The End Approaches - 04/08

Don't be sad that it's over, be happy it happened.  - Tasha, my favourite sister

It's her take on the Dr. Seuss quote "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened".
It's starting to sink in that my time at CCS is quickly ending.  Even though I have an awesome follow up vacation planned, I'm still too caught up in this moment.  In actual fact, I'm almost 94% sure that if I wasn't meeting a friend for the next leg of my adventure I'd probably have cancelled it by now and figured out how to stay here in Moshi longer!
Here are a few updates:
* The number lines are being used with success by more students (yayness!)
* The teacher seems to like and have embraced the phonics based method for reading English
* Snapchat filtered selfies make excellent time fillers at the end of lessons but before lunch
* I know most of the words to the National Anthem of Tanzania and thanks to the local volunteers I understand the meaning (Shout out to you guys- Keydo, Nixon, Lordy and Teddy!)
* I have given suggestions on things I would do if I were staying at the school... hopefully some are feasible and practical and can be implemented
* I have once again fallen in love with the children and people I've worked and lived with for the past three weeks...

One Drop - 02/08

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. -Mother Teresa

Today Lewis completed his addition sums using his number line! 

You might be thinking that isn't a blog-worthy post, but it was a huge deal for me. 
It was the only thing I was holding on to about today because as a teacher it can get you down when things don't go as planned- with a little pep talk from my sister friend Jasmine, I was reminded that no matter the outcome in regards to my goals, I'm still doing a great thing by being here.
{{Photo of Lewis to come soon!}}

Amani means Peace - 01/08

Today we visited the Amani Centre for Street Children.  It is very close to our Home Base and can actually be used as a reference point for locals. 
We drive across it often but today was the first time inside for many of us. 
It was an impressive facility once you entered the main building, but it was the programme itself that blew me away.
The goal of the Amani Centre is to reunite children with their families and they have an over 90% success rate. 
Children are expected to follow the rules and schedule of the Centre while there and they have a team of social workers, teachers, staff and volunteers supporting them. Along with their education and basic needs, the children also develop life skills while in the programme.  Families of the children receive support to help achieve the goal of reuniting the children into their families - either immediate or extended.
After our tour we had time to hang out with the children.  There was a football match, some magic tricks and lots of selfie action! 
I am really interested in the 6 month English teacher/librarian position that's available... I'm just going to leave that there and see who actually reads the blog ;)

Day 2 - 19/07

I was a little nervous about day 2. More so than day 1! Thanks to my amazing nap, I didn't sleep much last night.  The benefit of this was that I was able to get on Pinterest which I haven't been able to do because of the internet connection.  I saved some ideas for a Montessori inspired infant /toddler space with hopes of sharing them with Evarist. I had checked the supplies earlier in the evening and didn't see anything I wanted for the babies.
7:00am (1 o'clock Swahili time) came before I knew it.  After some eggs, chapati, banana and mango juice it was time to hit the road.
When I arrived there were only a few students in class. I brought out my number cards I had brought with me so the children could practise their numbers using something other than their fingers.  It was fine until more children arrived. One of my little loves, we'll call him Kee, was hoarding a bunch of the cards and ended up ripping one.
The teacher brought some lego-style building blocks which got the children's attention.  They also had some balls to play with and the teacher wowed us (okay, me) with her juggling skills. The introduction of the toys made the morning more productive and manageable in my opinion. The first part of the morning really sped by and before I knew it, it was snack time.  We headed down to the dining room for porridge. After snack it was time for our volunteer tea break with Evarist. Today we had chai, chapati and a donut. It was like a full size donut ball without the sugar coating; I enjoyed it!
After tea I showed Evarist some of the ideas for a more hands-on classroom for the babies. He wasn't sure what he would be able to get in terms of supplies but he said to give him two days to do some homework for it. Hopefully we can make at least one activity for the babies before I leave. That'll make my whole trip worth it to me.
The weather was considerably warmer today so we took the babies out to the playground.  They had a blast!
When we went back inside they all wanted help taking off their sweaters and jackets. I started with two little ones and then others were circling around calling out "Mimi" which means I or in this case, me indicating their desire to be next... they haven't quite gotten down the idea of a line.
A teacher came to give them water before singing and dancing with the class. Our van was a little later than yesterday so I was able to help set up the mattresses for sleeping before the children went to lunch.  There were about 5 single size mattresses and the one from yesterday which is a little bigger but not a double size. 
After that playtime this morning I'm sure they slept well!  I know I should tonight!

