Happy Easter from Uganda!

Neighbor's Easter Bunny Somehow Ended up in our Yard.

Happy Easter from Uganda! I hope everyone had a great day, whether you celebrate Easter or not. Today, I had a very nice time celebrating with friends of ours in the Village. Here is a brief summary of how the day has gone so far…

Having forgotten to set my alarm for a later time to wake up this morning I was up and restless at 6 a.m. I had some time to kill before our 9:30 departure for church so I hid some Easter eggs that we had decorated last night for the others to find when they woke up. Since that did not take long, I still had plenty of time with nothing to do. I remembered Kayla and the others talking about Easter baskets, so I grabbed some Tupperware, added some cut up colored paper to them, and threw a few gifts inside each. Then I cooked omelets and gravy for everyone. It was a nice way to pass the morning time and it seemed like they appreciated it, so I was happy for that.  The girls always joke around too and call me Dad because they feel I have dad like characteristics. This just fulfilled the stereotype.

So we left the house after the quick hunt for eggs (it was Doreen’s first time) and headed to the Village to meet with King James. Upon meeting him he showed us the site where they are planning to build a new church. They are making payments to the landowner, so it is being built in stages. They had just recently flattened the foundation. He was excited about a new place to worship, and he predicted we would be very surprised when we saw his current church.

After about a minute or two walk, we came upon King James’ church. I cannot express in words how beautiful I thought it was (the pics don’t do it justice either). Everything around was so green, the mountains rose into the skyline in the background, and the church itself was gorgeous in its own way. It was a small mud building with a tin roof. Inside there were chairs, plants hanging in the rafters, and small area in the front for the pastor. King James co-ran the service and did a lot of the translating from Luhkonzo to English or vice versa.  The sermon was great, but the singing, drumming, and dancing I found to be inspirational. Not to mention I am jealous about how so many kids can just jam on the local drums!

King James' Church

One thing that was amazing was the generosity and genuine care of church. They insisted that us Americans and Canadian stand to introduce ourselves. We felt very welcomed and felt so special being there. Then, at the end of the service, they again thanked us and slipped Frankie 5000 shillings to buy us all a soda to share. She accepted as not to make a seen, but we gave it back to King James outside to put towards the church. He was reluctant to accept. He told us that in their culture, even if you do not have much, visitors are highly respected. He said the 5000 shillings would not build a new church in itself, so he wanted us to take it as a cultural gift. We finally told him that their culture has already given us much, so we would rather it go to the church so we can come back to a place to visit. He accepted.

We were also warmly welcomed when we arrived at our next destination, Teacher Margaret’s church. This one was larger and made of cement. When we first walked in, there were men in the front selling chickens and other foods to the people inside. After the sales  we were again asked to introduce ourselves in the front, and were received kindly. It was also really great for me to visit this part of the village because I was able to see some of my students outside of school. One of my students, Dorris, introduced me to her grandparents and siblings. Her father also gave us a bag of potatoes for teaching in the Rwentutu community. This is another example of the cultural generosity that exists here. Rwentutu made me feel like it was our day and it was touching.

We then left and walked a short distance to Teacher Margaret’s home where we were served an excellent mean consisting of rice, matoke, chicken, beef, spinach, tapeoke, bananas, and homemade gravy. Unfortunately we left right after we ate because it started to rain. If the rain were to last, driving out of the village would be difficult. I also found out that one of my students was related to Teacher Margaret. I had no idea! So this too was nice because I was able to get a glimpse of how he lives and where he stays (and how far he must walk to school every day!).

One of my P4 Kiddos, Elton

Between Margaret’s church and the first one we visited, King James took us to show us a homemade bridge that was built about four years ago. It was inspiring to look at because of its back-story. He informed us that many women here die from pregnancy, so a while back a clinic was built not far from the village where we were. The problem was that anytime someone from this side of the village needed to go to the clinic they would have to cross the river with no bridge. As you might imagine, when the water is high it also moves very fast. Consequently, he told us that many women and lives have been lost to the river. So, the bridge was built and has eased the transport across the river, saving many lives.

Seeing things like the bridge that slightly bounced as you walked across, the homes built from mud and grass, or the many people digging in their fields throughout the day reminds me of how underdeveloped most people would say this place is. Though as a cultural outsider it is somewhat inspirational to see people living this way, I can’t help but think that the hardships that arise because of the living conditions are far more challenging than most of the challenges I have ever faced or will ever face. I am only a spectator here, and don’t get the full picture of what, for example, living in the village would be like. I never really understood the saying, “those are first world problems,” until recently. Some of the problems that stress me out back home seem just ridiculous here. The point is that it is inspirational to see how people get by here, and I wish I could just be of some service to every one of them. I struggle to even put my feelings into words at this moment. Thus I will move on and return to this topic in a later post.

Some Random Bridge Walkers

The Bridge. 

So, if you asked me how my day was I would tell you that it was filled with excitement, happiness, and love for the country I will be leaving in a few short days. It was an amazing opportunity to spend Easter Sunday in Uganda, and I feel truly privileged to have gotten to know the people I spent it with. To think that 5, 10, 15 years ago these people were getting along just like me, with no way of knowing we would one day meet and get to know each other. The fact that I have met them and have been a part of their lives for whatever reason is astonishing. It is the law of attraction. I feel I met them because they are truly good people, and I can’t imagine the others that will be brought into my life in a similar way in the future. Happy Easter all.  America, see you soon. 

