Making Learning Happen In and Outside the Classroom

Two of my Students Organizing
the "O" Authors

So it is the end of our first full week of being in Kasese… and it again has been quite an eventful week. Let’s first start off with how my class has been going!

For me this has been some of the best lessons I have ever conducted because they revolved around improving the school. In English class, my students have started their dictionary unit and one skill they had to learn was alphabetizing. I knew right away how to make this an important skill to the students. One of the aspects of the school that I have noticed was the library’s disorganization. Because my students are older I focused on the chapter books which were thrown mostly in the same cabinet in no particular order. What my class did was take the entire chapter books, colored coded them with pink labels (all the books except these have a colored label) and alphabetize them according to the last name of the author. 

Students Sorting the Chapter Books 

The students got really into it. We had over 100 books to organize around the classroom. We started by just putting them be the letter with the authors’ last names, then pairs of students were assigned to alphabetize each letter’s books. After approval of their alphabetizing, the students got to write on the labels the last three letters of the authors’ last names. From there we return the books to the library and I provided them with a return bin for the chapter books. I then had my students visit each classroom and give a short announcement for the chapter books. The students informed the classes that when they take a chapter book they will return it to the bin and the P6 students will put them back on the shelf. During the entire hour and half lesson all my students were actively engaging with books and rechecking their own work. I believe my students not only have learned how to alphabetize but also how to find an author of a book, how to create organization, and apply learning to our school’s environment. Sorry my word document wouldn't paste for the blogger tonight... so I thought I would post at least the pictures for now. It will be up soon I hope

The Finished Product

My Student with her Sketch and
Finished Poster

With these thoughts, I have also provided the P6 class to also help improve the students’ morale and support of the soccer team. In math class, my students were learning about how to enlarge shapes. So I taught my students this skill one day and the next day my students had to develop a sketch of a poster (any shape they liked), measuring the side lengths and angles. They took these sketches and applied a scale factor that would result in measurements less than 60cm and developed a poster for support the Rwentutu soccer team at the tournament that was today. I enjoyed this lesson because it challenged the students to learning how to both design a poster but also how to take something they have sketched and make it into a real object. The posters turned out great and the Rwentutu students used them to cheer on their team! Check out the photos!

Students Representing P6 with the Posters

Me with my Poster

So as I just mentioned the school had a soccer tournament today! This was a really neat opportunity provided by the Canadian’s nonprofit organization, Free Kicks. They trained 5 local teams, Rwentutu included, to play at the tournament. Because of this tournament, we again did not have school, but it attracted many members of the community to visit our school. Free Kicks provided all the teams with cleats and jerseys. They even had metal goal posts made, an AIDs screening, and microphone provided at the tournament. About 5 of my students played on the team and I realized I am going to definitely be a soccer mom someday, taking a thousand photos of my children, providing snacks, and cheering the entire game… yet understand nothing of the game. I was really proud of all my students who both played and came out to support the team! 

My P6 Students who play soccer and Me

Action Shot

Although the tournament was fun… parts of some Ugandan culture had come out in it. During our trips, we have learned that many people are quite deceiving and do not tell the full truth. During the final game, which Rwentutu made it to, people in the community questioned the players of the competing team. Some community members pointed out that the students on the competing team were not enrolled at that school. There was a large argument about this and it was decided to let the students who were not enrolled play for that team. I personally believe that this is wrong and to represent a school you must attend that school… I know that this may not be everyone else’s beliefs. Yet, our school was contesting that that situation was not fair. However, our team apparently had a student who went to a different school as well, but that was not brought up in the conversation. It disappoints me that even our school would support the values that they were contesting and what does that teach the students of the school? I know that our school wants to follow moral ideas and lying and deceiving should not be role modeled for the children, because it leads to an ongoing circle of youth learning the deceptions of their elders. I know that this may be part of the culture, but I hope that over time there will be a way for people to be honest. Even talking about providing verification to play is difficult, because principals and teachers would lie to make their teams better. What are your thoughts?

Beneth's Family with Heather and I

On a different note, I got to visit a student’s family this week!  My student Beneth has taken it upon herself to write various friends and family of mine in her free time. They have sent back and forth more the 4 letters per a person! She has become very dear to my heart and I requested that I would like to meet her family. So on Thursday, Heather (who has Beneth’s brother as a student) and I went to her family during lunch. It was so nice to see where my student lived and spent time outside of class. It was also nice to meet her parents and put faces to people she has told me about, including her youngest siblings. They cooked for us traditional Ugandan food and allowed us to sit and chat with them. I discovered that Beneth’s father has two wives. I knew that it was possible for many people to have more than one wife, but I suppose I never thought about how my students may have more than just a mother and father included in their immediate family. In addition, we learned that our driver Samson is her cousin! Upon that note, we went with him to visit his father with Beneth’s parents. It was so nice to see the connections within the community that my students have. I felt much closer to her and her family after the occasion and felt as if we all had a shared something really special that not all people get to experience. I really think that is something I want to do in my future classrooms! I think it so important to see where your students are coming from and have the students meet you as soon as you are their student’s teacher.

Well only 7 more days until we leave Uganda. I am honestly ready to leave now, but definitely want to spend as much time with my 19 students as I can. Trust me living with 9 people in one house has definitely got me stressed!

See you soon America.