Week Update

A whole week without a blog. Hmmm...

Well this week was not too eventful. Last weekend I relaxed and the week was filled with classes and meetings.

This week was the last week of the term to teach new materials. Next week is review and then we have the end term exams. I was doing some experimenting this week, and trying to give the kids a chance to be more creative with their assignments. What I learned? The kids here have a lot of trouble with creativity. I don't think it is something that is emphasized at all, and the kids were really weak in coming up with their own ideas. Some tried, but most relied on copying the examples I had given them rather than coming up with their own material. Enabling creativity is important as a life skill if we expect these kids to grow and come up with new ideas to tackle the problems of their communities. If they only work with what is given to them, how can we expect innovative positive change? Not to say they they have no creativity at all, but I think that it is something that needs more focus and nourishment.

Tied to this is another thing I have noticed. The kids here NEVER ask questions. I know kids in Canada always ask their parents and teachers lots of questions. "Why is the sky blue?" "Where do the birds go when they fly away?" But the kids here never ask questions. I mentioned this to someone and they agreed, saying that that's just not how the kids think. But I say we learn better when we ask the tough questions. So my tough question is, is this a cultural phenomenon, or a result of the teaching style? And is this a bad thing?

On Thursday I had a very busy day. One of the teachers had to take her child to the doctor, so the Class Three teacher filled in and I was left with Class Three. The classes that were scheduled? Kiswahili and Christian Religious Education. Hahahaha. So what did I teach them? Music and dancing! Haha. I taught them to read simple rhythms and clap them out. Some kids thought that this was really cool, while others obviously did not care. Then I took them outside and taught them some line dancing, which they had never seen before. Back in class for Math, I thought it would be fun to quiz them on multiplication tables with a game.... until they started cheating. I had to stop the game and make them all write out times tables instead. I am getting tough! In the afternoon I had science with class four and then it was time for Puzzles after school. I did a crossword with them, then a more complicated logic puzzle with three variables (I did it and had them follow along) and then we looked at some optical illusions, which the kids had also never seen and really liked. So I ended up teaching for the entire day and was totally pooped!

Friday was a lot of fun though. We had Sports Day! So we took all the kids to a field close to the school had had a day full of games. We started with football (soccer) and then I taught them Simon Says and Freeze Tag. Then we had a lunch break (bread and juice) and I led the older kids in some relay races, which they had never done before. I think they enjoyed it, though I had to stop them several times for fighting about the order of the line. Another thing to work on - teamwork skills. Then everyone was exhausted and we took the kids home. I managed to drink 1.5 L of water in about 15 minutes.

Yesterday (Saturday) was pretty mellow. In the evening I met up with a few of the AIESECers to hang out for a while. I started reading "A short history of progress" which so far is quite good.

I realized the other day I have only three and a half weeks left! I still haven't been to Mombasa or Lamu so I will have to make some plans for next weekend for sure. Now I am in the process of making decisions about what to do next. I am looking into a few options. Should I stay? Should I go home? Should I travel? Hopefully in another week I will have a clearer picture.

On the strategic planning front, things are moving slowly. We are asking the teachers for their ideas and suggestions and they are being rather slow about it. Hopefully by the middle of next week we can start putting actual strategies into our strategic plan, haha. But we should be able to finished it before I go, which is the most important thing.

This last week I had many long chats with the three amigos about managing the school. Patrick asks me a lot of questions about relationship management and communications. It's really good experience for me to try to answer his questions because it makes me think about what I have learned and apply it to the case here. I have realized that I know a lot more than I thought!

I know this post is long already, but something I have been meaning to post for a long time:

Things I pass every day on my way to school:
- ducks
- geese
- cows
- goats
- chickens
- sheep
(There is one goose I see everyday that likes to chase me and skwak!)

Things you can buy on the side of the road I live on:
- Turkish furniture
- Warthogs sculpted out of metal
- Tombstones
- Vases that are two feet tall
- Nice patio furniture (really, it's very nice!)

And I do believe this post is now long enough for the entire week :)