Recently, I've been meeting lots of amazing people that have a similar heart! Either to become teachers at New Hope Orphanage, or teachers in other third world countries. When I first left to teach in Uganda for 9 weeks, I didn't have anyone giving me tips, lessons plans, or solid advice on how exactly teaching in a third world country is different from teaching in the United States. I remember going into it completely clueless on whether I'd be teaching four year olds or FOURTEEN year olds! I didn't know the first thing about Ugandan schooling or the problems so deeply entrenched within third world education systems.
This blog post is dedicated to ALL future volunteer teachers of New Hope Orphanage, third world Africa, and third world countries around the world! EVERYTHING I wish I knew about how to teach, lesson plans, challenges, and obstacles I would face as a New Hope teacher - all wrapped up into one "Teacher's Newsletter," you could say. So here goes!
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| My awesome third graders |
My Teaching Position: P3 and P4 (3rd and 4th
grade) English & Math Teacher at New Hope
Hours: 20/week
Dates: 6/11/12 - 8/11/12 (9 weeks)
As
I have gotten to know New Hope School and its children better, I have noticed
that there is a great need for teachers in creative writing and story reading.
The children could also benefit greatly from a school-wide library being set
up (a good summer project for any future New Hope volunteers to take on!!). They need a place where the children can freely turn to read quality children's
literature. Though the children are well-practiced in copying words from the
board (their handwriting is exquisite!), ask a 3rd grader to come up with a
well-structured sentence on their own and most of them will respond with a
blank stare. It is only when children are taught to formulate their own
sentences and stories that they will begin to comfortably express their own
creative ideas to the world!
Until then, these children remain
stuck in a rut of rote memorization and straight copying from the board. By the
3rd grade, these children will become experts at reproducing seemingly
meaningless symbols of the alphabet onto their papers, but ask them to write
the first letter of the word "man," and they will have no idea what
letter corresponds with the sound "m"! Because the children at New
Hope are all learning English as a second language, it is especially important
for teachers to use a dynamic, engaging, and interactive curriculum. While it
is concerning that children at New Hope graduate from the 7th grade with little
to no exposure to the creative writing process, the younger children grow up
never learning the elementary skills of handling scissors, using a paintbrush,
or even reading a storybook to themselves!
As
a short-term overseas teacher, it was tempting to become overwhelmed with the
unmet academic needs of these children. However, I only had seven weeks to
teach, and I wanted to serve them with as much joy and dedication as possible!
These are a few of the topics we covered in P3 over the course of 7 weeks:
Mathematics:
- Shapes (Shape Animals, Shape Murals,
Shape Hunt, Making Shapes with Bodies, Drawing shapes in the air using fingers,
identifying the number of sides/corners on different shapes)
- Measurement (Measuring cut-out
shapes, measuring common objects, body parts, identifying different triangles -
isosceles, scalene, equilateral - by measuring their sides)
- Circles (Diameter, Radius,
Circumference)
- Math Fables - Acted out Word
Problems (5+7=12)
- Using Number Lines
- Place Value (have 4 children stand
in a row, each holding a different number...have children identify which child
is standing in the "ones" place, the "tens" place, the
"hundreds" place, etc). Have the children switch positions and see if
the class can identify the place values again!
- Addition concepts (carrying the 1)
- Subtraction concepts (borrowing)
- Multiplication (give the children
index cards to make flashcards for themselves to help learn their
2x,3x,4x,5x...tables)
- Clocks (how to tell time)
Here are some photos to help you visualize:
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Here is Timothy's shape mural of a house! After reviewing the names of basic shapes, I cut out shapes for them and watched the children turn them into murals!
