This week was probably the hardest for me so far as I have been stressing a little bit with planning lessons for Montessori and making all the resources that go along with that, but I had a lovely day on Saturday. Rachel and I decided to spend a day at the pool with our friend Kate. This task wasn’t as simple as we first thought though. We ended up visiting four different pools before we found one that was open. One had a wedding around the pool, another was under construction and one was just closed. By the time we eventually began to lie by the pool, the sun started to go behind the clouds. Typical. Rachel and decided to make full use of the treatments that the hotel offered instead and decided to get a full body massage. When they say full body, they really do mean it. We also spent some time in the steam room and sauna. It was lovely just to relax and enjoy.
Later on Saturday evening, Rachel and I headed to the slums to see the street kids with Kate and HM. We decided to make them rolex for dinner as a special treat but it definitely seemed like a better idea at the time. We began at 6pm and by 11.15pm no-one had yet eaten. When they were finally ready, the boys loved them so they were worth the wait. During the 5 hour wait, some of the boys were teaching me some more Luganda and others were teaching me some new dance moves. They seem to think that I need to improve mine. We had such a good evening just hanging out and having fun with the boys. One of the boys asked me to be his mum which is really difficult, especially since Rachel and I do not have much longer left in Kampala but it’s also a privilege. I love these boys to bits and they are definitely going to be the hardest ones to leave when we have to return to Northern Ireland.
Sunday morning was quite an experience in church too. Rachel was feeling unwell so I decided to go to Watoto church with our other Irish friend. We were running a little late but there were still a few seats in the main auditorium. An usher guided us to seats right at the VERY front of the church, directly behind the pastor. It was a little intimidating but I really enjoyed the service.
Professional Development
I spent this week in school again and taught a variety of lessons including tenses, time, communication and diseases. I also got the opportunity to take my class swimming. This was great as I got to chat to the children on the bus there and get to know them a little better. Some of them were petrified of the water and I spent most of my time trying to encourage them. Coach Isaiah has even asked me to join the children in the pool next week. This is something that would never be allowed due to child protection in Northern Ireland, but I think it will be very beneficial to the children’s progress.
This week seemed pretty intense with the amount of preparation I had to do for lessons. All resources had to be hand-made due to a severe lack of teaching resources within the classroom. I sat on Monday evening and made 28 individual clocks using card and drawing pins in order to teach my class about time on Tuesday. Hopefully they will be able to use them within their class again though.
I have taught my favourite lesson so far this week. My class was learning about different forms of communication including letter writing. To encourage the children to write these letters, I arranged to set up pen pals with children in a school in Northern Ireland. My pupils were so excited to learn about children at the other side of the world and eager to write to them. We finished this lesson by allowing the children the opportunity to see ‘Skype’ as a form of communication. I had organised for my brother to be online to talk to them. They were amazed that they were able to see and talk to someone in Northern Ireland. Their little faces were a picture. My poor brother got asked the same questions over and over again though. What is your name? What age are you? When is your birthday? What football team do you support? Do you have a super cool sister?
As well as teaching my favourite lesson so far this week, I also taught the most difficult one. I was given the title of ‘The six immunisable diseases in childhood’. The children probably knew more about the topic before the lesson than I did. I had to do a lot of research before this lesson and eventually decided to attempt roleplays with the class but this was an absolute disaster. The children are not used to learning in this way at all and seemed pretty confused by the whole concept. I hope to get the opportunity to attempt this method of teaching again to show both the teachers and pupils that learning does not always have to be stuck behind a desk.
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