Three days later...

I can't believe how fast this week has flown by. Mary's title of her last post "speechless" could not describe it any more perfectly. This week has been amazing and I wish it never had to end. We visited two local schools in Namibia to see what they were like. One was Community Hope School, with many volunteers and another Steenkapm Primary School, with Namibian teachers. Many of us were surprised, to say the least. We really take the school system we have in the US for granted. These visits only made me want to come back to teach here for a year even more.

Laura and I have been doing whatever we can to enhance the first graders learning at the BNC. We've added a lot to the classroom to make it a much more age appropriate print-rich environment for them. We've added pictures to the alphabet, a word wall and labels. We've even added in a behavior management system that the students could clearly comprehend. I couldn't have been any happier with the results of everything we have done. We've really come together with our thoughts and ideas to make this experience worthwhile for both ourselves, and most importantly, the students.

I'm excited for this weekend away and to experience more parts of Africa. However, it makes me sad thinking about coming back and only having two days left at the BNC. We watched Liz say goodbye to the students today and it was heartbreaking. The students were singing an African song and some of the lyrics included "we will never forget you." We also had the students write her goodbye letters. This alone made Laura and I tear up so I can only imagine what Tuesday is going to be like. But after last night with everyone, I know this weekend should be interesting and so much fun. I love this group and can't wait for another bonding experience.

Here are some pictures of this past week! Hope you love them alll.

To all my family and friends taking the time to read our blog, LOVE YOU ALL and see you in less than a week!

Week One, Done!

Hey Followers --

Holy moly, this week flew the heck by! Day 1, as I blogged was rough. Day 2 was incredible.

Day 3 (Wednesday) was probably one of the BEST days I've ever had teaching. Ever. I know I said something like this before but seriously. We got to the BNC around 10 am (keep in mind the students come after school and we don't teach until 2:30 pm) to plan out our day. Resources are limited. We rip paper. We sharpen pencils that are down to where the eraser was. I created my own deck of I Have, Who Has cards with the 9 & 8 times tables (taken from a grad class this semester). I also planned for the students to create Fact Families for these tables to begin to introduce division. Additionally, I had the students create and have a face-off on their own 3-digit multiplication problems. For ELA (that's English Language Arts for all you non-teacher folks) Cynthia and I planned to play Boggle with the students and have them use their words in as few sentences as possible to help develop their creative writing and their sentence writing abilities. All of these activities went amazingly - one of their spelling words this week. The kids ate up I Have, Who Has and made me make some for the 7 & 6 times tables. I'm going to make more this weekend for the rest of the 1-15 times tables for future teachers to use with these kids. Their biggest problem is conceptualizing just about everything they are learning since the Namibian curriculum focuses on memorization.

After teaching we went to Joe's Beerhouse, and I ordered the sampler platter which contained chicken, ostrich, crocodile, zebra and kudu (be proud, Ma & Dad!). The best was ostrich! One of the best meats I've ever tasted in my life.

Day 4 (Thursday) was exhausting. We got up extra early to go to 2 local schools here in Katutura. The first, Community Hope School, is run by a man we met on the plane. We observed some classrooms and I was immediately tackled to the ground, literally, by a bunch of students outside (see the picture on the right). I don't even know their names or grade, which shows just how loving and accepting these Namibian students are. Afterwards we went to A.I. Steemkamp, which is a primary school that feeds into the BNC. I got to observe a kindergarten classroom with Becca. The teacher was great and the kids were obviously adorable, but other aspects of the school were blah. They value their education but it's tough when schools lack the structure needed for great learning.

Back at the BNC, Mike, Kate, Becca and I combined our 3 classes (fifth, sixth and seventh grade) for centers. With 30+ kids in the room it seriously couldn't have gone smoother. We had 2 sets of 5 centers, which varied math and ELA games. A wicked fun afternoon after an exhausting morning. It was tough to say goodbye today knowing we won't be back until Monday and that we only have 2 days left next week. Two days is not nearly enough to get everything done. I may accidentally bring 9 fifth graders back to the States with me (make room back home!).

These kids are lovable and want to learn. They may not enjoy every aspect but they try their best. And I'm trying my best to reach them the best as I can. There's so little we can do in under two weeks. Hopefully we can make a difference for these students and the BNC. I'll do anything I can to get back here next summer, especially to see my fifth graders in the sixth grade.

