstrated in our writing.  This was something that both Zippora and Enoch questioned-why would we spell words incorrectly in front of the students?  We explained that our reasoning behind inventive spelling is because we have found that so often the students here are restricted by what they will write, because they are so concerned about the spelling.  Our focus for the lesson; however, was not on spelling but rather on creativity and writing a story. 
Sitting with Kato and Johnathan talking about their writing

The lesson went very well.  The students continued to work well with their partners and with practicing inventive spelling.  I should note that we have paired the students from the beginning based on ability level.  We have paired our highest readers and or writers with our lowest readers and or writers.  This way, the students can help each other.  And, the students have been working with their same partners from the very first day of buddy reading up to now with some minor changes here and there.  Both of these decisions we made have worked well.  The students came up with some very clever and funny stories.  Katie and I plan to go through their stories and ask questions throughout so that the students can extend their ideas and thinking and add more to their stories. 

Enoch seemed to really enjoy the lesson, as he encouraged Zippora to continue to do lessons like this one even after we leave.  Enoch also had very positive comments for us and thought that Katie and I worked really together.  He was impressed with our ability to manage all the students at once, and provide a lesson that kept every student fully engaged.

We came home from school early and rested, as we were both quite tired after last nights’ adventures.  As the afternoon went on, Katie felt her infection was getting worse and decided she wanted to go to a clinic to get some anti-biotics.  Although it wasn’t something we necessarily wanted to do, it was an interesting experience visiting a clinic here.  We packed up all of our own sterile supplies that we brought with us and headed out.  When we got to the clinic, Katie had to fill out a name card with very minimal information and minutes later the doctor was ready to see her.  We spent about 3 minutes in his office as Katie explained what her infection was and what anti-biotic she needed (Katie had talked with some nurses and doctors before we set off for the clinic).  He said, “okay” and wrote her a prescription.  We went back to the counter and she was given her anti-biotic and she paid her bill.  The entire visit cost about $3o (U.S.) without insurance obviously-not too bad! 

10/17


Katie and I woke up in the middle of the night to our shower running in the bathroom, YEA! Our water is finally back. 

Evan on one of the motorcycles before going to the doctor
When I got to school today, Pamela informed me that she would be gone the rest of the day.  She was taking Evan to the doctor for what I think was a check-up-type appointment.  Initially, I was a little upset that Pamela would be leaving the rest of the day.  The relationships that Katie and I have developed with our cooperating teachers are much different than we expected.  We by no means expected the relationships to be the same as ones we have had in the past, because we learned very early on in this experience that it is not fair to make comparisons because it is just too different.  But with that said, the relationships have been rather difficult to establish here.  Our teachers are almost never in the classroom when we are teaching.  And it was made very clear to us before we left, and even upon our arrival here, that the purpose for our work here is to exchange ideas about teaching and learning.  But it is very difficult to exchange ideas when you are not even present.  I honestly cannot think of one lesson where my cooperating teacher or Katie’s (since they both teach in my classroom), has sat through the entire lesson, unless our supervisor Enoch was present.  Because of this, Katie and I have done a lot of team-teaching and even helping one another out when we needed an extra set of hands.  So in this sense, the experience has been wonderful for practicing team teaching with Katie, but I have not had the opportunity to do so with the teachers here. 

Back to Pamela leaving for the day.  I also struggled with this because I completely understand the need for Evan to see a doctor.  And I understand that it is probably something she has to do during the week, which means missing school.  But what frustrated me was the fact that there was no one to take over for Pamela.  I know there aren’t substitute teachers here, but there are other options.  The head teacher does not have a class that he is assigned to, and there is another teacher who floats around in the upper classes that I would like to think could help out too.  All I could think was what if I weren’t here?  Then who would be teaching the students?  It saddens me that the reality is it would probably be no one. 

Emmanuel and Lovick testing out the balance
Anyways, with Pamela out, this meant I now had 4 lessons to teach rather than the 2 that I normally teach.  I started with the lessons I planned, math and English.  In math we started looking at weight.  We looked at some examples in class and compared their weight using the vocabulary of heavier and lighter.  Then I took the class outside and we used the seesaw that they have on their “playground.”  This was so fun!  We picked two students at a time, made predictions about who was heavier and who was lighter, and then tested it out.  The kids thought it was hilarious.  We then tried two kids on each side.  Not only was it fun, but it was a great way for the students to just practice using the vocabulary, which is especially important as they are English Language Learners. 

For English I took the class outside and we sat under a tree to do our morning meeting.  I kept the class outside for the first part of the lesson on requests as well. 

With one of my extra periods I did a read-aloud.  I read a book about gorillas and then talked about it with the students after and checked for comprehension.  Then I gave each student a piece of plain white paper and just told them they could draw.  They LOVE to draw, and rarely get the opportunity to do so.  They were so excited. 

Emmanuel's gorilla inspired by the read-aloud
With my other extra period, I asked the students to write letters to students in the United States.  Before we began writing I had the students brainstorm questions they wanted to ask students in America.  The questions were great!  Then I set them off to work in partners and write.  Because I only had an hour period, I wasn’t really able to teach them about letter writing and give them a proper lesson on it.  This meant that the letters did not have great form, but what was most important was that it got them writing and asking the questions they had.  I hope to have some of my students in the United States respond to these letters. 

