On Wednesday this week, another education volunteer arrived for a visit. He has been working in Tanzania for at least five years and I was terribly jealous of his excellent Swahili! Jonathan had been asked to come down to the school to visit me by my program manager at the VSO office in Dar to offer support, feedback, advice, etc. He brought with him a wealth of resources on teaching English that I hope to employ. It was wonderful to bounce ideas off someone who has been in country and knows the ropes. He was mighty impressed with our school and that was also very encouraging.
On the night before he departed, we brought all the girls together so that he could do some activities with them. He termed it ‘Total Physical Response’, meaning that students learn new vocabulary by saying and doing things at the same time. For example, he wrote a list of actions on the board, such as Make a Fist, Clap your Hands, Walk Backward, and then demonstrated each one. He then called out the actions and the whole group would do the action in unison. It was great to watch and the students loved it. The game quickly took on a rhythm and I’ve learned that students here love anything where there is a beat or a song.
Jonathan teaching the students a new game
I was pleased that Jonathan also had some suggestions for how the school could better utilize after school clubs to foster English language acquisition. We’ll be meeting as a staff at some point before the end of November to discuss this topic for the upcoming school year and while I’ve already pitched the ideas to my Headmaster, we’ll see how the rest of the staff respond. I worry about their reactions to things that require longer hours and more work. However, with the resources Jonathan gave us, we would simply be facilitating and students could even work independently or with a student leader. I hope they’ll embrace it with open arms. We’ll see.
Cheers,
Marike