One Week? Weak.

Morning Hike with Kayla

Since my last blog it seems as though not much has happened, yet each day just seems so eventful and meaningful here. This past school week was shortened because of Easter break, so we only had school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That meant that as we planned for the week’s lesson, we had to do so with the end of our time here in minds. In math, it pains me to leave because we are just getting rolling with our unit about operations. We are getting ready to move from multiplication into long division, and it is a horrible time to just say, “See ya!” Though it is not that way at all, that is almost what it feels like. I hadn’t anticipated the stress of leaving in the middle of a term to be this much of a bummer. I can’t tell you how it feels to be making progress with a group of students, and then just leave with the thought of never seeing them again. Really. Ouch.

Anyway, we are to the end of the unit in English too, which is not the greatest time to leave either, because I am trying to fit a review and test into the mix of break and the two days before we leave. I kind of threw out my lesson plans the past two days which pushed the end of unit date because we were working on letters that my class is sending back to the class I will work with in Madison. About a month ago, my cooperating teacher from Madison sent letters that some of his students wrote to my p4 students. So the past 4 classes of English we have dedicated part of the time to writers workshop, where the students were working on responding to those letter. It was fun because many of the kiddos were pumped to write to other students who were their age in U.S.A. Plus, this type of instruction or activity is not common in this curriculum. It was interesting to see them actually work through and have to edit during the writing process, a practice they are not accustomed to yet.   It will be equally interesting to see the students I will with at Frank Alis read them because it is not difficult to see cultural differences just in the way they write.

So yes, it has been very difficult planning the remaining classes we have to teach when we are just leaving right in the middle of things. That has probably been the biggest mental challenge I have face my entire time here. It is just difficult to cope with the fact that I may not see or even hear about these students again. I do not doubt that I will return to Rwentutu for a visit, however, when I do it will be a different experience all together.  As I plan for my final three classes here, I do so with many emotions running through my mind.

As suggested, Easter is upon us. From what I have seen and understand, the students that attend Rwentutu, their families, and the school celebrate the holiday with a certain commitment to their faith that is refreshing to see. On Wednesday before dismissal for break, the students and staff gathered in the freshly cleared and cleaned community hall of the school where an Easter celebration was held. The celebration included singing, drumming, dancing, and a sermon conducted by King James. It was such an amazing experience to listen to the music created by the school community, watch the dancing, witness commitment to faith bringing people to tears, and just being a part of the whole thing. It was truly inspirational and unforgettable. I am so excited to continue the celebrations and spend Easter in the village with King James and others on Sunday. I am expecting it to be a truly great and cultural experience, and I have a feeling my expectations will not disappoint.

Elton, Evan, and I at Easter Celebration

Let’s see, what else? Ah! So, as I entered my room for sleep last night I noticed a black flash of rodent streaking across the room.  I informed the others and Kayla quickly appeared to the scene of the crime with a broken tire pump ready to dismantle any critter that crossed her path. With Jess, Kayla, and Lauren standing outside my room, Kayla and I turned over my room looking for our furry friend. As a joke, I decided to throw a sock out the door at the others, which caused a bit of screaming, and panic. In the midst of the hallway chaos Lauren was convinced that she saw the unidentified rodent run out of the room and go under he r door into hers. I was hesitant to believe her because of the way it aligned with my prank, but we came to find that she was correct.

After Kayla found and scared the rodent out of Lauren’s room, it ran through the hallway, ducked in and out of muzungu feet (scaring the bejesus out of those that it passed), and dipped into the kitchen instead of out the back door. After making a few failed attempts to lead it into the direction of the back door, we realized that some of us were more afraid of the rodent than it was of us.  To make this long story short (yet less hilarious) Kayla, Doreen, and I ended up beating it to death in the kitchen with a plastic mop handle, an African broom, and a stick. I had less to do with the beating than Kayla and Doreen did, but I took a few whacks at him. It was a rat. This was my first encounter. Though a death is never something to laugh at, the process and events leading up to it was so funny. It’s one of those things where you would just have to be there to experience it as we saw it.

In other news, it was Samson’s 24^th birthday on Wednesday, so we went out to dinner to celebrate that evening. It was nice because we got to meet his brother Edson, and had the chance to talk with Samson a little more casually than normal. We also met him the following day at Spring’s international hotel for some lunch and poolside bro time. Today I did laundry, went back poolside and did some reading for a class, and now we are thinking about what to have for dinner. I will keep you all updated on any further events, activities, or insights.

To conclude my post, I have been having such a great time here and cannot believe I have to leave my students, school, and life for the past two months behind in just one week. I know that with a change will come new and positive experiences; however I am just not ready for this one to end. Not at all.

Kasese

Downtown Kasese

Shopping for Fabric at the Market

Stevo's Workshop

Me holding Jack fruit

Today is Sunday March 24^th 2013.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the day so far. I woke up and found out that my brother had won his hockey game in Spain, and he scored 4 goals with 3 assists. Nice job Char! I was happy to begin my day with hearing that news. Then I had a quick breakfast with plans to visit Doreen’s church at 9. Because of rain we waited about an hour to leave. As we waited Doreen and Maureen cut a Jack fruit  It was my first time taking it. You eat the parts that surrounds the seed. You almost have to peel it like a giant clump of string cheese. Kayla pointed out that it tastes like bubble gum. It really does. We left shortly after that and made it to church around 10:30 a.m. It was a wonderful experience.

