This was my first full day of teaching at Damside. I again taught English, Maths, and Science 3 in the morning. As with any teaching situation, it is always nice to stay with one class for multiple days. I am starting to get a better feel for the kids, as well as the curriculum and how they have been taught to learn. Today I read to them from the first of the Magic Tree House books, brought with me from home. The normally chaotic class calmed completely – it was incredible! They really enjoyed hearing the story, as this is not a typical activity in Kenyan schools.
In the afternoon, I taught Science 2. Thus far, science has been the most difficult subject to teach. There is only one book, used by the teacher, so pictures have to be shown to the entire class. Also, the books are not ideal; they consist mostly of irrelevant chunks of text that have to be read aloud to the class. This is difficult due to the language barrier, as well as the difficulty students have focusing on someone talking, coupled with the general noise and chaos in the school.
Students are also rarely commended or rewarded for their work. In class 2, I wrote stars in students’ workbooks to indicate completion and correctness of their class work. The room erupted into chaos, as students began doing everything they could to get me to star their books again, including bringing me their books any time they copied something off of the board. Needless to say, I think I will be avoiding that tactic from now on!
