Tuesday July 13
Tuesday was a good teaching day. We discussed Learning Disabilities with the teachers and how to diagnosis these in their students. We also discussed various strategies of what to do with a child with an LD. Again a very rich discussion with lots of questions raised as teachers thought about specific students in their classes. The notion that students learn differently is starting to sink in with some of the teachers. The idea that as a teacher, you can modify or adapt a lesson to meet a child's learning needs is a stretching one and that even within a lesson the teacher needs to be flexible if something is not working and change course. Of course we did not get through all we wanted to talk about but we were able to touch on some aspects of LD and get some new ideas generated. We even discussed the idea of having students with LDs pulled from the class for extra support so that the teacher could focus on the rest of the class. Boy that sparked a discussion all of its own!
It is during discussions like that where I realize how similar teaching is everywhere and that as teachers we struggle with the same issues day to day. How to deliver our material so that it sticks with our students.
Imagine being a teacher and not having the proper resources to teach a class or the ability to go on the computer and bring up new ideas for your lessons, or even having textbooks to draw a lesson from? But you know you love to teach and are passionate about it. So you get out of your tent each morning, take a tap-tap for a few bumpy kilometres past broken buildings and make it to a school where you teach under another tarp. And then you make only a few hundred dollars a month with no medical benefits. I could go on but I think you get the picture.
In the afternoon we headed up the mountain to a lookout in the small town of Fremond (sp??) . We snaked our way up the road over each bump and heave in the road, past groups of school children, avoiding cattle and goats and hugging the edge of the road to get past yet another broken down vehicle on a pile of rubble. You have no idea how BUMPY the roads are here. Add an earthquake to an already shoddy infrastructure where roads were already in disrepair for years and years.
The view was breathtaking, the air was clear and the heat was not oppressive. Again another bit of respite from the dirt and grime of the city. We made our way into a large Roman Catholic church perched on the edge of the mountain side just as a huge cloud burst rained down - a frequent occurrence. Joyce and Kim took a spontaneous shower in the rain and even felt a bit cold!!
Wednesday July 14
Today we spent the day going through ALL of the resources we brought with us and the resources that have been sent to the school. What a big job to organize and sort through what is there - Joyce bought out the bins in the local supermarket!! We also discussed how to manage the stuff of a classroom - the pencils, the scissors etc etc. The teachers were not using some of the things because they were afraid to lose it and then to have to replace it. In our consumer lifestyle it is hard to comprehend that even the purchase of a pair of scissors would be a hardship. It was amazing to see how generous people have been in sending supplies to the school. And the teachers were overwhelmed with what was available to them.
Just a few days left on this journey and still so much to do!!
Have a great day
Lots of love
Connie
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