The Cuteness in Kindergarten

Today was fellow volunteer Rachel's last day at school.  We headed in early to teach  a kindergarten class before our regularly scheduled classes.  We always see the little ones around campus but the youngest grade I've had so far is grade/pratom 1.
Since the kindergarten class doesn't usually get volunteers we were a new novelty item in the classroom. The children were full of giggles at the "farang" which is Thai for foreigners. Pitsuda introduced us as Teacher Nadia and Teacher Rachel then we got to it. We sang the alphabet song and counted from one to ten. We used coloured balls found in the classroom to review colours. The children were very good with their colour names.  After our review, Rachel and I handed out 3 Uno cards to each student. We played a few rounds of my go - to colour/number game. The children seemed to enjoy it immensely. We also introduced them to the 'Hokey Pokey'. Left and right were trickier than the previously covered topics but still good fun. Pitsuda sang the elephant song which reviews the concept of big and small.  Class ended with a few group photos.
Fun fact: The children are told to say "Pepsi" to smile rather than cheese. This makes sense as cheese is not something often included in Thai meals.  In fact, I can't think of a time that I've had cheese since I've arrived! 

Days of the Week * snap, snap*

Today the students worked on the Days of the Week.  In Thailand each day is assigned a specific colour.  This is helpful for the students because they can relate the colours to the name of the day in Thai.
I wish I had my laminator so I could make a material for this.  I've asked if I can go to the teachers' store or if it is only for Thai teachers, hopefully I'll find out soon.
The Thai education system is based on a lot of rote learning. I've slowly been adding a few of my preferred methods during my teaching, including asking the children "what is this?" after we've reviewed the names of a topic in English.  It's part of the Montessori three-part lesson.
Joy knew the Days of the Week song to the tune of the Addams Family so we taught the children how it goes.  Music is so universal.  It was great to hear the children humming and singing quietly to themselves as they worked on writing the names of the days in English.
I had noticed that the children enjoy singing and the teachers encourage English songs.  I explained to Joy that my sister's birthday was the next day and asked if the children knew the birthday song, which they do. When the children had finished their work I asked them to sing the birthday song so I could record them.  They love a camera (my spirit children). The students were happy to fulfil my request and I knew my sister would appreciate the birthday wishes.
You can add this to my tally of successful days.

The next class

After lunch I had another class with Joy. This time it was English for Pratom 5. They were also working on colours but in more variety including gold, bronze and sky blue - not to be confused with blue!
Joy said the students were having a hard time getting "sky blue" because they were pronouncing it sa-ky blue. For that I had a quick fix, ready to go! I freed my hands and had them clap with me as I said "Sky Blue". The students have previously covered syllables because Joy then made mention of sky being one syllable not two.  We practised that for a bit before moving on to our next activity. 
Joy had liked the cootie catchers so much that she wanted the older students to make them as well.  My dear Reader, I'll tell you right now that you cannot have an ounce of doubt in your teaching ability if you are about to instruct the largest class size you've ever had in a step by step activity without being sure that they understand what you are going to be saying.  No worries, I am a pro! 
I'm pleased to report that all students were able to follow along well enough to leave class with their own colour cootie catcher.  I was even able to get two students who finished to assist their peers as I continued to float around the group. 
Yes, the sweetness of success was in the air.  No need for any apples for this teacher, smiling students leaving a class is perfect for me.

First Day of School

Today was my first day of school. I had a healthy breakfast of fruit and yogurt with a all natural, organic smoothie in a juice box.
My placement is in a local primary school not far from the home base. Today I met Pitsuda or "Khun Tuk", my on site contact.  She's also the grade one teacher, head of English and the school nurse!
My schedule includes grades 1, 2, 3 & 5. Today I went over some of the grade one lessons to get ideas for activities I can implement.
After school, Delaney (another volunteer but not my roommate) and I helped the staff with some meal prep. Okay, all we really did was prepare the beans but hey the meal wouldn't have been the same without it! 
Following my hard work prepping green beans I took a nap.

Later in the afternoon I had a meeting with Pimsuda, the CCS Bangkok director, (not to be confused with Pitsuda) who has suggested I share my Montessori knowledge with the teachers at my school.  That is an awesome opportunity that I will not refuse! If you know me, you know I love the Montessori method. I'll talk this through with Pitsuda before I begin putting something together.  I wish I had my school laptop with me but that thing is probably heavier than 10 lbs on its own.
We had another Thai language lesson today - oh, I forgot to tell you! After we helped with the beans, the cook said thank you and I was able to say you're welcome in Thai! I got it right and I was even happier when she smiled and said "good job" in Thai and I knew what she was saying. Whoohoo!! Safe to say the Thai lessons are working.
Following dinner and dessert, I did some lesson planning for my grade one students based on colours and numbers.  Some of the other volunteers liked what I had found online so I saved the resource on the home computer.  When it comes to teaching resources I'm a firm believer in sharing is caring.
I think I'm all set for tomorrow. Bring on Day 2!