Some of the questions my students came up with

Questions for students in America

Ruth and Winnie working on their letter
When we got home our power was off again.  This is becoming all too familiar to us.  It seems that almost every day now the power goes out and stays out for a few hours.  It goes out any time it rains here, and since October is in the rainy season, we have had rain just about every day and therefore, no power.  The power outage was just the beginning of our sleepless night.  Katie and I were both trying to fall asleep but just could not stop sweating.  So we decided to open our window (it still had a screen on it).  This helped a bit and we were back to trying to fall asleep.  Just a few minutes after opening the window Katie and I could hear something rustling through our things.  We knew exactly what it was, a cockroach.  So with our headlights and lanterns we tried to kill the thing.  It wasn’t easy, as he was flying all over our room.  Yes, cockroaches fly.  And it didn’t help that the lights were out.  After we killed him, we were convinced there were more cockroaches in our room so we stayed on guard for another 15 minutes and ended up killing two more.  And now you expect me to just crawl into bed and fall asleep? Yea, right.  Minutes later we had more company.  Our neighbor was having an intense prayer session where he was singing, yelling, and talking with God.  He was clearly very passionate about his prayer as he was extremely loud and the praying lasted for a good half hour.  At this point I accepted the fact that I was not going to get much sleep tonight.  

10/16


We woke up this morning and the water was still off.

In English today I went over the mid-term with the students.  The review seemed to go well, and the students were better able to answer the follow-up questions I gave them.  I just wish I could have been teaching them all the things that were on the mid-term so they were more prepared, but I am just teaching what I have been told to from the curriculum book. 

Before I started my math lesson we went over one of the questions on the exam.  I plan to go over one question each day for the rest of my time here instead of going over all of it at one time.  Today I reviewed counting by twos, by doing a count on the board and then playing buzz.  In math today we started learning about capacity-more specifically as the textbook suggests, what can hold more.  The kids and I had some fun with this as I had the students hypothesize by looking at two containers, which would hold more, and then actually testing it.  They loved getting out of their seats and counting with me and recording what we found.  After doing a few real life examples, the students worked on the exercise that went along with the lesson from their book, and ALL the students were able to answer ALL the questions!  I was pleased.  The real life examples definitely assisted their understanding. 
Daphine measuring how much water the pitcher holds

We came home tonight and the water was still off!  We were prepared though because we brought 2 jerrycans home from school since they still had water.  So it looks like it’s going to be another night with a cold shower! 

There's no water?

An example of the exercise I had the students do

In math today I continued with a lesson I was supposed to teach a while ago (before unexpected days off), on measurement.  The focus for the lesson was for the students to use the words longer/shorter and taller/shorter correctly.  The first day I taught this it went well, but was harder than I anticipated because within the math lesson it was also an English lesson for the students.  One teaching strategy I have found that works well with my students to help them with English in math is using actions.  So I started my lesson by reviewing the actions we had made up to go with the words, and then we reviewed the language of talking about things longer, shorter, and taller.  Then we lined up (shortest to tallest of course!) to go outside.  We did a walk around the school stopping at various points and asking the students to point out things around the school using the words taller, shorter, and longer.  ALL of my students were excited to participate.  What’s more, is I had them come back in the classroom and complete an exercise related to the activity and their creativity shined through-something that is very difficult to achieve because they are so used to copying.  Most times when I ask the students to come up with their own examples, the students all copy mine.  But this time, they had all sorts of interesting ideas that they got from our walk!  I was thrilled.  Not only this, but the students enjoyed the exercise.  Several of them even insisted on staying inside to finish their work during break time.
Godwin (P2) and Jostus (P1) working on their story

Some of our boys working on their story
And English today went equally well.  Katie and I brought P1 and P2 together again.  After trying buddy reading a couple times we wanted to try doing some partner writing.  Not only did we want them to do partner writing, but also we wanted the writing to be creative, two things completely unfamiliar to them.  Katie and I knew this would require a lot of guidance.  So Katie and I did a lesson before we set them off to write pretending that her and I were partners who were going to write together.  We had a blast.  We were up there being silly, goofing, around and just having fun.  In turn, the students were laughing and were completely engaged.  We ended up writing a story about 2 rats that were named (thanks to the kids), Katie and Danielle.  As we were writing we talked about capital letters and periods (or full stops as they call it here).  We also stressed that we wanted the students to practice sounding out the spelling of words on their own-something so far from what they are used to.  This would be the biggest challenge for the students, relying on their partners rather than the teachers. .  After we finished modeling how to work together as partners, by taking turns writing and helping one another spell words and generate ideas, we set the students off to work.  We gave each pair a piece of paper (which was special in and of itself-it really is the little things that make the students here happy) with a sticker on it.  We asked the students to write a story about the animal sticker they had.  We gave them a few talking points and left the rest up to them.  The stories turned out wonderfully.  We were completely surprised and impressed by their work and creativity.  Not only did they do great work, but they also enjoyed doing it.  Several students asked to do another one, and all students were writing and helping their partners the entire lesson.  Katie and I put all the stories between two pieces of construction paper and made a P1 and P2 Animal Book. 

The book!
During games time the kids insisted we play Lion and Kob again-a game we taught them from the week before.  And then Katie and I helped Doreen and her Mom open up some of the beans they had pulled from the garden that day.  As a “thank-you” Doreen gave us some of her beans that we had for dinner that night!


Evan sitting in the book box
About to take my shower with the jerrycan

After school we did our usual shopping that we do every Monday at the market and supermarket, then we came home and did a yoga video, and had dinner.  After dinner Katie was about mid-way through her shower when she yelled to me that the water had turned off.  I went and asked Doreen and she told me the water was being shut off for everyone in town for some unknown reason.  I was a bit concerned because I was completely sweaty from the workout we did and definitely needed a shower if not that night then the next morning.  But because the water was out everywhere, we couldn’t even have some jerrycans filled up with water.  Luckily, the neighbors (some of Doreen’s family) had an extra jerrycan that they let us use.  So I was able to get a cold, jerrycan/basin shower in.  To keep in typical Ugandan fashion, we lost power and Internet as the evening went on.  So for a while we were out of power, Internet, and water.