Kayla eating Jackfruit

 Though I do not regularly attend church services, I was excited to see Doreen’s. The church itself was just a building that was probably about 30 x 90 ft. The structure had a tin roof and rough-sawn siding. Inside, there was a small cement stage at the front, and there were probably 8 rows of plastic yard chairs facing that direction. Besides that there was a podium, some speakers, and a keyboard. That is all that was needed for an unbelievably empowering church service.

The presentation of the service was personally inspiring for me. The pastor was energetic, and passionately preached the faith that he loved. With all due respect, the church services that I normally attend can at times be quite boring and rigidly structured. This seemed much less structured, though it felt and appeared to be very meaningful for all those present. The music was amazing (especially for me being a cultural outsider), the messages were clear, and the preachers hearts were into their sermons. It really seemed to be a mix between an intense (but positive) lecture, and a celebration of life. Generally, I have noticed that when people worship here, whether it be at chapel for school or church, you can really feel their dedication to their faiths. It is really amazing and empowering to see.

The one thing that truly made me happy was the relationship between the facility and the activity that took place within it. The churches I have attended in the past reflect huge amounts of money and resources. This place was simple, yet the physical structure was not at all what was important. It was the activity and worshiping that was taking place under the roof. The pastor was also nice enough to have us stand up and introduce ourselves. I sort of had a pre-conceived notion that it would be somewhat awkward attending because we would stand out so much, but that was not at all the case. We felt and were made to feel very comfortable.

Doreen's Church

The pastor told many stories and gave many examples that really encouraged the audience to think about their lives and their situations. One idea he kept stressing was that anything with a beginning has an end. Though he was using this statement in reference to negative situations and conditions improving, it was sentimental to me because I keep thinking about how it feels like this teaching opportunity in Uganda just started, but is already coming to an end. And this was exponentially more sentimental than normal due to the fact that I was at that moment having a great cultural experience that I would soon be apart from.  

Anyway, the point is that those moments and all opportunities do not last forever. But, I feel so lucky to be here and even have the opportunity to share such experiences with so many great people. One thing he did not mention was the fact that even though things come to an end, they still shape the person and have a lasting influence on them in some way. So whether the influential force is negative or positive, it is what the individual does with it that determines its affect. Though I do not immediately know how this journey will affect me in the long term, I know it will be positive because I have shaped it and will always remember and reflect on the amazing time I had here. I wouldn’t trade teaching at Rwentut for anything, and I am thrilled that I still have 6 days left in my classroom.

One final thing I wanted to point out was my personal perceptions of how related this type of sermon was to hip-hop and rap. If you have never rapped, played an instrument, etc, this may be difficult to understand, but to me, the sermon reminded me of rapping. When you freestyle rap, sometimes you are just really feeling it (right Steven?). The words come out smooth, and the presentation takes on its own form as you get more and more into your piece. When the ideas and flow of it all really connect, your body, movements, and overall composure reflects it as well. If those around you are also into it, it motivates you that much more to pick up steam. The pasture was basically on stage letting his flow take it in the direction it was headed, and the crowd was feeling it. Obviously he had a general outline, but the tune in his head just inspired him and consequently inspired his supporters.  It was intense, it was entertaining, and he obviously stood behind his lyrics, or sermon, or however you want to put it. This was just a personal connection I made with the service. 

That's Right

So, that was church. I am excited to attend on Easter Sunday as well. We will be visiting the village and going to King James’ place of worship. Oh, and on our walk home today we found my workshop! Well, that is all for now. Talk soon.

Just hanging with the boys at the workshop.

Challenges Anyone?

After receiving a message from one of my colleagues in the states, it occurred to me that I tend to talk about all the very positive experiences that I have, and tend to leave out the struggles I face in the classroom.  The person who wrote the letter said, “I’m finding teaching math to be a challenge, especially teaching the conceptual understanding of things, which you seem to be doing more successfully than me.” Well, do not be fooled my friend (Mary), my blog highlights mostly positive points. Yes, you are  right. Teaching the conceptual understanding of things is difficult for me to, I have just chosen to write about activities that worked and moments of success in my blog posts. So, this is probably a good time to highlight some of the many struggles and challenges I am facing as I continue learning about being a teacher. Let’s begin with conceptual vs. procedural knowledge.

Mary is right. It is difficult to promote the conceptual understanding of various mathematical concepts. Helping students to attain a conceptual understanding rather than simply possessing a procedural one is something that I have tried to focus on in my pre-service education. For me this focus includes (but is not at all limited to) hand’s on learning, using multiple visuals for teaching single concepts, and using mistakes as a catalyst for academic progress. Though I try to plan my lessons with these components in mind, I find it to instigate an internal battle within myself as I plan lessons, mostly due to the wretched inevitable and unstoppable driving force behind educational pressure…time.

Here is an example of what I mean. Here, in Uganda, we follow the Ugandan National Curriculum. Already, we had the midterm assessment and on that midterm were concepts that I was just a few days away from covering. The book that I am following for Primary Four is expected to be finished and taught by the end of term. The end of term test will basically cover every topic in the book. Thus, if I do not teach each topic in a timely manner, I fail the kids because they will fail the questions on the exam that they did not learn. However, if they can do the questions without really understanding why, say, multiplication works the way it does, how will they do later in higher level math classes and have I still failed them as an educator (does this sound like a familiar topic of controversy America?) ? More importantly, if I focus on planning a lesson that aims at teaching a topic with a conceptual focus, and the kiddos just aren’t getting it, have I wasted instructional time at the expense of a skill they will need to pass their exams? So you see, it is difficult to plan and teach while trying to accomplish various objectives. I know there are ways to find the best of both worlds, but I am still searching for it as a developing teacher.

