One week of normal life.....

Greetings!  Having been here for two months now, I'm already forgetting what parts of school life are different from when I was in Aus.  

Writing on the blackboard (which is just a wall painted black) is normal.
Keeping the light in the 'on' position so I can see when the power comes back on and rush to photocopy is normal.
Double siding every photocopy (manually, but taking it out, turning upside down and putting back in) and keeping count of the sheets used is normal.
Turning on the ceiling fan only to have it shower the students in gecko poo is normal.
Wooden chairs making screeching sounds on the concrete floor is normal.
Having to squeeze sideways between desks in a too small room is normal.
Wiping a film of dirt off everything everyday is normal.
Looking up the next lesson to be taught in a textbook is normal.
Finishing lunch break at 1:00pm and still having 2.5 hours of school to teach is normal.

I can't say I like all the 'normal' things (especially not the last two!) but most are no real problem.  I thought this week I would take photos of a typical week at school - my new version of normal :)

Monday blackboard: Exponential notation

Snack time!  Uji (millet/cornflour porridge) + hard boiled egg

The class have been writing procedures on a topic of their choice. Today they presented to the class, demonstrating at least one step of their instructions.  I learnt so much about each student and loved the diversity of topics!

This gal is such a talented artist!

Demonstrating how to make Chapati - Ethiopian style

Rylee demonstrated how to make Kombucha. 

This student has only been speaking English for 1.5 years....and did an amazing job!

Lunch time is a whole hour to eat yummy food that the cooks prepare for all staff and students.  No playground duty either! 

Today's lunch: Yellow lentils and rice

Monday afternoon is Science followed by a planning period, then home time!  I have a tradition of getting an ice cream at Woodlands (our little local supermarket) each day.  Even if I don't walk home from school (it's about a 45 min walk) I usually walk back to get my after school treat!  Woodlands doesn't have a generator and with power off 50% of the time I'm always super happy to get a sort of frozen version of ice cream :)

Monday after school ice cream - pretty good!

Tuesday blackboard: power off = no photocopying = whole worksheets copied onto the board

Snack time! Uji with oranges (that are rarely the colour orange)

The 6th Grade students learnt about fossils today!  The year 7+8 students are learning about experimental variables and did an experiment looking at how soap affects the surface tension of water.  It's so strange to have two entirely different Science lessons going at once in a class of only 10 students....but must do what the textbook says!

Lunch: Ugali and Machicha + Mac and cheese
 (Tanzania meets 'merica!)

I teach drama 2 afternoons a week to all students K-8.
 I love getting to know these little sweeties.

Today's ice cream: the melted and not quite refrozen version

Wednesday was a public holiday to commemorate the death of Tanzania's first president.  We had some team building stuff at the director's house, but no school!

Thursday's blackboard: each month we have a memory verse to learn and present to the school.
A bit easy for this class, so we are learning ours in Italian  instead
 (our History topic has lots about Italy at the moment!)

Snack time! Uji and hard boiled egg

In History we have been studying the Renaissance and are making a timeline to go around the classroom showing the major people and events.  It's the only subject I can fully teach as a whole class and the kids are learning so much.  It's my favourite subject to teach because I'm learning heaps as well!

Today's lunch: beans and rice with banana

After school ice cream - nicely refrozen

Friday blackboard: more Science....no slacking off in my class...

Snack time! Uji (with lots of sugar - it was a bit burnt today)
and toast

Each Friday we have Book Buddies (carrying on the tradition from LCS!). The students in my class are each paired with one or two "buddies" from the Kindergarten class and spend 20 mins reading aloud to them.  It's great for the Kinder kids but also for my students as half the class are ESL students are are lacking confidence in reading in English.  In this setting if they don't know a word, no problem!  

Today's lunch: beef stew with rice and watermelon

Hanging out in the staffroom/library over lunch :)

So excited for Friday afternoon ice cream..alas, no power all day
 so ice cream would be really mushy.  Still needed a treat though!

And now for a lovely relaxed weekend!  We have parent teacher interviews next Friday (and get a whole day off for them!) so I need to write reports this weekend.  Here's one last photo, showing what a 'report card' looks like on this side of the world.

HALF A PAGE per student for ten students....
teacher friends be very jealous!

God's blessings xxx