Schoooooool's Out for Half Term

Yesterday and today we did not have school. Last Friday, the teachers were called by the head teacher, Wilson, to discuss the logistics and operation of the school. It appears that a large majority of students have not paid their school fees in full so the school cannot feed the students or pay the teachers. In turn, the school had to shut down and send children home for their school fees. They decided as a group to send students home on Monday so that on Tuesday (yesterday) and Wednesday (Independence Day) they would go home and collect their school fees to bring on Thursday.

So yesterday rather than going to school, we went to Bwera. We picked up Enoch from his home and drove to Bwera Hospital. Up there, we were able to get a great view looking down onto the city. From the hospital, he took us to Bwera Secondary School. He showed us around and I must say I was thoroughly impressed. The school has a computer lab with enough computers for a class to use them. We also took a look at some of the science labs and where the materials are stored. They are in the middle of constructing a new building that will hold three new classrooms and a library. Enoch mentioned that the construction is taking a long time due to the fact that they had to build two “staircases.” We looked at the building and it turns out that one of these “staircases” is in fact a ramp for those people who use wheelchairs. It was great to see the school catering to students with physical disabilities. It was definitely interesting to look at a secondary school and how it is operating.

At a border town called Bwera

Entering Bwera Secondary School

Computer Lab

The school's chemistry supply room

The school's new addition under construction. They hope to build a library.

Afterward, we went to the market in Mpondwe that is near the Congo border. The area is insanely crowded with so many vendors and so many people just walking around everywhere. It is definitely a bit overwhelming. We looked at fabrics and got to meet Enoch's wife who sells fabric at the market.

Our supervisor, Enoch, with his wife

Mpondwe Market

Heather has gotten close with a P5 student named Deborah who is a sister to my P3 student, Kazin. Deborah told Heather that we should stop by her house on the way back to Kasese to meet her since she lives quite close to Bwera. We were sitting in a hotel resort when Deborah was brought up. Enoch turned around and pointed at a sign that had the picture of the Ugandan president as well as the Kasese District Councilman. Enoch pointed at the District Councilman and said, “I believe that is Deborah and Kazin's father.” It was crazy! And the hotel that we were sitting at is owned by him too! It couldn't have been any crazier of a coincidence.

Anyway, we went over to Kazin and Deborah's house and they graciously welcomed us. We met the rest of the family that was present at the house, looked through some family photos, and chatted. Their mother was kind enough to give us many avocado as well as a chicken that Kazin named Frank. Enoch then suggested that we go to the coast of Lake Edward to see if we could see any elephants. We invited Kazin and Deborah to come along with us. When we got there, we roamed around the grounds and just took in the view of the beautiful lake. We walked past some boats that the fisherman use to catch their fish and went to the vendors that sell the fish once they are caught. Iit was really fun and a good experience to spend time with Kazin outside of school. It gave me a different perspective of Kazin and what his home and family life is like. I feel like you can only get to know a student to a certain limit in school. But once you step outside the school realm, you can learn so much more.

My student, Kazin, with his brother.

At a resort owned by my student's father.

Fishermen with their tools

A fresh catch!

Today is Uganda's Independence Day!!!!!!!! Happy Independence Day, Uganda! We went to the Nyakasanga Playground to see what events were happening on this special day. When we arrived, there were a lot of people there and the military and police were grouped and gathered on the soccer field. There was quite a bit of talking and many speeches given. There were children who were filing out onto the field to perform for the audience. However, just as they did, it started to pour! We ran to get under the tents that were reserved for guests. We were able to squeeze ourselves into a spot. After more waiting and more speeches and more talking, we decided to leave.

Primary Students sporting Uganda's colors

At Nyakasanga Playground

Primary Students performing 

We had heard that Juliet's school was having an Independence Day celebration at her school. So when the rain lifted, we made our way over there. When we arrived, the school was having a banana peeling contest. What the. There were many other types of contests and games that were going on. There was one called “The Bottle Filling Contest” where the students had to run to get water and put it in their mouth and then transfer it into a bottle and had to fill their bottle to the top first. Just as the Bottle Filling Contest was to commence, it started to down pour....again. We took shelter in the teachers' office and waited for a good hour or hour and a half before the rain lifted. When it did, the staff provided us with lunch of tapioca and fish. During lunch, we were able to watch the official celebration of Uganda's independence take place.

Banana Peeling Contest at Juliet's school

Eating a meal with our hands

Once we finished lunch, we were brought to the school's main hall where the rest of the program was to take place. There were some insane and creative competitions going on including some miming and dancing. The competitions included: modeling, eating, and laughing (no, not comedy. But laughing out loud.....what the.). It was extremely entertaining and great. It was a good experience to see how a different country celebrates its independence day. America definitely has its own traditions and it was eye opening to see how another country celebrates theirs.