On that same note, the lessons where I felt I had promoted a conceptual understanding of a topic may have really only spoke to a certain percentage of the class. Furthermore, sometimes those deep understandings fade without reinforcement. I have had it where I think a student has no problem with a concept after an informal assessment, and then when they are formally assessed I am taken back by my error in judgment. All in all, I think the lessons and activities I have been planning have been speaking to the students, but they are not without flaws and errors in instruction. This leads nicely into the next major challenge I have faced…assessment.

Assessing students has been difficult for me, partially because of personal disorganization, and another part due to the barrier between the language of my students and I. My students can write and speak in English, but it is much more academic than personal. When I speak with them casually, it seems much more difficult to communicate than when I speak with to them about understanding. If I ask them direct questions that is related to the content, if they are having difficulty they can at least pick up the patterns of the topic and communicate as if they are knowledgeable enough about the topic at hand.  Similarly, if I assess strictly based on written practice problems that were derived from skeleton structures, they will naturally seem to understand better than if they were creating their own sentences and such. This took longer than it should have for me to realize, and I found myself trying to play catch-up reviewing content.

Since that realization, I have planned much more application exercises rather than using skeleton structures, especially in English. For example, the directions for an exercise might be,” write ‘do’ or ‘does’ to complete the following sentences.” Students can pick up on this fast without really being able to apply their knowledge of the patterns to their own work. The first two weeks these were the types of practices I was giving, and I was like, “Yeah dude, I am rocking at this teaching bit!” Then when it came to applying, for example, their knowledge of “do” and “does” to constructing their own sentences, the assessments did not match up. Then I was like, “Dude, what was I thinking and what am I doing wrong.” To make an already long story not as long as it could be, assessment and addressing the results of those both individual and class assessments has been a big challenge. I feel that I am improving, but this is something I will definitely focus on as a learning objective for myself as I finish my students teaching and begin working in education.

More to come…for now I need to sleep. I am rambling.

Wasinja

Elton thought it would be funny to mimic me with a mud camera. It was.

Hello again friends. Today was just one of those feel good days in the classroom so I thought I would blog about it. Everything went smooth, we had a lot of fun. The day started off good with a hearty breakfast consisting of noodles, cabbage, potatoes, and onions. After arriving to school, my first lesson was math. I was to teach about word problems. I was a little worried about how the lesson would go because it was jam packed with activities for the hour, and it involved a lot of group work and moving around the class. I am excited to report that it went awesome!

We started the period with a brain teaser having to do with our class walking and getting lost. We were headed north, turned left, turned left, turned in the opposite direction, turned right, etc. The students had to figure out in what direction, as in N S E or W, we ran back to school. I had expected everyone to initially have different answers, which worked out perfectly. Then we broke the problem down a little and I gave them another minute to think about it with their partner. Again, I figured it would be narrowed down to two or three directions. Worked perfectly. Finally we finished breaking the problem down and actually walked in place, turning left, turning left, turning in the opposite direction, turning right, etc. It was an awesome way to lead into word problems.

The introduction took about ten minutes, so we really had to move to get through everything I wanted to. The body of the lesson consisted of explaining some strategies for problem solving, and including the kiddos in a few practice problems. I did not focus very much on the math. My main objective was to get them to begin thinking deeply about the questions, not just the answers. What is it asking? What is the important information? Etc. They can do the math if they are careful. The real problem solving lies with understanding what the problem is really asking. Later, when they are doing problems that require transition between operations, these skills will be critical to their success.

The final activity, which I was a bit nervous about turned out just as I wanted it too. Quickly, I moved the students outside the class, moved the desks into groups, hung my word problems on the wall by each cluster of desks, and invited them back in and sat them down. Instantly, they wanted to begin working without listening to directions. This was not an issue though, because I had come prepared with my secret weapon…the harmonica! As soon as I played a note, their heads flew around and all eyes were stuck on me. I gave them directions, and told them that when they heard the tune I started with, they would drop what they were doing and switch to the next station. At each station there were word problems accompanied by a manipulative or image related to the problem. They could work as a group to solve and document the problem. Though we stayed an extra few minutes into break, the kids loved it and they were completely engaged from the beginning to the end. The most memorable parts for me though were each time I played the tune. The kids literally dropped what they were doing, and were at the next station in a flash. Though it would have been considered chaotic in an American classroom the way they stampeded to each stations, it was so funny and so memorable.

Busy at work. Lovely!

This was a good lesson for me to reflect on the things that made it a positive.

1) I think it was well planned. Starting with a seemingly unrelated “math” activity was a great way to capture the attention of the learners. The body gave them the necessary information and practice to do addition word problems, and the activity allowed them to apply the strategies they learned and do so in a way that was challenging, active, cooperative, and fun. The students wanted to know what was next throughout most the lesson.

Which direction did they run back to school?

2) The visual aids helped bring most of the word problems to life. This was especially helpful for the students who struggled more with reading and problem solving. It simply made the student feel they were involved in something more than just solving boring word problems. To compliment this, each problem was relevant to them, and included references to their class.

Simple visual, but helpful.

