I've had a kind of fantastic day. There was nothing out of the ordinary, I didn't find a lost shilling note on the side of the road or come across a hoard of chocolates I had forgotten about, but everything that did today went just swimmingly. I managed to find the Year Twos free so I could teach each of the two streams. Not only was it an informative lesson (on emphysema and tuberculosis), but it was entertaining. I tend to get kind of note-heavy, so to break it up, I like to have the class do energizers. In one stream we spelled the word "EMPHYSEMA" with our whole body, while in the other stream we spelled "TUBERCULOSIS." It was quite funny. These diseases are part of their study of the respiratory system. I'm feeling, finally, like I'm teaching something new, exciting and beneficial to these students. Since they read so much on their own, and they've studied about the different body systems in O level, learning about the different diseases and how they affect their bodies is a great way to use their knowledge in context. I also find that when I include rough statistics about how prevalent these diseases are in Uganda, how many people contract the disease or die from it each day/month/year, or how they rank in infection in comparison to the world, it is most interesting, and keeps students engaged. Although Tuberculosis is not caused by smoking, (as many of the students had previously thought), smoking can exacerbate a TB infection (http://www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/projects/indiatb) and (http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section10/Section2097/Section2106_10682.htm). Emphysema is, primarily, caused by smoking. For this reason, we ended the class with doing a skit on how to say 'no' to peer pressure (saying no to cigarettes while keeping your cool). This was also hilarious, and I felt like the lesson overall was effective, even though I didn't do my daily 1/2 sheet exit slip assessment.
After those two lessons, I hadn't had anything else planned for the day, but Mr. Oketch, an SST tutor, and I met our personal tutor students (the ones we are in charge of guiding and counseling). That was somewhat entertaining, "Ladies, if you have a problem, go see Madam Mary." I guess my duties in guidance and counseling these students also include doing a personal report on each one (or, at least, the ladies).
Following that brief meeting, I headed down to the library to lesson plan a bit. Perhaps an hour passed before a Year One student requested to come in and check out some books. I inquired if there was a tutor in class, which indeed there wasn't. Huzzah! I explained that the library would be open in the evening, but at that moment, I would take Stream J into the reading room so they could finish their projects. The students are working in cooperative learning groups, researching specific subjects (as delegated by me) with the goals of 1) presenting the necessary material to the rest of the class and 2) Being as creative as possible to involve their colleagues in the presentation. This was fantastic, because Stream P had finished preparing the day before, I and I was unsure when I'd find another open slot for J to complete before presentation day, this Friday. Additionally, being at the end of the day, I didn't have to interrupt them and kick them out after an hour. I'm on a high of how productive and fulfilling my day was. The only road bump arrived just recently; the power in Wanyange is out (I'm typing this by gaslight...and the light from the screen....) meaning that the college as well doesn't have power, and the students don't have enough flashlights to make opening the library now worthwhile.
And now I'll use the last bit of my laptop battery to do some idle surfing before I read by candlelight and call it a night. This is my life in Uganda.
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