11.19.13 Month 2 Day 29: Heavy rains woke me up around 5 today, drenching the whole of Mulanje with a downpour I should begin to become used to. Bertha was not in the house at her usual time, which worried me. She has never been late or missed a day of work since her employ began. When it rains like it had today, especially during the early morning hours, the work day tends to start off on a later schedule. The complications of getting to work under normal circumstances allow for lateness, and when you add the obstacle of bad weather, it is fair to expect a delay of at least 30 minutes. Once speaking with some church friends who were nearby, they informed that Bertha’s tardiness was nothing to worry about, just a simple fact of life here in Mulanje. I let the anxiety pass unabated, and moved on with my morning. I headed down to chapel, and found no one there. I thought perhaps I had missed a memo and it was another synod holiday! I was wrong once I made my way into the staff room to find half of the teachers lounging and waiting for others to arrive. After a few greetings and some small talk, I made my way (open umbrella clutched in hand) to chapel for morning devotions. Once the engines finally began firing, the school seemed to wake up as life was pumped into the cylinders. I taught two classes, back to back, and focused on the students speaking and conversation skills. They are improving in their grammar and syntax but are struggling to speak with confidence and clarity. If you cannot verbally communicate effectively, reading and writing a language are all but useless in today’s world. These young pupils are weakest in the area of speech production, so I press them occasionally and force them to use their skills. I am a staunch believer in needing the occasional boost to move forward in the learning process, and so I did just that with them today. I had them partner off, and required that they learn certain details about their partners, i.e., favorite type of food, favorite type of music, and what they plan on doing over the holiday break which is fast approaching. I then instructed them to put these newly learned facts into writing, using full sentences. With great struggle and frustration, they managed to put together responses that were intelligent and very promising. This gives me a good sense of where the students are at with their writing skills as well, and it sheds light on where I need to stress my planning of future lessons. A number of students fail to write in complete sentences, or in other words, they are using broken English to communicate in writing. Academically, this is not tolerable, and that is why we are engaged in the learning process together. I feel confident that I can convey the necessary information for them in our time together this year. I hope to have 50+ students who can effectively communicate verbally, in writing, and have a confident ability to comprehend via written and oral exposition. I want to show that these students have serious potential in achieving the ultimate goal of fluency in English. After working with them this morning, I gathered my things and headed off to Blantyre with Charles to take care of a few things in town. I managed to sort out my return flight situation, confirm my TEP processing, and get a haircut before heading back to Mulanje. Busy day, yes, but one filled with tasks accomplished! Off to bed to rest for the evening! Ndakusowa abwenzi!
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:34:48 +0000
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