3) I was excited for the lesson. Now that I teach regularly, it is not uncommon to notice how when am energized, so are the students. Presentation is important, and kids can sense when you are not into a lesson or concept. Furthermore, the simple addition of the harmonica and the mention of a little competition made it fun for them, but also encouraged them to get down to business when it came to solving the problems and following routine.

The only real criticism I have is I could have done one more example that aimed at tricking the students. Some of the problems were somewhat tricky and some of the students missed the answers because they didn’t pay close enough attention to what the question asked. Although, in my defense, I did warn them that people who write word problems are sometimes evil, and their goal is to trick math students all around the world!

That was math, I won’t go into English. We just had a workday (which was constructive and needed), and tomorrow they will read their letters from my future students in the U.S.A. Most of them are super excited for that, and writing back to them.

Though I didn’t realize it, today was the last day of chapel for us too, because next Thursday we don’t have school, and the following Thursday we are getting ready to board a plane. It was a lot of fun today though. I somehow acquired baby Evan during the song and dance portion of chapel, and hung with him the rest of the time. We danced a little, sat for a bit, and then moved off to the side so he could release some of his excess energy. We have grown to love Evan so much. Him and many other kiddos too. It is hard to believe that there is a likely chance that we will never see a lot of them again after our departure (though I don’t think this is the last time I will ever visit this place). So chapel was memorable and tomorrow will bring the end to another week teaching the children of Rwentutu.  

At least he waited till after chapel and peed on Lauren. Sorry Lauren.

That’s all for now. Oh yeah, check out this Jack fruit that Samson is carrying (that rode with us from school behind the back seat next to a live chicken). Pretty cool. 

Samson carrying the giant Jack fruit.

Assessment

My last full week of student teaching in Uganda is moving right along (I can’t believe that I am even saying something that insinuates this experience will soon cease to be). Next week will be a shortened week because of Easter, and sadly, the following school week will come to an abrupt ending when we leave school on Wednesday, because the following morning we drive to Kampala for our teary eyed departure.

So yes, the week is moving right along. Actually the start of the week was somewhat (in-the-moment) stressful for me. On Monday my P4 class took their unit test for mathematics, and on Tuesday I was still dealing with the residuals. I wrote a poor test, and it took the kids too long to copy it down and complete it. Not to mention there were six kiddos out of class that day. To make matters worse, the problems that were completed were not looking too hot from my end. Then, in English, during our review I realized how badly they needed a review, so I ended up chucking my lesson and reviewing the entire time. Thus, for Tuesday, I had to figure out how to deal with math, and move ahead with English. I had a moment of internal panic that day and tried to figure out where I had failed as a teacher. I came to the conclusion that I had not failed, but I have been slacking on my assessment practices. It can be very frustrating when your vision for how your class will perform on an assessment does not match their actual work. It is so difficult to just move along when half the class still needs to develop their skills in a specific area.

So we did an overall review on Tuesday for math. The students who were absent got a separate test, and the ones who were present were asked to do test corrections. English went fine, and King James actually sat in my class to do a teacher assessment. This was both helpful and interesting because I got the chance to see how the teachers at Rwentutu were assessed. There were many similarities between teacher evaluations I am familiar with, but there were differences too. The lesson was basic—review, a reading/writing session, and a full group synthesis.

The categories for the assessment included: teacher preparation, pupil related records, use of classroom/resources, and general issues. Each category also had subcategories. Each then received a number based on teacher performance. By the end of the assessment the teacher actually gets a score out of 100. I was assessed positive, and the scores I received marks off for were because of issues that were a result of different cultures, or responsibilities I was not aware of. For example, for each subject a teacher is expected to have a scheme of work, which is like a skeleton of lesson plan topics for the term. Obviously, I did not have a scheme of work. Also, teachers should keep a class register of the number of boys and girls present for each class. I did not have that either for the specific class period. His positive comments were related to flow of content, involving learners, tending to individual learners, and my general rapport with the class. Having been assessed based on the Kasese District’s methods of classroom management (having schemes of work and such) my score was 88/100.

I am excited for the next few days of English. I have planned to split the class periods into two—one 35 minute English lesson, and one 25 minute writer’s workshop. So today (Wednesday) was the first day we started this. The class I will be returning to in a few weeks has written letters to my general class here in Uganda. So I have told my students about it and they are excited to write back. For the last 25 minutes today, we did some small group brainstorming about what we would want children from another country to know about us, and what we would want to know about them. Tomorrow we will read the letters and make lists about what we might want to write back. We will do first drafts on Monday, Tuesday we will revise, and Wednesday we will do our final drafts. This is the tentative plan. I can’t wait to see how they turn out!

So there was the mid-week update. In other news:

-My room still smells a bit like a cow with the drum sitting in the corner, but I have gotten over my buyer’s remorse.

-I did a reading intervention with one of my students today in the place of Jess, who was working with another student at the same time. She works so well with individual learners. I think she will do phenomenal work in the field of special education.

-We got our official Rwentutu uniform sweatshirts yesterday. They are pretty sweet but they are also pretty TIGHT. That’s okay though. It will just look more muscular than I already do…..joke.

-We love Chipati

Meetings, Money, and Mines

Joy, Rajob, and Dianna looking smart.

Well the week is through. Not much has happened since our my last post, but we did have our teacher meeting on Friday. Throughout the meeting we discussed topics such as discipline, pooridge and sugar distribution, payment plans for teachers’ children, the financial issues regarding students not paying school fees, testing, and other topics of interest. It was a great meeting to be a part of because of the issues that were discussed that would have escaped the agenda at an American public school.