Sadly, Cynthia and Liz leave us tomorrow and head back to New York. They've been here for 4 weeks and were great assets to the BNC and our trip (especially as resources) and we'll miss them! But they live nearby MC so hopefully we'll remain in touch. The people we are meeting here are incredible! We're getting pretty close with them and I hope our friendships continue back in America.

Well, off to pack for our final weekend in Africa! We're heading to Swakopmund at 2 am (like 2 hours from right now). Bring on the 5 hour drive, the Namib Desert with sand dunes, sand boarding, a cruise into the southern Atlantic and a great time with the best people ever!

Our Weekwend in ETOSHA

Speechless

It is day two and I am about to go to sleep. I have waited all day to post on the blog because I literally cannot find the words to describe what an extremely incredible experience that I am having.

I am not only forming a bond with my students, my fellow teachers and volunteers, but I am forming a relationship with myself. Reflecting on my life previous to this emotional, professional, and educational journey, I know now that I have been more than blessed in my lifetime.

Nothing that I write on this blog tonight will properly articulate what I am feeling. And this is only the second day of class with my little scholars!

I am so proud to be teaching alongside such selfless and passionate volunteers from MC. I can learn so much from each and every one of them and look up to them very very much.

I will post pictures to my facebook because the blog will not allow me to at the moment. I think the pictures speak for themselves...

It's Christina!

Greetings everyone! It's Christina from Laura's account. I can't remember my account information so Laura was nice enough to let me use hers. The past week has been crazy, but amazing. I feel like I haven't had a chance to breathe but I wouldn't change any of it. Today was our second day at the centre working with the local children and I could not be happier. I am working with another volunteer from Germany and we have a group of six fourth graders. Their names are Emmerhensia, Iyambo, Marina, Odette, Rudolph, and Dustin. They are all so appreciative and enthusiastic about learning. They are on different levels so it can be difficult but they do seem to be absorbing information. For example, today I went over subtraction problems with them where they had to "borrow from a neighbor number". I was a little nervous because their previous teacher said they had a great deal of trouble grasping the concept. Today however, they seemed to understand it well. It was very exciting!
I was thinking about it earlier and I don't think I have admired anyone more than I admire Marybeth. She has devoted her entire life to this program and it is obvious how passionate she is about it. She is making a difference in so many lives, it is incredible. I would love to do something like that some day.
Namibia is such an interesting country. I found out yesterday that before the holocaust, concentration camps were used in a Namibian town. How crazy is that? Everyone here is very friendly. I feel so welcome! A few of the people I have met that work at the guest house and as our tour guides are so knowledgeable. They know so much about their country and have so much pride. Yesterday, one of the men, Patrick, gave a speech on the history of Namibia. It was very interesting and informative. Patrick is attending Columbia's Teacher College this September. He was also picked a few years ago to go to D.C. and represent Namibia at a Young African Leader conference. While there, he met Preisdent Obama!
Well, it's about time to go. We are going to watch a Souh African movie about the Apartheid. Our Manhattan College group has had some great bonding experiences. I can't wait for more!

-Christina

Two Days Gone By

Hey Tina the Ballerina, Dad, Chris and all other followers (Ma, send this blog to Nana & Nanu and Needham Crawfords? Post the link on Facebook? Please and thank you!). And thanks for following and commenting. If only Amy would comment (we miss you too much Amy!).

The past two days, our first days teaching at the BNC, have been completely night and day, yet completely incredible. Yesterday we arrived for an orientation-like meeting in the morning where I got chosen to work in the fifth grade classroom at the centre. Cynthia, a housemate at the Wadadee House who went to Etosha with us this weekend, is my co-teacher and has been with these students for the past few weeks. We have ten students on the roster, not too bad considering how my fellow Jaspers have into the high teens and twenties in their classrooms.

Monday - The students arrived and it was a joy to play with them on the playground. After playing on the swings and having one boy ask me why my nose was so big I read a few stories to some children and they read to me. Right then and there the entire trip fell into place. After the students ate lunch we began our afternoon teaching! It went, well, kinda rough. Behavior wise the students are very similiar to the students I've worked with in New York, however, the biggest problem is stopping them from speaking local languages, because many students claim that some students say innapropriate things in these languages but we teachers can't understand. Anyways, Cynthia and I needed to adapt the curriculum to the students to help reach the basic needs of fifth grade math (times tables, two and three digit multiplication) and and ELA (writing complete sentences with details, text-to-self connections) as well as self confidence in their work and reading aloud. At the end of the day I was satisified that I got a basic assessment of their skills and levels and I realized that most cannot grasp concepts in both content areas.

