Model School

The last 5 weeks of stage for SE trainees are spent in model school. During this period, we must demonstrate that we can carry out certain activities in order to show that we are able to effectively serve as PC teachers in Burkina. The first week of model school was spent observing Burkinabe and current volunteers teach to Burkinabe students. We also began lesson planning. During weeks two and three, we were let loose and actually allowed to teach students (wow!). However, it wasn’t as crazy or as terrifying as I thought it would be. So for the past two weeks, I have been teaching one hour a day of SVT (Biology) to real students. The rest of my mornings were spent watching other trainees teach and lesson planning. And lesson planning takes a looonnngggg time. First I have to translate the badly written biology textbook from French to English. Then I have to decide what I actually want to teach (if anything from the book) and then I have to translate it back to French. However, I think my French has improved dramatically (at least I hope it has) in the past few weeks, because I have been forced to speak (and think in) French for at least one hour every day. Also, I already feel much more comfortable speaking in front of people. Right now my classes have about 50 students, which is half the number I will have in real school in the fall, but you have to start somewhere right? I have found that I am a little easy on the students in terms of discipline, aka I don’t through students out of class the first time they are chatting- I give them at least one chance. But I have gotten good feedback from current volunteers, saying that I have a good presence in the room and the students seem to be paying attention and are actually learning! Last week we were learning about mushrooms and on Friday a student brought in a huge mushroom that they found in the fields to show me and the class. So at least one student is excited about learning!

Also, last week I administered my first test. However, since there are no photocopiers here, I had to write the test on large pieces of paper and tape up in the front of the classroom. And these large pieces of paper fell down every five minutes. So every five minutes in my otherwise silent class, I would hear a “Madame Madame le devoir! (the test).” So that was a lot of fun. Also, Burkinabe students seem to cheat a lot, so I had to walk around the classroom the whole time and watch for cheaters. And I caught two and gave them zeros. I did feel bad, but we are told to not be timid and not to let them get away with cheating because if they do it once and get away with it, they will definitely do it again. Grading handwritten tests was also a bit tricky, as all the students here write in cursive and of course it is in French, so I had a fun time deciphering some answers. But as a whole, the class did very well, with ¾ of the class over the moyen (middle 50%). Generally only ½ of the students get above the moyen. So I either wrote a very easy test or my students paid good attention to me. I would like to think the later. Also, another challenge here is to get students to think critically and to stimulate student participation and discussion in class. Thinking critically is difficult here, because students are not really encouraged to apply already-learned concepts and techniques to new environments. So I have been trying to as more “why?” questions in addition to challenging students to think ahead to the next step. However, this is a little difficult sometimes, because I do not always understand what the students are saying and I do not really know the material all that well (when did I ever have to learn the different parts of a mushroom or the differences between ferns and moss?).

Next week I change classes and will be teaching SVT still, but at a higher grade level. So now I get to teach about geology rather than biology. Tomorrow’s lesson is on the water cycle and I even have a fun song to sing to my class (and you all know how well I sing). Next week might be a little challenging, as I am alternating teaching with another trainee, Lorena, and Lorena has great French. So she has been able to already be creative with her classes, while I am still struggling with pronunciation. I aspire to be like Lorena and I think that in one year’s time I will be there. Haha.

And now some random pictures:

Krystle in heaven eating an apple with REAL peanut butter

As you can see, a really nutritious dinner consisting of pasta and oil, but this was actually a really good meal that we were very excited about

I know it is upside down, but we are all excited about our trip to village

African couscous, made from corn flour and water and cooked for about an hour, which I have decided is too much work and store bought couscous tastes sooo much better