              

  It seems one of the biggest burdens faced by the school is monetary resources. The income that the school uses comes from the school fees paid by the children’s families. If the families don’t pay, they essentially have no money to operate on. When discussing how fees are mostly paid ahead of time where we are from, it was noted that if Rwentut required upfront payment of school fees they would have no students. The school has been consistently encouraging the children to ask their parents for full or partial payment, but they are still lacking a majority of the funds due. They were  going to start sending non paid students away last week, but they wanted them to at least take the tests in hopes that they would have their tests completed when they brought the payment and returned to school. Apparently on Tuesday they will send away children who have not paid three quarters of their school funds. It is hard because it is not like the staff wants to send them away, but they cannot afford to feed them when the school runs at such a deficit.

               

  Another interesting topic brought up at the meeting was discipline. Wilson (the headmaster) said he was disappointed that he was aware of caning that was still taking place. He informed the staff that the best steps to take for disciplining students are: 1) guidance and counseling, and 2) assigning the student physical labor. There was a short conversation about how discipline should look, and Wilson asked for additional comments on the issue. A bit nervous about how they would respond, I offered a suggestion about also using positive reinforcement as a means of achieving positive behavior. As I somewhat imagined, my suggestion received laughs from around the room. They were not at all making fun of me, but that idea was just a bit foreign to them. I was comfortable with the laughter, and told them it sounds silly, but, from my experience, can have positive effects on behavior. The attitude of discipline here is different than in U.S. schools. Even Dr. Gllian told us when we first arrived that sometimes verbal reprimands or taking away a privilege just seems like a silly punishment to the students. And I have not seen caning taking place, but I am aware that schools still do it. From all the people I have talked to about it, it just seems to be a cultural difference that many find acceptable here. I could not imagine doing or seeing it, but children are canned and apparently respond to it.   

After the discipline conversation, Wilson also thanked Doreka, who is Doreen’s Aunt, for taking care of the spiritual affairs at the school. He suggested that the good discipline seen at the school is related to the spiritual welfare that exists here. I have not talked very much about the religious components to Rwentutu, but it does help make the school a very positive place. The school has time set aside for religious education, we have chapel under the tree on Thursdays, and the students and staff take their religions seriously. This does well to promote positive values within the student body, and chapel is one of the greatest things I have experienced here at Rwentutu, and in Uganda. The first 20 minutes to a half hour consists of the students gathered under the tree. There are drums holding the background beat, the older female students lead the songs, and the rest of the students sing and dance. The vibes are so extremely positive, and the children just amaze me with the way they participate in this student guided worship. It is truly amazing and inspiring. I think this, and the other aspects of religious education here do influence the students positively.

King James had some good things to say at the meeting too. He was very positive about thanking all the teachers for hard their hard work. He noted that by leaving the schools they were at for Rwentutu, we have all taken something away from one school, but added to ours. He also commented on the commitment of the teachers, the grading of the students, and the need for teachers to give homework. He said that learning needs to continue at home, and academics must remain the nucleus of their lives. He referred to the intentional structuring of constant learning as the “hidden curriculum.” That is not what the term meant to me, but it made sense. Once again, King James is a very thoughtful educator. Rwentutu is lucky to have him.

The meeting lasted a little over two hours and we were invited to eat lunch with the staff afterwards (we normally pack lunches). We ate matoke, goat, beans, and rice.

Fort Portal: The Cleanest Town in Uganda

Now it is Sunday. This weekend we went to Fort Portal with Enoch and had a really nice time having some lunch and doing some shopping. Lunch was very exciting because we got to have pizza! We cannot get pizza in Kasese, and already tried to make it once with no oven. So we got some pizza, and it was the first time I tried anchovies. It will not be the last.

Frankie and Kayla Excited for some Pizza

So everything went great until we got home and found out I paid over 200% more than what I should have on a drum that I bought. Shopping makes me very stressed and for some crazy reason gives me horrible anxiety, so it was a big deal that I made a big purchase. We were all pretty proud of me. But later when Doreen informed me how much I overpaid I felt sick! I think I will be okay though. I am making a slow recovery, and feel a little better than I did yesterday.I can't stop thinking about it though because now my room kind smells like a cow.

Today we went with Ben and Mark, two younger boys who knew the last  few groups of UW students to the Kilembe Mines. They were used primarily to mine copper, and they have been mostly abandoned since 1979. It was only about fifteen minutes away, but the drive into the mountains was absolutely beautiful. We had not driven that way before. We went for two short hikes before taking a tour of the mines. We would have seen one more of the sights, but we were told we could not hike down a trail to a bridge overlook without paying. This was of course a lie. There are people here that see Mazungu and think money. As Ben and Mark put it, “They wanted to steal you (meaning steal from us).”  So we said forget it and left.  It was a great day, and now I need to plan for the week. My unit test for math is tomorrow (exciting!), and we start our new unit on Tuesday. I want to begin the new unit well, so I have a lot of work to do to be sure the start is engaging. 

Testing Testing!

Today is Wednesday and our school schedule turned normal again. For the past two days the students have been testing. The tests that our students take are much like the standardized tests taken in the states. One difference is the tests my students took won’t be sent to the district. Only government schools are required to do so. Also, the tests taken by government schools are comparable to the ones our students took, but they are put out by a different company.

