Intra-staff communication and teaching prepositions

So, last week Emily and I were trying to prepare our Form Is for their midterm exam this week, which we thought started on Friday. Then, the evening before our last class last week, we were informed that midterms, in fact, actually were going to start on Monday. We were, as usual, the last ones to find out, but even the rest of the staff only found out that day.

So, we had thought we had three more class periods to prepare our students for the exam, when in fact we only had one. Oh well.

Our one review day was my day to teach, so I very quickly tried to remind them of everything we had done since I got here. I had gotten about 3/4 of the way through what I had planned when a Form III student came into our class and asked to make an announcement. I let him, and he made the announcement in Swahili, so Emily and I didn't understand, but didn't really care. I continued to teach after he left, summarizing the family tree and whatnot, but after about 5 min, all of the students were really restless. Just as I turned to figure out what the problem was, Emily came up and said that one of the students had told her they were supposed to go to a debate right now.

Great. So I quickly told them the other topics that would be on the exam, and said ok Go. And they all stood up and started taking chairs and things out of the classroom, up to the dining hall.

So what was this debate, you ask? Oh, just a little inter-class debate, hosted by none other than the English department , of which we comprise half.

Perfect.

This sense of "what the hell is going on?" is sort of normal for us, and it's not always because we're foreigners. The administration often just decides things like this. Keeps things interesting.

So this week, I didn't have to teach Form I since they were in midterms, so all I had was Form II. I decided to teach prepositions, which, for those of you fluent English speakers who may have forgotten, are words like under, around, on, into, in front of, beside. The first class, I explained all the words as best as I could (try to explain the word "for" without using it. Just try.), and quickly realized that demonstrations were completely necessary. So I had the whole class do all kinds of crazy things like stand ON their chairs and put their noses UNDER their desks. They seemed to like it, and I think it actually worked.

In the next class, I worked on prepositions that use motion, so I brought a soccer ball to class. I first had them throw it over things, and into the class room, and around the classroom. Then I taught throwing TO vs. throwing AT by having one student catch the ball and then walking beside him and throwing it so that he couldn't catch it and it hit him in the shoulder. AT. Haha. And then I proceeded to jokingly threaten those of them who hadn't turned in their homework. Of course.

One of the footballers wanted me to throw it at his head, and I gladly obliged. He headed it back to me, so it doesn't count as beating. But that was the most engaged I had ever seen either class, and they seemed to be understanding, so that made it doubly fun. Plus, whenever anyone made a mistake, it was funny (and usually resulted in someone else getting hit with the ball), so maybe it was easier to learn.

To test their comprehension, I told them to send one student THROUGH the door, OUTSIDE, AROUND the building, pick up a rock, and bring it back INTO the classroom. Then I had another student throw the rock back THROUGH the window. The kid they volunteered was one I knew from soccer, and so I narrated as he ran around... "Ok, there he goes through the door. Now he's outside. Oh there he is, you can see him though the window, he's running around the building now... etc."

Needless to say, it was a really fun class, and definitely NOT something they're used to, but they were willing to humor me, and I think they had fun. Alright this post is ridiculously long and I haven't told you a lot of things I was supposed to but I'm staying in Iringa tonight at a friend's grandfather's house, so maybe I'll get another chance tomorrow. Enjoy Labor Day Weekend.