Teaching and other February news (2/11/2006)

So as I was cleaning up my inbox I noticed a lot of messages about send flowers, send a message to the one you love, etc. It took me a bit to realize that Valentines day is coming up. I doubt I will send a special message or flowers to any of you but I wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day, and happy birthday to my sister Jill and to anybody else whose birthay falls on the 15th of Feb.

Last week was a hurricane and I was in the ocean on a small boat. Teaching started full force and I was also teacher on duty, leader of the Math and Science club, and expected to participate in the sports. I experienced incredible highs when I thought my teaching was going well and was thrown against the rocks when students did not do their homework and could not recall the most fundamental principals taught the class before.

My collapse came sooner than expected but at least I was prepared for it. I knew I was going to be tired because I couldn't fall back asleep. I knew that it was unlikely that I could change the class in just two lessons. Still it hurt to see the reality I had been speaking too fast, not planning enough and not read my class correctly.

Overall, the week was still great about a third of the school is in the math and science club. I enjoyed pouring my heart into the first week of classes. I took big risks in my teaching style and only got burned alittle. I still think the students learned a lot but I need to be aware that most do not have books, group studying is a foriegn concept and many students are used to sticks instead of carrots. I have the weekend to recharge my battery, think of how to improve my teaching and try to help some students that come in with the expectation that math is too hard and they will never learn it.

This week the group liked my chapati and asked for repeats of the fried green beans. This week I got to try my new coconut shredder and most of the meals were above average. The only complaints I have is that often we eat too late and the group is quite unreliable. Thursday night I created an ugali and peanutbutter with jelly meal, which was worth eating again but made because flour, P&J and water were the only ingredents around. I had foolishly banked on the plan that they would be cooking and had not purchased local food even when there was time.

So if you see a teacher say "thanks for your hard work." It is easy to do and they will appreciate it alot. Note to any of my former professors reading: THANK YOU!