Rwentutu uses the tests to monitor student improvement. The students will take another test at the end of the term. The staff then will then analyze the student performance on the final assessments alongside the midterm assessments. This will help determine whether a student advances or not.

The big difference in the standardized testing that was evident had to do with not the test itself, but the way it was administered. The explanations and rules were much more lax than they are when students take standardized tests back home. The students were basically given the tests and told to begin. There was really no instruction about any directions or even a reminder about the time limitation. The noise restrictions were even more lax. Though the teachers in the classrooms encouraged quiet rooms, even the little bit of chatter that you could hear, especially as people finished, would not be tolerated during American standardized tests, from my experience anyway.   

Lastly, the testing environment was different. Once other classes finished they would take to the playground. Because the playground is right outside the glassless windows, there was really no buffer for noise or distractions. Students here are not identified with learning disabilities of any sort, and no one has accommodations made for testing. It was obvious that some students suffered more from the distractions than others. So the feel of testing was similar in that students tested for much of the day, and it was taken seriously by the staff and students. The only real differences were environmental and the process by which the test was administered. The highlight of the math test was when baby even wandered into the classroom with a stick and started hammering at a desk the some students were sitting at. 

This year they decided to try something new too. Normally, testing is mixed with regular classes. This term though, the days were just for testing. This proved to be very inefficient in my opinion. Many of the kids finished early, and the breaks were super long. It was nice for grading, but the students missed out on too much instructional time. I’m sure we will discuss at the Friday staff meeting.

One thing that was nice was to see how excited the students were to get their scores. Oh yeah, another difference with the tests is that the teachers mark them. So because I teach English and Math, I marked their tests for both subjects. Their English test was on Monday and their Math test was Tuesday. As I marked, whether it be sitting by a window or in the back of a classroom, I could feel the eyes upon me from all around. Sitting in the teacher room students would try to be sneaky and stand to the side of the window—peering in to catch a glimpse of the scores. It was so funny because it was so obvious, yet they were trying to be sneaky about it. When they were told their scores, they were thrilled if it was higher than they had expected.

So not only is obtaining the scores from these tests exciting for the kids, it is exciting for the staff too. Teachers use these tests to assess how they are performing in the classroom. I was super excited to see the scores the students received. So you can imagine my disappointment when many of the scores were much lower than I had estimated. Granted they mostly did well on the specific topics that I taught, I still felt I could have worked harder to get their scores up. Herein lies one of the controversies of standardized testing—teaching to the test. Had I know what was on the test, would I have taught an array of topics with what my School of Education colleague Dave would call a “mile wide but inch deep” curricular attitude? Maybe. Especially because these tests, especially the end of the year exam, will be the deciding factors on their advancement in school. It’s what they need to know to be successful in school. And for the record, I don’t want to teach to any test, I just want them to comprehend.

Anyway, going into the test I had hoped that most students would get 80% or above. In English 10 of my 27 students were above 80%, 11 above 60%, and 6 were below 60%. In Math7 of the 27 scored above 80%, 12 above 70%, 5 between 50% and 70%, and 3 below 50%. As I began marking, I felt bad that some of the scores were so much lower than I had expected, but two other teachers assured me that 60’s and especially 70’s were still good. Regardless of what is considered good, as you mark you see the huge gaps in what students should know for some of their ages. I want to cover everything that was on the test so they don’t fail to do the same concepts on the final exam (and so they actually understand them), but there is just so little time. It is overwhelming that I have now seen an overall assessment of what they know compared to what the country curriculum expects them to know, and I only have two more weeks in the classroom with them. Deep Breath. I can just do the best I can to insure they learn the concepts I have the time to teach.

Personally, this test was helpful because I was able to notice gaps created from my own teaching. For example, the last English unit that I taught covered positive, comparative, and superlative adjectives. It was good to see that nearly everyone got all the questions right about them on the test…EXCEPT for one! When they were asked to write the superlative form of beautiful, I saw: beautifulest, beautifuliest, much beautiful, much beautifullest, and only a few most beautiful(s). Instantly, I was kicking myself because I knew I did not stress the exceptions for adding “est” enough. It would have taken just a little extra focus in class, but it would have saved everyone marks and they would have better understood superlative form. There were a few others where it was instantly clear how I had incompletely taught a concept.

I have more time to think about the tests and what they mean for me and my students. We also have a staff meeting on Friday where we will discuss how our classes did with each subject, and how we will address it as the lead teachers. I am looking forward to hearing what others have to say, and discussing the performance of the student body as a whole. It will be an opportunity to learn more about our school and to learn from the other teachers.

With testing the past two days we also had some extra time to finish reorganizing the library. All the books are now labeled with colored labels, and organized into categories. Now both the students AND STAFF will have an easier time locating age and topic appropriate books. It was in such shambles when we arrived, and we are pretty proud of it! I brought a few students at a time in there today and modeled how to pick a book and put it back. We are really hoping the system stays in place once we leave. It is such a positive improvement. 

Some Serious Library Action Happening Right Here

Visiting King James in the Village

Hey all. I hope the weekend is going well. Mine has been great so far. Yesterday, we drove about 40 minutes south of the Equator to King Fisher Lodge. It was a lodge with a restaurant, pool, and accommodations. We each paid sh. 10,000 to swim for the day, which was amazingly reasonable for the atmosphere. The pool was surrounded by thatch hut canopies, and the view was overlooking miles and miles of Savannah grassland. The weather cooperated with us for the most part. It only rained mid-day which gave us an excuse to seek cover in the restaurant area where we all enjoyed tasty lunches. It was also international woman’s day, so that was a fun excuse to have a good time.

