Teaching at Awere SS

Hi all! Ok...so the past couple of weeks have been kind of crazy on the teaching front. Teaching here is a completely different experience than teaching in the states, as expected I guess. the same principles are there, but the are several differences...not really better or worse, just different. For one, the physical conditions are not optimal for learning. Awere SS is a temporary (or displaced) location in Gulu about 2 hours away from the original site in Awere (acutally, where Joseph Kony is from) and the buildings are made of tree trunks, chicken wire and tin. The
good thing about this type of structure is that it allows for a nice breeze, which is welcome during the hot African afternoons. The bad thing is that if it rains, it floods the classrooms and the walls are so thin that you can hear the lessons from the classes on either side of you...so it's really hard to hear. Despite all this, the students seem to have adapted and do very well. Second, the style of teaching is very different. At the end of "O level" classes (basically 7th through 10th grades), there is an exam to see if they can continue on with secondary school. So the lectures are very much based around teaching for this test. That's a little weird, because I don't have that mentality. Also, the style of teaching is very didactic....teacher talks, students listen. So, imagine me coming in last Friday to give my first lecture on the reproduction of flowering plants (never taught this before,can't even remember the last time I learned this material) with my typical loud American, smart alec, way-to-excited-about-science personality trying to get them to answer questions and come up to the front of the class for a visual! :) They just stared at me! It was kind of funny...awkward, but funny...definitely something that I am still going to try to implement in my lectures, but I might titrate it in a bit slower! :) Also, the students don't move around between classes...they stay in the same room all day (minus breaks and lunch) while the teachers change in and out of their classroom. The other really strange thing is that because the students and the schools are so poor, they can't afford textbooks. I think I have one of the only couple text books for our class in the entire school...so the last 20-30 minutes of class is me literally copying the words from the text on the chalk board so that the students can write the information in their notebooks. That was a really different experience for me. All in all though, I'm really impressed with the school, my partner teacher and the students who seem to be so excited to have a munu as a teacher...they have been really welcoming. I can't wait to be teaching more though...the past couple of weeks have been really slow (oh my gosh there is so much waiting in the teachers' lounge) because there have been sports days, holidays, districts, student government elections...things like that which have delayed classes. So, I'm kind of itching to get into a regular routine in the classroom...maybe next week. To make up for the lack of time in the classroom, I've been trying to establish some relationships with the people here, which is apparently just as important to them. One of my favorites is my relationship with my partner teacher, Mr. Okello James. Despite all of the obstacles with teaching here, he is an INCREDIBLE teacher. He has such a good report with the
students, and he has a genuine interest in science and in the students' learning. I really look forward to the next couple of weeks...I'm curious to find out what exactly it is that I can bring to the table here, because it seems as though I'm learning more than anything!

Picture 1 = outside of classroom
Picture 2 = inside of classroom, Mr. Okello James
Picture 3 = teachers' lounge