Volunteering ~ Jennifer's 2nd Day!

by EfforTZ Foundation on 04/05/12

While working in the primary schools with the kids can be wonderful, it can sometimes be a little difficult as well. As Jennifer discovered in a Level 1-B class, distractions can occur in the form of teachers leaving classes unattended for part of the period or allowing lunching students in the back of the room. These are issues we try to deal with tactfully but cultural behaviors are hard to change. Happily, Jennifer and our other volunteers always make the best of it!

On my second day at Naura, I started in a Level 1-A class. The students were very excited to see me beause they had been waiting for me to teach them since the day before. We sang several songs and then worked on The Cat booklet, which seemed appropriate for their level. There were two teachers in the class and they helped to maintain discipline so the students kept on task.

I then went back into the nursery class where I was again greeted with hugs from all the students. The teacher was out of the room at the beginning of class so we worked on some of the same songs we sang the day before and then, once the teacher returned, I taught them how to play Duck, Duck, Goose. The teacher in this class is very helpful and had a lot of great energy.

After singing, we read Are You My Mother? with the teacher translating into Swahili. I then passed out animal posters and we read the story again with the students making animal noises when their animal was mentioned. The students saw the book Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed in my bag so I let them act it out one final time before the end of class. This class, because of its small size and very engaged students, was by far my favorite of the two days at Naura.

After a tea break, I went into a Level 1-B class, which was the most challenging of all the classes. The teacher was not present and the coordinator had some administrative duties so I was in there all by myself. It didn't help matters that there were quite a few Level 2  students in the back of the class eating lunch and talking amongst themselves. It was definitely a challenge trying to make sure the students understood me.

By the end of the class, the coordinator returned so I was able to get the class under better control. In this class, we sang some familiar songs. I taught them The Itsy, Bitsy Spider with the hand movements and we worked on The Duck which might have been a little bit too challenging for the Level 1 students.

For the final class of the day, I worked with Level 2 students where, after singing some songs they knew, I taught them how to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. They were mildly successful at singing it in a round, but I think they didn't quite understand the concept. We then worked with The Cat book again, which they seemed to be able to handle quite easily.

In all the classes, the children enjoyed coming up to the blackboard to fill in answers in chalk. That was definitely a big hit!