Poolside on Woman's Day

Today was also a wonderful time. The first part of the day we spent in the small library of the school. Since the beginning of time (the start of the term), the books have just gotten more cluttered and disorganized. So the girls and I decided to label and categorize each book to make them more accessible and easier to organize on a daily basis. We began labeling today. Because of mid-term exams that will take place on Monday and Tuesday of this coming week, we will hopefully have time to finish by Tuesday. This is a much needed job that I am glad to be doing for the school with some of our spare time. It will make things easier on both the students and the teachers.

Library Work

After some much needed time in the library we headed to the village where most of our students and teachers live. We had plans to visit King James and his family for the afternoon. Surprisingly, this was our first time passing the school and venturing up the hill and into the village. I was very excited for this. As we drove farther into the foothills, the scenery was breathtaking. It was definitely a part of Uganda that I would not have wanted to miss.

When we arrived, we had to hike just a little to access James’ home. We were warmly welcomed by him and his family as we came upon the home of his parents, which was on the same property as his. They owned a chunk of land on the hill that had coffee trees, matoke trees, and a few cocoa trees. The environment was such a beautiful place to live. After meeting his family, we moved to King James’ house where we had a wonderfully prepared lunch consisting of rice, pork, goat stew, cassava, tapeoke, cabbage, onions, and tomatoes.

Walking to King James' House

For the rest of the afternoon we just chatted about our lives, education, and he shared his photo albums with us. After spending the afternoon together, we reunited with his family for a large photo session. I was so appreciative of the extent to which we were welcomed and taken care of. This is a day that I will never ever forget.

My Lunch

Serving up Deliciousness

Points of Interest from the Day

1) While talking about politics, King James pointed out how Uganda is still a very new independent nation. I asked about the election process. Uganda holds presidential elections every 5 years, however, King James said that they have already basically lost their meaning. The same president has been in office for the past 25 years (50 years of  independence). King James said that the American way of politics with checks and balances is an appealing way to govern.

He related this idea to the economy as well. The way Uganda is governed, if the President has an error in judgment, the whole nation suffers. If he makes good decisions, it is good for the nation. Such responsibility in the hands of one person is why the American way of having multiple bodies helping to govern makes sense. King James suggested that when the government becomes more decentralized and democratic, the nation and economy will begin to improve.

2) King James has a very refreshing outlook on teaching. I had asked King James if he always wanted to teach. His response was no, and he told us all about how his path just ended up leading him there. He stated that he feels blessed to be a teacher. Teaching is a good job to have. He suggested that teachers have the chance to learn all about the true nature of human beings, and it is meaningful to facilitate growth within them. He also said that his passion lies with teaching the young ones. He excitedly talked about the rewards of helping a student who doesn’t know to know. For instance, teaching a student that does not know how to make an “A”, to make an “A” is truly rewarding. He also said that teachers have the power to make the world a better place. He suggested that if the teachers got together and decided to make things bad for the world, they could do it. But is they work to make things positive, they are in a position where it is possible. It is good to know that people like King James end up in education whether they had originally planned to or not. You could almost say it was meant to be. He is a great teacher and a thoughtful individual.  Education needs more people like him.

4) King James has two children. Claire and Clairette (Sp?). Actually it is funny because Claire fears us because we are Muzungu. When she sees us at school gets a very scared look on her face and hides behind someone or something. She can be around us somewhat, but if we make eye contact with her she fears. A few weeks ago King James said that though she fears, it good thing because it is a sign of maturation—fearing what is different. Anyways, we asked him how many more children he plans to have. His response led us into a discussion about large family sizes and overpopulation. Here in Uganda, or at least from my experience talking with people, it is uncommon to have small families. Even many of the students in my class have 6,7, or 8 brothers and sisters. There are multiple reasons for this, and much of it is embedded in culture. But here are a few other reasons…

-Like families who own farms, more children means more help.

-Religion plays a role in family size. Christianity values large families, and for example, Islam encourages large families to help the faith grow.

-King James also discussed how name lineage is a factor. Here in Uganda, people have multiple names given to them that say something about their lineage. For example, I could be called Muhindo Steven instead of just Steven because I am the second born child in my family. As children are born, there are names given to them that reflect their sex and birth order. Some Ugandan’s fear that Uganda will lose its cultural name lineage by having less children.

So the above information about children combines a conversation we had today with one we had a few weeks ago. It is a cultural difference that I enjoy learning about.

4) While taking pictures with different individuals in the family, we gathered for a photo of King James’ whole family. His wife moved off to the side. We asked her why she did not want to be in the picture. She said it was because of her father-in-law. We did not really understand and asked if they did not get along. She went on to tell us that they must stay a distance from each other. If they meet on a path, they must turn and go separate ways. Again not really understanding why, we asked why. Her response was “culture.” Apparently because she is the daughter-in-law, they are supposed to stay at least three meters from each other at all times. They still socialize, but they must remain distanced. This was very interesting to me, and I want to find out more about it. But when culture is the answer to a question, it instantly makes so much more sense.

King James and the Fam

Chillin' in King James' Home

5) On the way home it started to rain, but it was still sunny. It is said that if the sun still shines as it rains a lion is conceiving.