I know it has been a while since I have posted anything on the blog. I have been providing pictures on Facebook, and decided there are some people I can reach this way and share some of my daily live here in Namibia.
I am involved in a variety of
projects, plus had a busy 11 days with Ashley, my former student who finished
her first year of teaching in Spain and a group of faculty, staff and students
from my university were here for 3 weeks filming a documentary and that carved away at some free
time. I am past my halfway point and so
I completed a summary for the embassy—it really only includes
April-June, because at the beginning I would provides updates about every 6
weeks. I will include my work update on another entry, so those of
you who are enjoying all my “fun” posts on Facebook will know the other
side of my life here.
This week I
completed 2 of the 4 classroom management workshops at a school in
Katutura. I know the first day many of
the teachers weren’t too happy about the principal’s mandate to attend an after
school session. I told them the exit
slip was a ticket out the door, and only 2 people told me they just couldn’t
respond—would need to think about the prompts—“Describe a new insight for you
from today related to classroom management” and “Write any questions or
concerns you want me to address tomorrow.” I know they complete evaluations
after some professional development workshops, but I believe saying it was a ticket
out the door was a new concept for them.
By Day 2, I had 100% completion!
It was sweet because about 6 teachers commented positively on the
presentation, including a teacher I was pretty sure didn’t want to be
there—chose to sat in the back corner farthest from me on the first day. On the second day she was much closer. Management
is challenging for a lot of teachers, especially is small classrooms with often
40 learners. After spending time yesterday talking about positive connections
with students as a strategy for positive classroom management, and then on an
exit slip the majority of teachers saying they value positive connections with
students, I feel that even if they make one change, there might be a benefit
and make teaching less stressful. I
offered to come into their classrooms, observe and give feedback all
confidentially, and about 8 or 10 out of the 30 teachers took my card, so we
will see what happens. I will finish up
the workshop July 8 and 9th before family arrives.
This
Sunday-Friday, I go to Tsumkwe in the eastern part of the country. It is a region of the San people and along
with my Dean I will be spending a week observing pre and lower primary (K-2)
classrooms. Because instruction is in the language of the San people, we will
also have two interpreters. I am excited
about seeing a totally new area of Namibia. This research trip is part of the large research
project funded by UNESCO and the Chines Funds in Trust. We are looking a pre and lower primary
education at schools in all 14 regions of Namibia, and after collecting data in
June and July will begin to identify strengths and needs, and from there begin
to develop ways to increase the quality of education at the lower grades.
Lindsey
will be on her own this week—Tony went to Wales to visit family and returns the
following week. She will have an
automatic car to get around. I know she
will be fine on the left hand side of the road—she really attends to what I am
doing, but even with that, she has Pam, one of my colleagues, and a friend from
the Embassy watching out for her. She
gets to help at the Embassy’s 3rd of July event so that will be nice
for her. On Tuesday she was part of the
reception committee at the UN that greeted all the dignitaries arriving for the
visit of Ban Ki-moon and the Namibian president. What an experience for her! She got to see and meet a variety of people
and learned that some ambassadors like to be greeted formally with the title “Your
Excellency.” How she learned that makes for a good story—one that is hers to
tell.
So this update is getting to be
long. One more paragraph about the
upcoming family visit. Laura (niece) and
Tony arrive on July 11th, and then Ann (sister) and Andrew (son)
arrive on July 13th. We will
have a packed week with visits to Erindi for animal viewing, and Sossusvlei for
dune climbing at dawn. Andrew will be
performing magic at the National Theater of Namibia (NTN) on Saturday July 19th. It’s a bigger event than we thought. I had talked to people at the Embassy about
Andrew performing and apparently when they contacted the NTN and showed his
website, the idea grew quickly from a show perhaps at the American Cultural
Center to a matinee with tickets being sold by CompuServe—the Namibian/South
African equivalent to Ticket Master.
Tickets are US$3.00 (children) and US 6.00 (adults). The cost might be a luxury for some children
and families so my sisters and I have decided to sponsor 40+ kids from the
after school centre in Katutura.
As you can
see, our experiences continue to be positive. Lindsey does miss her friends and
is looking forward to her July/August visit to CA and WA to attend two weddings
and connect with family and friends.
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