Believe it or not, we also got to observe our student teachers last week! That was the best part of the week. We would each go observe a student for a period, write observations, suggestions, feedback, etc., then meet with them later and discuss it all. Another day, we would go back, sometimes to a different class, sometimes the same one, check on progress, new observations, etc. In between, I did my favorite thing - played with children! I taught several of the girls London Bridge and a version of Duck, Duck, Goose, which, in TZ, we call Simba, Simba, Swala (or Lion, Lion, Gazelle). I also played with some kindergartners, threw a frisbee I'd brought with me (thanks, Linda Hudson!), ate lunches and morning tea with them, and just had such fun. I had met the older children, classes 4 and 5, when they were in kindergarten, and it was fun to see them "grown up!"
The student teachers are working hard, but they are really loving having their own classes for a change, not just borrowing someone else's class. They are establishing routines and relationships and "owning" what they are doing.
We also did two really fun things with them. One was we took them out to a "hoteli," which is really a little cafe-type restaurant, for Elijah's birthday. I had gotten one of the lady teachers and a former JTTC student of mine, Suzanna, to go with me to get "birthday cakes" and a card for his b'day, and we shared those with all of the teachers at morning tea, and he sent me a text later telling me how loved he felt!
The other fun thing, which I wasn't sure was such fun at the time, was to take them on a "field trip" to a town about 20 km away to see some historic, actually prehistoric, cave paintings. They'd studied these in their history books but had never seen them themselves. (Thanks, Rocky, for the Christmas money - that helped pay for the drive and entrance fees and water and snacks we provided!) Unfortunately, I don't think they'd ever done anything like this before, and only Agaba was dressed appropriately in jeans and t-shirt. The other guys had on dress slacks and shoes, and the 2 girls were in dresses! Suzanna looked like she had on a bridesmaid dress and strappy sandals with heels! I'll post pictures when I download them in the next day or two. However, they all did better with the actual climb than Sarah and I! We thought several times, why did this sound like a good idea?! However, it was well worth it, the paintings were definitely worth the trek, and it was a geat bonding experience. We weren't even sore the next day! (Maybe the hour walk we did every day, 30 minutes to and from school) helped us get ready for it!
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