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| Ashriaf and Timothy working hard to memorize their 4 times tables... |
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| low-budget yet super efficient way to help kids memorize their times tables - the kids made and wrote these for themselves! I just cut out the index cards for them. |
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| Team Bromance as they work on making an awesome shape mural of New Hope |
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| Ronald and Semakula's beautiful shape mural of New Hope - they drew the church, the school, and themselves dominating in football hehe. |
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| Awesome shape mural - this is what happens when you ask them to draw for you their home at the orphanage :). |
English:
- Literary Elements (Identifying the
Title, Author, Illustrator, Setting, Characters, Theme, Message…of the book)
- Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Pronouns
- Long and Short Vowels
- Plurals
- Using "a" or
"an"
- Digraphs - ch, sh, ph, gh
Story Books:
I brought books that would be relevant
to the children's surrounding world. I deferred from reading to them a book
called "The Kissing Hand," a heartwarming story of a mother's love
for her son. I felt it would be inappropriate to read such a book to a
classroom full of orphans. Instead, we read books full of characters that
looked like and experienced situations that the children may experience in
Uganda! Books with only animals as characters can be universally appealing as
well. Some of the books we read that children responded positively towards:
- Wangari's Trees of Peace
- Galimoto
- Dancing in the Wings
- The Giving Tree
- The Falling Stars - the Brothers
Grimm
- The Jesus Storybook Bible
- The Selfish Crocodile
- Making Friends by Mr. Rogers (they
enjoyed seeing photos of American children!)
- Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- Beautiful Oops!
- The Elephant's Ears (African and
Indian Elephants)
- The Rainbow Fish
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| I HIGHLY recommend reading books with characters, setting, conflicts that are familiar to the children's surrounding world! They loved reading about Wangari's Trees of Peace - the biography of a Kenyan woman that began a movement of planting trees. They loved "The Elephant's Ears" a story of African and Indian elephants and how they got their ears. Try to choose books related to Africa, books that teach universal lessons through animals, books with conflicts that are relevant to children growing up in the third world, and books about your own culture too, of course! (By the way, they LOVED Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Beautiful oops!, The Selfish Crocodile, and Making Friends by Mr. Rogers - they enjoy seeing pictures of American children for some reason!) |
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| Definitely a winner. The kids could NOT put this book down. I loved the way it allowed them to see the Jesus they already know and love in a completely new light! |
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| These were good to have |
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| I'm so glad I brought glue sticks, banana grams, twine, and markers. Crayons you CAN buy at the supermarkets if you'd prefer not to fly them all the way to Uganda. Notebooks you can also easily find at the supermarkets in Uganda. BUT if you prefer the special notebooks with wide and dotted lines for beginner writers, you'd have to buy them in America and bring them over. |
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| NOTE ABOUT CLOTHES: I would NOT bring donated clothes from America to Uganda the next time I go. I ended up spending at least $200.00 at the airport JUST to pay for extra suitcases full of clothes for the children. It would be SO much easier/more cost effective to BRING $200.00 with you to Uganda and buy $200 worth of clothing at the Ugandan flea market for the children. You could buy SO Much more clothes with the money in Uganda, and the clothes would be a lot more culturally appropriate/fashionable to them if you buy it there. |
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| I brought about 300 pencils to New Hope with me and I am SO glad I did. The schools are in DESPERATE need for pencils and pencil sharpeners. I don't even want to THINK about 5 year olds using razor blades to sharpen their own wooden stub of a pencil. Bring lots of pencils!!! :) |
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| The children LOVE to draw/color in response to stories that we read together. Ask them to draw the "Message" of the story - What do you think this story is trying to teach you? What did you take away from this story?. And get ready to be blown away by their amazing drawings and thoughts. |
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| Like I said, creative writing is a foreign concept in the Ugandan education system. But I still believe it is SO important for kids to be able to think creatively! This was a good way for us to start. I had them imagine Kampala (Ugandan capital) and shout out things they would experience through their 5 senses if they were in Kampala. They all designed their own butterfly on a popsicle stick, and I had them write a creative paragraph on "If your butterfly flew to Kampala, what would it see, hear, touch, smell, and taste?" It worked quite well for my 4th graders! |
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| My 4th graders and their creative writing butterflies |