Modeling Contest

Eating Contest

Fast Times at Kasese High

Last weekend we were supposed to go to a Senior 4 Farewell Party for Robert, a boy who lives behind us and is Doreen's cousin. Robert is in Senior 4 and is a boarder at King Jesus College in Mubuku. We had full intention of going, but our plans fell through. We learned that Robert was really sad because we deceived him. We felt so bad that we decided to surprise him by going to his school. Elius (his younger brother) came home from Rwentutu this weekend so we took him and their sister, Juliet, with us.

When we arrived, we could not find Robert. So much for our surprise. We asked his teachers and his fellow classmates, but they didn't know where Robert was. After some discussion, one of his classmates figured out where he could possibly be. He took us to the dormitory where Robert stays, which is outside of school grounds, but he was nowhere to be found. After some more waiting and asking questions, we discovered that he was at a friend's house.

We were finally able to find Robert and reunite him with his family. He gave us a tour of the school grounds, which included the dormitories, main hall, and classrooms. We then just sat and chatted for a bit. We met and danced with some of his fellow classmates, which was pretty entertaining. It was definitely worth the surprise visit. Since we are always in a primary school setting, it was interesting to see a secondary school and how it is set up. It was also interesting to interact with the students and talk to them about their classes, exams, etc.

Yesterday, we went to the Senior 6 Farewell Party at Kasese High School for Biira Waziri, the cousin to Juliet, Robert, and Elius. Biira invited us and we were considered to be guests of honor at the event. When we arrived, we were paired up and put in this line that followed the students who were nominated by the class and named “Mr. and Miss Party.” They very much resembled a bride and groom with the rest of the people who were following being the wedding party. We walked down this red carpet and were seated front and center where we could see everything.

The East African, Ugandan, Rwenzururu, and Kasese High School anthems were all sung prior to the start of the program. Our friend, Biira, was an Emcee for the whole party. Together with another boy they introduced the program. For entertainment, the majority of performers were people miming and dancing. Partway through the program, the dance crew called The Invisibles arrived. They were on national television as part of a talent competition. Biira told us that they were not intending on performing, but we had her go talk to them and they said they would. They were really great and definitely entertaining for sure. There were also several speeches given, and Emily graciously took one for the team and made a speech on our behalf. One of our duties as guests of honor was to dance around the cake table with other students in Senior 6 and then help to cut the cake. We danced for quite a bit before cutting the cake. Finally, our final duty of the dance was to open the dance party with a dance. We got to request a song, and of course we chose “Call Me Maybe.” Everyone got really into it and the children from around the neighborhood danced with us also.

I'm really glad we got the chance to go. A Senior 6 Farewell Party is something that we don't have in America, and it was interesting to see something that is a normal part of Uganda's school culture.

Building Trust and Personal Relationships

There's a student in my classroom that has been distant towards me from the beginning. Let's call him Robert. I couldn't ever figure him out. Some days he would smile and wave. Other days I felt as though he did not want to participate in class or interact with me.

The past week or so, Robert has definitely started to warm up to me. He joyfully takes part in class activities and is more responsive to me when I talk with him or ask him questions. We've talked about his family, taste in music, interests, etc. It has taken a lot on my part to not impose myself and force a relationship but for him to open up to me naturally. I try my hardest to develop personal relationships with all of my students. While Robert may have taken more time and effort, I still wanted to create a relationship and build trust between us.

This morning, some of the kids in his class claimed that he had a girlfriend in a neighboring class. The kids thought it was all in good fun and laughed and kept making it a point that she was Robert's girlfriend. They were speaking vernacular for most of it and I couldn't understand, but Robert seemed as though he was not liking how his friends were treating him. All of a sudden the room got quiet. I walked behind the classroom cupboard and Robert was on the floor covering his face crying. I immediately got down on his level and began to comfort him. Heather and Emily were in the room at the time and were helpful in that they took the other children in the room and did activities with them and even removed them from the room to take their attention away from Robert and me.

I was scared the whole time that Robert would be unresponsive and would refuse to tell me what or who had upset him. I was not sure if he would be distant towards me or be willing to talk with me. After 10 minutes or so I calmed him down and asked him what was upsetting him. I told him that I cared about him and wanted to help him and that if he didn't tell me what was wrong, I would not be able to help him. After several more minutes of weeping and silence on my part, Robert suddenly started to explain to me what was wrong. He told me that his friends were lying by telling everyone that he had a girlfriend, and he told me the names of the classmates that upset him. He said he was embarrassed and mad. He even told me he wanted to fight them. When I told him that he cannot fight them, he asked me why. I told him that if we use physical violence on his friends, we will not get anywhere. It will only make the situation worse. However, if we speak with his friends and explain to them what they did, they will know exactly what they did wrong and can learn from the experience and think about the people and feelings they are affecting with their behavior. After some explanation, Robert agreed not to fight his friends. I figured that since most of these kids have not been exposed to dealing with conflict resolution, I would give Robert the option of being with me or not when we approached his friends. He told me he did not want to be present.

