KEIAYRRAH
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
KEIAYRRAH
Elementary Education Undergraduate |
This was my first time going on a safari, I was never this close to an elephant besides the ones I seen through plated glass at the Bronx zoo. The land safari at Mukambi loge is called a Game-Drive , on these drives we were taken all through the homes of different animals. Not only was this an experience for my eyes, it was for my my mind because the tour guides and the staff at the lodge were very insightful on their knowledge of the animals. I learned about how hippos and elephants find mates as well as what the warning signs are before an animal charges at you. I was able to watch the African sunset because you are not allowed to just call it a sunset ( not sure if that was a joke or not). The scenery was beautiful. What we are shown on television back home in America does not depict half of the beauty that I was able to see. I know that all places on this earth have flourishing places and others are still developing. Being here in Africa , I have seen both and realized that there is a lot more beauty here than what is shown on tv.
My concentration is social studies, I would love to do a unit on Africa and be able to show my students these pictures and the crafts I brought from here to show them that there is mucj more to Africa than the poverty stricken side shown on tv.
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Today was the day we brought the dry erase boards in for the students to use. Claire and I planned the activities we'd use to introduce the boards to the students the night before. I had mentioned that in one of my classes we use the dry erase boards to participate in lessons. The class size was very large, we had 43 students so I decided that having the students all respond simultaneously without having to just pick one student at a time would be more beneficial. To show the students how to use the board first we showed them all the materials they'd need; the board, the dry-erase marker, and the eraser. While Claire explained I wrote my name on one board as an example, showed it to the students then erased it so they could get a sense of how it worked. Once we passed out the boards we gave the students time to draw whatever they wanted so they could become more familiar with using it (This picture was taken during that time). After a 5 minute period we asked everyone to lift up their boards so all the work was visible. We asked for volunteers to come up at explain their drawings to the class as well.
We went on to do some quick multiplication problems on the boards. I or Claire would write a problem on our boards, show it up to the class, repeat the problem aloud then give the students time to answer. After a few minutes we'd ask all the students to lift their boards and show their answers. If I noticed a student who struggled or did not get the correct answer I would go over to them and ask them to work out the problem for me so I could find the issue and offer additional strategies. I would've liked to have done more with the boards and the students. Maybe I would have like to have seen smaller cooperative groups but with there being so many kids and limited space we were not able to do so. I think the dry-erase boards make the lessons more interactive for students and I know I will definitely keep some in my classroom back home when I start to teach. Today we were invited for tea at the home of Dr. Shandomo’s relatives, her nephew and his wife. In my mind I imagined actual tea with light snacks like cookies and maybe a cake. Here I learned that when invited over for tea you get much more than just cake and cookies. We arrived at a bountiful spread of food at a beautiful home. There were many different food choices which included meat balls, sausage, chicken, a carrot cake, Pepsi, cake and there was tea. The food was very good.
Dr. Shandomo’s relatives were very informative during our visit. They explained to us that there is a major disadvantage in their education system largely focusing on language. There are 73 different dialects here in Lusaka many of which aren’t remotely similar to one another. The children are taught Nyanja which is the local language of the majority from first grade until fourth grade. In fourth grade there is a transition from the local language to learning English. The disadvantage is that many of the children attending school come from different parts where different dialects are spoken, and many do not understand nor speak Nyanja. The language is also a struggle for teachers because they can be recruited from any area of Lusaka and placed at another school where the local language is not a dialect of their own. There is also a disconnect in the learning because there are no work books or material in the local languages for the students to be taught with. One of the challenge’s that the nephew explained was that parents must make a hard decision when deciding if it is worth risking their child’s academic development, for a job offer that requires them to move to a new place where a different dialect is spoken and used to teach. It was interesting to me that one place can have so many dialects that differ so much from one another. I find it amazing how the teachers here will learn another language while trying to teach it to their students quickly after in their classrooms. It was shocking to me that although it is said that English is the lingua franca of Lusaka, but many of the children are still taught in an abundance of dialects. As a future teacher I want to be able to reach all my students who maybe speak a different language or dialect. |
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