Edited by Vikki Atkinson, Thursday, 24 Jan 2019, 11:19
I got my first mosquito bites Tuesday. Few worries about
malaria since I’m taking a prophylaxis, but just thought I’d say that one
hasn’t really ‘arrived’ until one begins to be eaten alive. I’m pretty sure the
first was in class that day, while starting my teaching of Journey to Jo’burg.
After putting the fear of G-d into my pupils
(classroom management makes everything go more smoothly), we were able to
commence our studies of the book using more active, student-centred approaches
than the pupils or teachers are accustomed to. With brand new paperbacks,
beautiful colours illustrating the cover, I asked the children to look at the
books and identify at least five items that they noticed about the books. One
class, considered slightly more advanced than another at the same year level,
identified obvious items from the cover, including the animals, people,
clotheslines, and the title. The class identified as not as strong was surprising
in their approach, giving much more substantive detail about items in the book
as well as on the book such as chapters, illustrations, and pages. Working as
groups, they had to explore the books and by the way that each class had done
it, they had never experienced this before, an assumption confirmed by teachers
who stated the pupils would rarely see a ‘new’ book, much less one meant to
entertain as well as educate. While some children had difficulties
understanding, they did manage the task well.
One thing I did ask them to do, and I’m sure I’ve made the
top crazy teachers list in Ghana for this one, is to smell the books. Brand
new, never been used, and they had ‘new book smell’, that glorious scent that
makes many of us high upon walking into a book store. While they did smell the
books as instructed, moving from senses of sight and touch to smell, they were
definitely confused about why a teacher would ask them to smell a book. I know
this may be one of the few times that they experience new book smell, but given
a general lack of book stores here, as well as limited literacy skills and
textbooks that don’t quite inspire avid reading, I can see why they haven’t
gained the passion for reading I would love for them to have, but at least they
have smelled a new book, even if they don’t understand why I deemed it
important to the learning experience. I warned the pupils that the smell would
go away soon, especially since two hundred of them are sharing one class set
over the coming month. Given my warning, I am going to keep an eye out for the
pupils who have taken up book sniffing as we proceed. It could happen.
In other news, I read some not terribly well-written, but
loaded with meaning, short paragraphs today while marking students’ exercise
booklets. In preparation for the content to come in Journey to Jo’burg, I asked students to answer one of two questions
posed: a) What do you think it might be like if you lived apart from your
parents? OR b) What is it like to live apart from your parents? Leaving aside
grammar, spelling, syntax, and more, once one reads into what the pupils are
writing, there is some serious meat in the work. One child said it would be
terrible to live apart from her mother because she couldn’t wish her a ‘Happy
mother’s day’, thanking her for giving birth to the child. Other children
pointed to the love of their parents and how they try to make sure they go to
school everyday so they can have better lives and become good people. For the
second question, I read about how children missed their parents desperately
because the people they live with, though relatives, are strangers to them in
many ways and that they must do too much work for them. Essentially, they are
saying, not in so any words, that they are exploited for a place to stay so
they may go to school in the city instead of in rural areas of Ghana. The
children living with parents showed fear of abuse, most likely due to the fact
that they see this all the time. I was warned of such conditions by teachers on
my previous visit, so the assumption isn’t entirely guesswork. Children identified,
in general, issues of joining street gangs and the potential for criminal
activity including robbery and prostitution. This is junior high school, folks.
The children did not know that this was an assessment to see
where they are with a variety of skills, but they showed me that there is a lot
to be taught in the coming weeks, and much more for the teachers to continue
with once I’m gone. The teachers did not know that children could accomplish so
much in one lesson. Hopefully, they will gain almost as much from this
experience as I.
I’m now on my journey, and it promises to get better and
better as the weeks progress. I can’t wait! (By the way, I’ve got yet another
mosquito bite this evening to accompany the earlier nibbles.)
You know you have arrived in Ghana when…
I got my first mosquito bites Tuesday. Few worries about malaria since I’m taking a prophylaxis, but just thought I’d say that one hasn’t really ‘arrived’ until one begins to be eaten alive. I’m pretty sure the first was in class that day, while starting my teaching of Journey to Jo’burg.
After putting the fear of G-d into my pupils (classroom management makes everything go more smoothly), we were able to commence our studies of the book using more active, student-centred approaches than the pupils or teachers are accustomed to. With brand new paperbacks, beautiful colours illustrating the cover, I asked the children to look at the books and identify at least five items that they noticed about the books. One class, considered slightly more advanced than another at the same year level, identified obvious items from the cover, including the animals, people, clotheslines, and the title. The class identified as not as strong was surprising in their approach, giving much more substantive detail about items in the book as well as on the book such as chapters, illustrations, and pages. Working as groups, they had to explore the books and by the way that each class had done it, they had never experienced this before, an assumption confirmed by teachers who stated the pupils would rarely see a ‘new’ book, much less one meant to entertain as well as educate. While some children had difficulties understanding, they did manage the task well.
One thing I did ask them to do, and I’m sure I’ve made the top crazy teachers list in Ghana for this one, is to smell the books. Brand new, never been used, and they had ‘new book smell’, that glorious scent that makes many of us high upon walking into a book store. While they did smell the books as instructed, moving from senses of sight and touch to smell, they were definitely confused about why a teacher would ask them to smell a book. I know this may be one of the few times that they experience new book smell, but given a general lack of book stores here, as well as limited literacy skills and textbooks that don’t quite inspire avid reading, I can see why they haven’t gained the passion for reading I would love for them to have, but at least they have smelled a new book, even if they don’t understand why I deemed it important to the learning experience. I warned the pupils that the smell would go away soon, especially since two hundred of them are sharing one class set over the coming month. Given my warning, I am going to keep an eye out for the pupils who have taken up book sniffing as we proceed. It could happen.
In other news, I read some not terribly well-written, but loaded with meaning, short paragraphs today while marking students’ exercise booklets. In preparation for the content to come in Journey to Jo’burg, I asked students to answer one of two questions posed: a) What do you think it might be like if you lived apart from your parents? OR b) What is it like to live apart from your parents? Leaving aside grammar, spelling, syntax, and more, once one reads into what the pupils are writing, there is some serious meat in the work. One child said it would be terrible to live apart from her mother because she couldn’t wish her a ‘Happy mother’s day’, thanking her for giving birth to the child. Other children pointed to the love of their parents and how they try to make sure they go to school everyday so they can have better lives and become good people. For the second question, I read about how children missed their parents desperately because the people they live with, though relatives, are strangers to them in many ways and that they must do too much work for them. Essentially, they are saying, not in so any words, that they are exploited for a place to stay so they may go to school in the city instead of in rural areas of Ghana. The children living with parents showed fear of abuse, most likely due to the fact that they see this all the time. I was warned of such conditions by teachers on my previous visit, so the assumption isn’t entirely guesswork. Children identified, in general, issues of joining street gangs and the potential for criminal activity including robbery and prostitution. This is junior high school, folks.
The children did not know that this was an assessment to see where they are with a variety of skills, but they showed me that there is a lot to be taught in the coming weeks, and much more for the teachers to continue with once I’m gone. The teachers did not know that children could accomplish so much in one lesson. Hopefully, they will gain almost as much from this experience as I.
I’m now on my journey, and it promises to get better and better as the weeks progress. I can’t wait! (By the way, I’ve got yet another mosquito bite this evening to accompany the earlier nibbles.)