I was nervous to talk to the boys because I haven't had much experience with resolving conflict between classmates or friends. I knew that I wanted it to be simple yet effective. I grabbed the boys that Robert named between break and asked them about the situation. I wanted to spark some sort of empathy or perspective taking when bringing up and discussing Robert's situation. To put it simply, we discussed how Robert may have felt when they were telling people he had a girlfriend. We talked about how they would have felt if they were Robert or if someone made a lie up about them. After our discussion, I reminded that Robert was their friend, and they agreed that they should treat him like one too.

The rest of the day, Robert was great. He participated and interacted with his classmates and was very friendly to the friends that had upset him earlier. I reflected on the situation, and I think it took a great deal of trust for Robert to be able to explain his feelings and thoughts during the ordeal. He could have easily shut down and ran off without talking with me or allowing me to help him. I think that since I made a strong effort to build relationships with all of my students including Robert, he felt that he could trust me with his emotions and the situation. I'm glad that I was able to make a breakthrough with Robert. And because of what happened today, I think that our relationship will be stronger and the trust will be even greater. This definitely proved to me the importance of building trust and personal relationships with each and every one of my students.

Getting it Together

Quite conveniently, our power was out for the whole weekend and has been on and off since the end of the weekend and so I was not able to make a proper update!

Anyway, this last week at school I continued with teaching the students length. We moved on from measuring items to measuring the perimeter of items. My first lesson on perimeter required students to measure the perimeter of the classroom and various other objects such as books and desks. However, I think I made too much of an assumption that the students were going to be able to understand how to measure and find the perimeter of such big items. When I had them go out and try to find the perimeter of the classroom, they had difficulty understanding and conceptualizing what perimeter was. I decided that I needed to take a step back. The following days as well as this week, I thought of various activities in which students can practice finding the perimeter as well as seeing and understanding what it is. I had students measure the perimeter of tangrams. The school had geoboards and I had students create their own shapes, measure, draw, and find the perimeter of them. I had also cut straws in various lengths and had students use pipecleaners to create their own shapes where they could find the perimeter. I also had students work together in groups to find the perimeter of shapes that I made out of thread and taped on the floor. I can see now that the students are definitely understanding how to measure and calculate the perimeter of items. I am now going to go back and have students find the perimeter of various items that I had them try to measure the first day. I want to be able to see if they were able to improve their ability to measure and find the perimeter of items they had difficulty measuring the first day.

I think I struggled with how to teach English the first week and a half. I was handed the National Curriculum and it was hard for me to develop lessons on just vocabulary and sentence structures that were listed in the curriculum. I did take into consideration what common mistakes I saw students make when creating and writing sentences. One of them was the present tense of the He/She/It form. I worked on the present tense with them for several days doing various activities that required students to interview each other and to construct sentences as groups. I still felt as though I could do a better job of teaching them English.

The next theme that the students were learning focused much on materials and their use in their subcounty. Many of the vocabulary words are adjectives as well as materials that are used for making items. We have been focusing on adjectives and I have done various lessons and activities that help students to identify, differentiate, and use adjectives in a sentence. One lesson, I gave students an adjective. They had to write a sentence using the adjective and then draw a picture that corresponded to it. A group of vocabulary words that students are to learn include banana, palm leaf, leaf, wire, straw and plastic. I gathered each type of material and brought it to class. I divided the students into groups and each group received an item. They were to describe the item and write about it using the adjectives we learned as well as new ones. This helped students to be guided yet creative in their own right by being able to see and physically touch and manipulate the items before writing about it. I think by being hands on and allowing students to hold, see, and feel the objects helped the students to deepen their understanding of the meaning and use of adjectives.

I have also started Morning Meeting in my class. I passed it by with Teacher Merence and Teacher Jocknus to see if it was okay. They were both on board because they like the idea of getting to know one another and building a community in the classroom. I noticed that the boys and the girls segregate each other when wanting to sit or stand next to each other in any sort of activity. By having Morning Meeting, I think it will help to create a classroom community that allows students to interact with those they normally would not. It also helps me to get know my students on a more personal level. So far, the children have enjoyed it like no other. They want to have Morning Meeting more than once a day and are excited to have it every day.

One thing I want to work on is to differentiate my instruction a little bit more. I have been mixing ability levels so that the students who are more advanced can help scaffold their classmates. However, I want to be able to personalize instruction so that students can get the help that they need. I can possibly have students do reading work in various levels and the next math unit I will teach (money) will also be conducive to differentiated group work.

To change the subject, Maggie came to town on Monday night. The girls and I thought it would be a great idea to host dinner at our house and invite people over to eat with us and to spend time together. Doreen did SO MUCH COOKING! But it was soooooo amazing. We did pitch in and helped here and there, but Doreen definitely orchestrated the whole thing. We had rice, matoke, sweet potatoes, g-nut sauce, peas, beans, and eggplant. We invited Enoch, Maggie, Ron (Maggie's friend and driver), King James, and Juliet (Doreen's cousin who lives behind us). It was definitely a feast! It was great to be able to spend time with people outside of a school setting and to just relax and have a good time.