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| My 3rd graders fingerpainting. Take a look at their Shape Animals hanging up on the back wall! I know its blurry but you can see the difference it makes to have the student's own work hanging up in the classrooms! They LOVE seeing their work hanging up. It gives them a sense of ownership, pride, and a feeling that the work they do really matters :) |
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| Here's my third graders reading "Wangari's Trees of Peace" together. They are discussing the scene where Wangari is placed in jail for standing up for her beliefs in women's rights. They are drawing scenes in which they feel Wangari was being brave. |
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| Finger paint...I hung it up on the classroom wall |
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| Here's Wangari being brave right before she is taken to jail |
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| One of my most amazing third graders, James. He has probably had one of the most traumatizing pasts. He was very quiet and hard to make smile when I first arrived - but then we discovered that he has an INCREDIBLE gift in drawing! I had him design several handpainted Christmas cards for me to bring back to America and sell as a fundraiser for New Hope. He was so excited! |
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| My third graders with brand new folders to store all their writing and math work. |
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| Michael writing a response to reading "Boundless Grace" a book about an African American girl that travels to Africa to meet her father for the first time. |
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| Francis's beautiful house depicting his idea of "Family" after reading "Boundless Grace" |
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| One third grader's depiction of "Home" |
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| Water colors and writing about their future dreams.......:) |
They all have such unique, beautiful, and hopeful dreams!
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| After reading "Have you Filled a Bucket Today?" I had the children write and draw what fills their own buckets! |
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| The simple joy in finding out that red and blue mixed together makes........ |
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| PURPLE!!! |
Story Reading Tips:
- Read very slowly
- Ask children questions that engage
them during the story (Ex. The boy is eating apples. How many of you like to
eat apples?)
- Ask children periodically throughout
the book, "Are we together/Are you following?" (Ugandan English for
"Do you understand?")
- Have children identify literary
elements of the story such as Title, Author, Illustrator, Conflict, Characters,
Setting, Resolution.
- Have children draw what they think
the Message of the story is. Explain the concept of "Message" as
"What does this book teach you?" "What do you think the author
is trying to say to his readers?"
Writing:
- Word Wall: It is very difficult for
the children to string together their own words, unless they are copying from a
board. It can be helpful to set aside one wall of the classroom to post up
basic sight words (one-syllable, highly common words) and gradually add more
words as they are introduced during story time and teaching time. The Word Wall
will equip the children to hear a word, identify the beginning sound of the
word, and finally locate the word under the appropriate letter section. The
Word Wall is a handy tool for the children to start achieving independence in
their writing. A child may ask you how to spell the word "will." This
is when you can direct them towards the Word Wall and have the child locate it
themselves!
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| Look how big our Word Wall got after 5 weeks! By now, the kids have learned how to find words independently - according to the beginning sound. They can write full sentences on their own without ask the teacher for any help. |
- Give the children VERY simple
writing prompts that they can all relate to. Patience is key. In P3, depending
on the individual child, even writing one grammatically correct sentence on
their own can be a huge achievement! Have the children aim for writing 1-3 good
sentences in response to the prompt, and give them ample time to accompany their
writing with creative drawing (provide materials such as crayons, markers,
colored pencils, watercolors, etc. to encourage their creativity). For the
first month or so, focus on just a few important concepts such as
capitalization, punctuation, including spaces between words, and sounding out
words independently. Don't focus so much on perfect spelling, but more on the
structures of their sentences as a whole.
Some examples of beginner's writing
prompts:
- When I grow up, I want to be...
- My favorite subject in school is...
- My dream house looks like...
- One of my favorite hobbies is...
- I am thankful for...
- My best friend is....
- My favorite animal is...
- When there is no school, I like to
do...
- The best game to play is...
- One time I was really happy was...
- My favorite food to eat is....
Active Learning (Movement!)
- My First Yoga
- Jumping Jacks to count by 5's
- Leap Frog to count by 10's
- "Whales and Dolphins" I
read them a book about whales being up to 100 feet long. We went outside that
day and took 100 steps to help the children visualize how BIG a whale can be!