Tuesday - This day went smoothly and I felt like it couldn't be better. Seriously. Cynthia and I gave the students assigned seats to help with management. We lost our Minute Math and I implemented Around the World with 8 and 9 times tables orally. Afterwards I asked the ten students present what they had to do while participating to make sure they understand the concept of this exercise as well as the math skills needed. Instead of drills and excercises we had the students compete against each other doing 3 digit multiplication problems at the board while the rest of the class did it in their notebooks. The class was silent. Silent! This set the best mood and tone for the rest of the day. The lesson went swimmingly after that. During ELA we did played Boggle with a twist - the students had to made 3 sentences using their words. This helped them gain the foundations sentence writing as they had to combine their words to fit them into sentences rather than just make a basic sentence per word. I hope to develop these sentences and skills further tomorrow.

We're meeting our halfway mark of the trip tomorrow. I wish I had money to stay out here. They really need as much help as they can get, and I feel like 2 weeks isn't enough. Most volunteers stay for 1 to 3 months. I'll have to make the best of my week left with these students. Today was probably the best day I've ever had as a teacher (including subbing, student teaching and interning). These children are incredible. They value their education and themselves. They all knew my name in a matter of seconds. They genuinely care about themselves, myself and their education. They are truly the Best Namibian Children.

Dinner time. That means I don't have time to proofread, sorry! But dinner, yeah! Yes Ma, I've been eating fun things. Lamb. Beef stew. Vegtables. Things I can't even pronounce. You'd be proud of me (and yes, Kate is basically being a mom making sure I eat and remain an unpicky eater). And I've been cooking better than ever! Tonight we're eating burgers made by Becca and Laura.


I leave you with a picture of Mike and me with some students on the playground this afternoon.

You Guys...These Kids...

WEHA, Old Saybrook, Jersey, New York, Philly, and everyone else...

Today was day 2 with the kids at the center and I have absolutely fallen head over heels in love with them. I have a sixth grade classroom with Mike and I couldn't have asked for a better partner. I've been able to take on the English portion of the day while Mike is teaching math (trust me, it's for the best I stay away from the math...right Dad?).

My main goal in working with my 20 kids (depending on the day and who decides to show up or not) is getting them to creatively think and use that thought in their writing. The Namibian style of education is for the students to memorize, so they have a difficult time thinking on their own and forming original thoughts. Specifically, we've been working on sentences and having the kids expand their sentences beyond just "she kicked the ball" (mind you...my kids are in SIXTH grade). So yesterday we used our spelling words of the week to write sentences and focused on adding more detail to our sentences.

Today was one of the greatest days I have ever had in a classroom. My plan was to bring my kids outside and dribble a soccer ball in front of them (soccer is huge here...and yes, Dad, Jack, and Thomas...me...dribbling a soccer ball...I know...), have them tell me what I was doing, "Kate is kicking the ball", and then have them look around and describe where I was, what the weather was like, who else was around, and to use all their senses to explain what was going on. Unfortunately, since it is winter here and the kids don't have appropriate clothing for the weather (some even don't have shoes) I had to be an ADAPTIVE EXPERT (there's your shout-out Brother Ray) and create a new plan once the kids got into the classroom. We talked about the sentences again and how to add to them and then the kids gave examples of descriptive words they already knew. Then we read a book and every time the kids heard a descriptive word they had to raise their hands. They did such an amazing job and then when I gave them a prompt to write about the best days of their lives they were able to use such excellent language that I knew exactly what they were talking about. They all wanted to share and I cannot even tell you how proud I was of every single one of them. I promise I waited to cry until class was over though...

The difference between kids in America and the kids here is that these kids want to learn so so badly. When break time came and the kids were free to go outside, they BEGGED me to finish the lesson before they went outside for break. I couldn't believe it. I love it here more than I even thought was possible and I love how I can feel what a difference I'm making. It's like nothing I've ever experienced.

I'm so proud of myself and I'm so proud of the 7 people I am on this trip with. They are incredible teachers and they are willing to do more than just anyone ever would for these kids. The resources and location we have to work with are difficult to put into words and today I saw Mike make an INCREDIBLY effective mixed number lesson using egg crates and beer bottle caps. This experience is the best one of my life and I hate to say it (Mom and Dad) but I'm not sure America is where I'm supposed to teach anymore...

;)

I love you all so much and I miss you.
xoxo
Kate