We finally began the long-awaited task of teaching math and science at Koalabata and S.O.S 🙂 The day was filled with the expected logistical chaos – our taxi driver did not arrive on time, nor did he know where the Koalabata Primary School was located. He took some turns and we ended up where we needed to be, but his demeanor when we asked where we were was hardly comforting.

Our first day was similar at both schools. We taught states of matter and air pressure using some fun experiments, played fraction bingo, and did some ice-breakers as well. The first day was not too difficult given we had not started teaching our formal lessons. The difficulty was to come the next day, but I began to sense it as I went over my lessons on Monday night and realized the sheer amount of material to be covered in the short span of 1 hour and 30 minutes for each subject. In addition, we had no idea where the students were in terms of skill level in either math or science.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we administered both our practice science tests and math tests for half of the teaching time at both schools, and we taught a lesson the other half. On Tuesday, we covered Nutrition, and Wednesday we reviewed multiplication at Koalabata and both multiplication and division at S.O.S.Our difference in lessons at the two schools appears to be a trend that is going to continue, especially in math. After we administered the tests and had time to go over them afterward, we made some interesting, albeit concerning, discoveries that gave us some insight to the challenges that lie ahead. At Koalabata, I found after speaking to the principal that the students have not actually learned decimals yet. Overall, the students at Koalabata could do some of the problems centered around fractions, basic arithmetic, and some diagrams, but they were not able to master the vast majority of the math assessment test. In fact, essentially no student completed the entire test, with most students completing roughly 25-30 questions, getting anywhere from 1 to maybe 15 correct in a select few cases. At S.O.S., the students performed better, though were still not able to finish the test, working out roughly 30-40 in most cases, getting anywhere from 10-30 correct. The science was a slightly different story, with all students at both schools finishing the test. At Koalabata the students seemed to score within the range of 15-25, and at S.O.S. the vast majority of students scored above 20, with a considerable number above 25. Both tests were far more difficult that their corresponding PSLE’s, and I regret deeply our mistake to correct the math test beforehand, or at least assess it with some of the teachers, and it is something that I am committed to improving when it comes time to administer a post-test to assess how well the students have made it throught the review course. We had initially assummed that we knew what level the students were at in both math and science, but after administering these tests we found that the students at both schools possess completely different abilities in both math and science. A key note to self is that we cannot assume anything anymore when it comes to the students abilities. Designing a curriculum back in the United States was a great, but there is much work to be done in working out the details if we want students to truly learn what they do not know. We do not have enough time to trip over ourselves when we are teaching like we did with the math test, so I believe we will find it vitally important throughout the rest of this process to communicate with the teachers and students to find exactly where there range of ability is so that we do not aim too low or too high in our teaching. The first example of this came immediately after we discovered how different the math skills were at the two schools, leading us to review only multiplication at Koalabata on Wednesday because that is what the students needed, whereas at S.O.S. the students were able to get through a comprehensive multiplication and division review. Teaching math at both schools will indeed be a challenge, but it is one that is necessary and that I am looking forward to adapting to. Our lessons in both topics cover the basics, so there seems to be no worry about completely revamping lessons, but it is obvious that a fair amount of adaptation will occur to cater to the general abilities of the students at each school.

Working with 38 kids at Koalabata and 45 kids at S.O.S. introduces some of the larger issues I think we will face in the coming weeks. Because there are so many students and there is so much material, we are going to have to remain vigilant in observing as many individual students as possible because I think it will be easy to forget that as a class they may echo what we tell them, but there are bound to be kids who are just going with the flow and who do not understand the exact material being covered. In addition, we have these kids for 3 hours during what is supposed to be their winter break. While I wholly believe in their motivation to come, I also think it is up to us as teachers to make this material as NOT BORING as possible because that may be the only way that they remember what we teach them in these 5 weeks.

Now that I have gone over many of the finer details of teaching, which I am sure you LOVE reading, I will attempt to lighten up the discussion with some other, more personal insights, the first of which is my admiration of teachers that has exponentially risen faster than any sort of bunny reproduction analogy you can think of. The truth is that after two days of teaching, I have come home and spent at least 2 or 3 hours looking over everything I am going to do the next day – working our examples, coming up with homework problems, and working out a general structure to the lecture that flows reasonably well and addresses everything I would like it to. Then, we we get to the classroom, and things never go as smoothly as planned because the kids are 13 years old, maybe we were 5 mintues late, or maybe there is a concept that we thought would go quickly but it is doing the exact opposite. All in all I must say that this experience is teaching more than any class ever has and I am enjoying every second.

I apologize for the lengthy elaboration on what seems to be lots of information not related to the kids, but the first few days of teaching have been spent adjusting to the role of a teacher and getting in the groove of working on lessons, problems, and planning effectively. Plus, I have to make some mental adjustments. Being the authoritarian and telling kids they have to be quiet or they will have to go outside, or giving the famed death stare, can be difficult for someone who found it hard to listen to teachers when he was younger. I always said I would let students run freely if I became a teacher. Not so much.

At Baylor, where we now only work from 3 P.M. – 5 P.M., we have a plethora of projects we have started on. We are continuing the fine tuning of the Plumpy-Nut database, working on information, communication, and education brochures for the Clinic, as well as attempting to get the ball rolling on the testing event at Koalabata. We spoke to Meena about the event today, and we will bring the topic up with the Koalabata School on Friday. Our tentative goal is to have a testing event that couples the basic testing and counseling with a component of teaching on the part of the students. The week before the event, we will begin our HIV lessons, and we will continue them them every day up to the event. Hopefully, we will have groups of Koalabata students become experts on certain aspects of HIV and teach those topics they spent the last week learning to their families, friends, and their communities. The idea is something that Meena encouraged, and it is something that I am extremely excited about.

I hope I can get back to you in the next few days to let you know how our lessons have been going, but for now sleep is something that has been in high demand and low supply, so I will part with hopes of continuing the update on math and science in the classroom another day.

Too happy and tired to come up with some parting words,

Amit