- Act out stories like skits. The
children volunteer to act as different characters, and the teacher may provide
props or simple costumes (The Rainbow Fish, The Three Little Pigs, The Giving
Tree, etc.)
- making Pinwheels to teach about Air/Science.
- making Pinwheels to teach about Air/Science.
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| Discovering the joy of reading :)) |
In Uganda, kids normally spend their entire school day sitting in the seats, facing the chalkboard, and being on "good behavior." In my classroom, I like to let the kids walk around, stand up, get together in teams to do their work. Here's some pictures of that in action:
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| reading books outside..........something I intended to last for 30 minutes and we just kept reading for TWO HOURS~! |
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| the magic of the Jesus Storybook Bible.... |
Behavioral Management
- So well behaved
- Ring a Bell (Whenever you ring the
bell, condition the students to look up with their Eyes, have Empty Hands,
Closed Mouths, Sitting Down)
- Don't force girls to work together
with boys (especially in partnerships).
- Some of the children that attend
school from the village are trained not to look the teacher in the eye, as a
sign of respect. Respect this as part of their culture and don't force children
to look you in the eyes when you speak to them.
Overall Tips:
- Speak slowly and simply
- Have the children practice speaking
to you using their OWN words as much as possible. It is easy for them to repeat
after you, whatever you have said in English. It is a challenge for them to formulate their own sentence in English
such as, "Teacher, I need you to sharpen my pencil." Encourage this
as much as possible and have the children engage with one another in English as
much as possible.
- MUSIC - songs are a GREAT way to
teach children new English words that will stick with them forever! The
children here respond wonderfully to new, simple children's songs with rhyming
words and simple motions/dance moves to go along. Songs are also a great way to
introduce the concept of Rhymes, Word Families (The -ACK Family includes back,
tack, rack, sack, etc.), and eventually, Poetry!!
- READ READ READ to them. This is the
best way to get them excited about learning English and learning how to
read/write. Give them time to handle the books for themselves, help them sound
out words and allow them ample time to enjoy the illustrations as well.
Material Needs:
- Pens/Pencils
- Pencil sharpeners
- Notebooks
- Watercolors
- Gluesticks
- Scissors
- Poster Paper
Children's school is 8AM-4PM
Mondays-Fridays. As a volunteer, you may teach 1 hour on one day, and up to 6.5
hours on another day.
Also, teaching isn't limited to the school days or the classroom. Teaching at New Hope can look like COACHING SOCCER, teaching games on the field outside, teaching kids how to wash their hands after painting. Teaching looks like this too :)
Most importantly.....Fall in LOVE with your kids!!!! Of course you're going to change their lives, they already love you when they first meet you just because you CHOSE to teach them out of any other kids in the world! But what may surprise you is how much INFINITELY greater their impact will be on YOUR life as their teacher. What I thought was once a burden has truly become nothing but a blessing.
Above all, Trust in the LORD. Lean not
on your own understanding, for the Lord will always have greater plans for you
than you can ever imagine for yourself. Pray
for your students! Prayer is powerful, and God will move in your classroom
in unexpected ways. Be open to leaving your comfort zone as a teacher, trying
new things, allowing the children to inspire you and shape the direction of
your curriculum. There will be days when your lesson plans fail, when your
children misbehave and your works appear fruitless, but none of that is
important in the end. The most important job for you as a teacher at New Hope
is to love and serve your students. Ask the Lord to fill you with strength,
energy, creativity, patience, and joy each day, and you WILL see a great change
beginning to emerge in your classroom. The children will begin to grow in joy
and in confidence. Every morning in Uganda, I'd wake up and pray, "Help me
to love my children the same way that Jesus loves them." I thank God for
His faithfulness, and His strength in all my weakness. Nothing is impossible, when you know that God is FOR you and He is FOR every single one of your beautiful future students. :)
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| i love you <3 |
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