It is a shame I did not have time to write my last week's worth of blogs- as I am sure my blogs will now lack detail because I have been home for so long. However, Africa is just a daydream away...it's still as clear as daylight in my mind. I can still hear the children, I can feel the chill in the wind, I can see the rolling tea fields, I can feel the bumpy bus journeys!!!
Anyway, Tuesday was the Slum day. We got up for an early breakfast and had set off in the Mattatu at 7.30am promptly. I had chosen to go back to the Masai Mara school- simply because I know I would be able to teach alot there. It was FAB!! The head teacher showed us round the 3 (or 4) classrooms and explained what needed teaching in each. Both Sarah and I completely freaked out in one class where they were doing things I wouldn't expect children to learn until year 8!! So out Maths knowledge there was really put to the test!
Anyway, the class I had consisted of 3 wonderfully spirited children, which was such a shock after having to teach classes of 34 back at home! They were instantly glued to me, watching my every move, eager to hear what I was going to say or do. I began to teach and got straight into the full swing of things (I was glad I hadn't lost my touch!). I was teaching division and used as much visual stimuli as possible- which the 3 girls responded well to! They were incredibly bright and eager to learn. It was such a shame that I had limited direction from the headteacher who gave me an old looking exercise book for me to teach from. It hit me there and then how their teaching was very repetative and limited...they saw the page in the exercise book as their guide and did not divert away from it. I had to be spontaneous and imaginative in the end as the children knew every answer and the method like they had practically lived and breathed it all their lives! This is what also hit me- the teacher did not assess what the children knew, whether this was because this was not part of their training or that they chose not to do it, it didn't take me long to soon notice the maths i had been told to teach them was far too easy for them. However, during the summer holidays it was technically their revision time- so I continued to teach it but made it slightly more challenging. I also got the children up from their seats and used kineasthetic teaching tecniques to make it more stimulating and less like the parrot fashion the children were used to.
Playtime was wonderful and we asked to teach for even longer- and so we did! We played football with the children and I watched one of the other volunteers, Brian, talking and playing with the children. He was fantastic with them! He had sponsored Catherine, one of the older children at the Masai school, and so he was mainly there to meet with her family. After break time I taught English, which yet again the children knew like the back of their hands! I went through "In, Out, Under" words and sentences and much more but unfortunatley I can't recall the rest. Oh yes! Apostrophe's. I couldn't stand and teach the children english they could already perfectly do so I requested the headteacher's permission to teach them something more demanding. So I got to teach them how to use an apostrophe which was much more rewarding!!- I hope they remember the sayings I taught them and perhaps remember me? Because I think about the African children all the time!! Sarah found the experience harder as her class spoke no english. This is probably why I found my class more enjoyable because I was able to communicate with them. I wish I knew more swahili as I was very impressed how much english these tribal chidlren knew!
Sadly it was time to go but I was looking forward to my favourite meal of the week...the slum cafe!!!!! mmmmmmmmm!! Whilst waiting for the other volunteers to finish their work at the clinic, we walked down the main strip and looked at the stalls and the people. I had exactly the same thing as last week! Very satisfying! It took us almost 3 hours to get home because the traffic was so bad!! So we were all very tired when we got home. But had such a brilliant day!!
