Some P1 (kindergarten/reception) children borrowing books from the library. Break through! They have learnt some sounds in phonics and are now convinced they can read! First time children this young have borrowed books here at school very exciting! The librarian says he is now always ‘disturbed’. Thanks Fairfield for the books! Can’t wait until later this year to do a library makeover project – thanks Jimmy for shedding your locks for the kids here! X
Note to self: the next time a pupil slips me a note in the middle of a lesson don’t assume it is letter asking for me to be a penfriend and don’t slip it in your pocket to read after the lesson.
Look at line three: I think I need to work on my explanations…
I wrote the below poem for the school’s zonal highly competitive Music Dance and Drama (MDD) Festival – perhaps it is as highly contested as the Olympic Games but at a school level. The poem is one of eight categories, with traditional dance certainly being the highlight! Most school’s buy their poem and then the children learn it, usually reciting in chorus fashion. I went along – amazing experience! We were sure we were going to get first or second overall but ended up fourth, teachers’ response: money changed hands overnight. The theme was non-violence, malaria free schools and effective learning – all items had to ecapsulate that theme. Ironically, during poem practise children were threatened to be beaten if they didn’t perform well – even more ironic when you read the words…
The Innocent Child
By Jody Unterrheiner
Pain
bruises
suffering
cuts
scars
on the
inside
and out
Violence in schools is like a dart,
That cuts right through to the heart
sadness
shyness
sleepless
restless
aimless
helpless
joyless
feeling…
worthless
When will teachers come to their senses
That corporal punishment builds many fences:
A fence keeping out confidence
A fence keeping in shyness
A fence keeping out happiness
A fence keeping in sadness
A fence keeping out friends
A fence keeping in loneliness
A fence keeping out effective learning.
Corporal punishment can be physical:
hitting
kicking
shaking
throwing
burning
pinching
or non-physical
Words which may:
belittle
humiliate
shame
threaten
or scare us
Let’s knock down the fence
And show some common sense
For this corporal punishment comes with one main excuse
But this does not mean we accept this form of abuse
Teachers, parents you may
often hear them say:
African children hear best when they are beaten.
Beaten? The only thing you may do to us is weaken:
Weaken our performance
Weaken our attitude
Weaken our independence
Weaken our creativity
Weaken our learning environment
Weaken us
Their ears are on their buttocks
Teachers, the door to improvement knocks.
Step through the door and transform our school,
It is not I who can change, you hold the tool.
Some tools, however, we have been given.
And we are no longer held captive in a prison.
One tool you have given us, which we are truly thankful,
Is advice on our health and how to be careful.
We know about malaria and the danger it brings.
And how at night we can avoid mosquito stings.
We are taught to recognise what could be a symptom
And offered treatment so we are no longer a victim.
We learn for protection to sleep under a net
But with our little savings, we cannot afford yet
We dream one day for a malaria free land
But that at the moment is out of our hand
Teachers, however, have much in their control
Education and learning environment. Now what is your role?
Give us positive discipline
Give us a voice
Give us independence
Give us life skills
Give us a chance
Let us work together for our future to be better
Transform and improve our lives, and we will be your debtor
Show us what effective learning really means.
And discipline that is positive, not demeans
Help us to be:
problem solvers
honest
creative
patient
persistent
planners
thinkers
independent
the leaders of the future
Let’s knock down the fences
And build up other defences
We don’t listen here (point to buttocks)
This (point to ear) is our ear
For the past two days I have taught all of the second year student teachers at the Gulu primary teaching college phonics – and had a ball! Very funny teaching them actions for sounds and watching them pretending to be mice, aeroplanes and ducks 🙂 Back again for two more days of fun next week. Still feeling my way and my purpose in Gulu but definitely feel this is part of it. Feel blessed to be able to teach some of the future teachers of Gulu. Developing a good partnership with the teachers college and plan to work alongside them for the rest of this year and next year. Having taught for six months at Layibi Techo has certainly given me a good grounding for this… Still working on the balancing act of where to spend all my time and my purpose here…
Finally got the visas in our hands! This little bit of paper has caused us a lot of travel, time, agony and frustration! Thanks for all your prayers – now answered! We can stay here legally for two years now 🙂
Instead of a car pool….
Local custom here is for visitors to stand up in church and introduce themselves. This normally occurs after praise and worship/aerobics for God 🙂 I am blown away when first time visitors at church during their introduction say they want to commit their life to God. This happened this morning in church – before the preaching even started! However this is not a rare event, I have seen this on at least three occasions during the same part of the service!
Teaching English to adults this morning: I had to really hold in my laughter while looking at a student’s book. For vocabulary I was teaching different ‘adjectives of opinion’ like saying terrible, not very good, okay, good, very good, fantastic, etc. I had asked the students to write some sentences about people they know, for example my mother is good at cooking. One student wrote: ‘My father is very good at farting’ and then underneath ‘My father is a very good fart’. I stared for a while at the book, suppressing in the laughter that was trying to burst out. ‘My father is a very good… farmer?” I asked. “Yes”.
First part of visa approved from NGO board. Dan heading to Kampala again tomorrow to pick that bit up. Step 2 is immigration, hopefully that is not as difficult!
Dan and Jodes... in Gulu, Uganda 