Take your shoes off!

During the rainy season, if the floor has been mopped recently, the students will leave their shoes outside the door to keep from tracking in more mud.  I was proctoring an exam for form three today, and during the exam it started raining heavily again and the rain was blowing in, so I moved the shoes into the stairwell to keep them dry.  

Below: our local grocery store has new pencils: Obama pencils! 

 

Breaktime with Form One

Just another day in secondary school life...I let my form one students take a few pictures during the break after class in the afternoon.  It's always fun to let form one students take some silly pictures...who knows what photos might show up again in four years when they are graduating... ;)  

Below: Prince, Baraka, George, Ipyana and Ernest clowning around. 

Below: Annastazia, Beatrice, Nosim and Winifrida 

 

Find the Fish

Today in form one, we started our unit on giving directions.  A fun way I like to start this lesson is by hiding something around the classroom and blindfolding one student while another gives them directions to find the object. A couple of years ago I happened to have a paper fish handy left over from a Bible class lesson, and used that...everyone liked the fish so it's become a tradition to use a fish.

Above: Marsel found the fish!  Below: Baraka takes a turn, with Jackline giving him directions from the front. 

Below: Anitha gives Ashley directions.  He's getting close!

We found the fish several times, and then moved on to other vocabulary and excercises to practice giving directions in English.  Below, Annastazia, Witness and Nosim get a photo with the fish. 

 

Form 3 Shenanigans

Welcome to another afternoon with form 3!  Today in class, we were reviewing giving good directions in English, and to introduce the topic, we played a game in which a blindfolded person had to find a paper fish taped somewhere in the room (round one: the wall on the other side of the room, round two: on Innocent's forehead, round three: on the column just outside the door), guided by another student, who had to give them verbal directions while guiding them.  While form three (average age 16) like to act like they are cool and grown-up, they fold quickly when there's fun to be had.  

We were being a bit silly after class; the students aren't allowed phones at school, so every now and then I let them talk me into letting them practice their selfies on mine when I have a few minutes to supervise.  I thought my selfie didn't turn out too bad.  

Me with some the boys: Baraka, Salum, Kean, Victor and Daniel.

Goofballs...Kean, Gabriel and Salum.

The Form Three classroom, and a few of the girls working on assignments.

Kean, Gabriel, and Salum, still trying to look cool...

Is it working?

Maybe if we do an artistic background blur...

Artistically looking at the ceiling, maybe?  

Alright, let's look at ourselves...

I have fun working with teenagers. :)

Wednesday Afternoon in Class

Welcome to Wednesday afternoon in my classroom!  I took a few photos while my students were busy with a group activity.  While the classrooms upstairs have normal layout with rows of desks, these downstairs have levels to provide something like stadium seating.  It has its pros and cons--it is easier for everyone to see the board clearly, but it's hard to rearrange the desks for groupwork.  The desks have metal legs, which make an awful racket on the tile floors, and they're quite heavy to lift up and down the steps. We make it work pretty well, though! 

Nevil, Peter and Daniel...also known as The Ones that Never Stop Talking

Lowasa, Athuman, Olotai and Gabriel

Rebecca has been attending my class; she's fairly close in age to these students and has been making friends.