We finished our first week of teaching in the new and luxurious classrooms...the kids are so happy to be in the larger space and it is much more comfortable. We are having to get used to having the kids at tables rather than desks but the tables give them much more room for all their stuff and they cannot be tipped over....not so with the desks. Mama Jane's punishment for tipping over your desk was a hit on the head with my shoe....very effective!
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We actually got a trash bucket for our new classroom...our new motto is "In Pre-Form One English, we put trash in the trash bucket". A new concept for these kids. They are used to throwing trash on the floor, on the road, or out the window. This is the common practice for everyone. They are good to humor me on this point.
We began our unit on sustainable farming practices and were able to do some good illustrations of erosion right in front of our building. I discovered a field of maize planted on a hillside [on the way to buy beer :)] so we took a short field trip....with 40 students it was a challenge ....the kids looked around and got some info on the field and the crop - Sean took a photo and we will take photos of the field over the next several weeks as the rains begin to see the impact of the rains on the hillside. Of course we also encountered goat poop which was truly the highlight of the trip. 13 and 14 year olds are really the same the world over - poop never disappoints!
It is hard to believe our time here is already half over. It feels at once as if I have been here forever [when I am missing my family and a nice bag of cheetos] and then again as if I have just arrived. It feels like we have accomplished so little and then again when I read some of the letters the students wrote today, it reminds me how far they have come. The next few weeks will be challenging for themand for us as we try to tie together many of the concepts they have been learning to make a useful pattern for them to use.
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