Since the last time I posted a lot has changed. I feel like the initial surprise of being in another country has worn off, however the daily challenges remain the same. Our power has been going out at some point every day because of some non-functioning gas line from Nigeria. People here seem pretty annoyed. Also, I'm beginning to get familiar with the area and have had the chance to venture out of the neighborhood a few times. We went to the city (Accra) with Auntie last Saturday. The driving here is crazy! There are more or less no traffic rules and people are free to drive as fast/slow as they want, as well as go down any side of the road. I'm glad I don't have a car here, chances are pretty high that I would get in an accident. :)
When we were in the city, we went to a memorial and museum for the President that lead Ghana to independence in 1957, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. They truely admire this man and talk about him constantly. They also have a strange infatuation with the Obamas. They sell Obama pictures, pencils... even biscuits (cookies)! It's pretty funny. In the city, we also had a visit to one of the local markets. It was incredible to see all of the hand carved beads, pots, woven baskets and kenti cloth. Auntie told Jessica and I that it is a tradition for her to give each of the students staying with a her a dress made of kenti cloth at the end of their stay. I'm very excited about that!
We only had three days of school this week because our midterm break starts tomorrow (Thursday through next Monday). I am beginning to know all of the student's names and am slowly getting adjusted to the daily routine here. This week I taught "red light, green light" to the students as an additional activity to support their lesson on traffic safety. They loved it however, the sun here is VERY hot so we were only able to play outside for a short amount of time. I also taught the kids the rhyme "One two, buckle my shoe." This was very success. :) I'm learning that these children love anything that engages them in the form of singing and dancing. The children are wonderful dancers and shake around non-stop! Because our school is a Catholic- based school there is "worship" service every Wednesday morning and the students jump around, clapping their hands while dancing to the drums that one of the teachers plays for them. They also sing songs about Jesus and listen to stories from the Bible.
I talked with my teacher about gradually starting to teach things from the student's workbooks next week and she agreed to give me that control. In addition to starting to work with the student's curriculum, the teacher has given me the freedom to try any classroom management techniques that I feel comfortable with. I've tried having the students stand outside of the room when they are naughty, sit in a chair facing the wall, even writing their names on the board... however, not many of these have been successful. It is definitely a rowdy room of 4 year olds! I made a sticker chart this past week and have brought stickers with that were donated from my university supervisor in America (thanks, Gordy!). I am thinking about possibly implementing this as a form of reward system for the students who aren't acting up. We'll see how well that works.
That's all for now, hope to write more soon.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Arrival to Accra/ First Day of School
On Sunday afternoon I arrived safely in Accra, Ghana. Both of the flights, from Chicago to New York and New York to Accra went smoothly. When Jessica and I got here we were greeted at the airport by Mrs. Batsa (Auntie Agnes), her husband (Daddy) and the HEAT! Both Auntie and Daddy are very generous, friendly, and like to tell stories The heat of the other hand is not so nice! On Sunday, we were given time to un-pack, rest, and then Auntie cooked us an American meal of beef, rice and vegetables. Our house is very large and we have about 5 different families living with us, I'm slowly trying to learn who everyone is. Our first night in Accra was very unpredictable. I was awoken at 4:30am to a loudspeaker in a different language, with the only thing I understood being "akwaaba" which means "welcome" in the native language of Twi ( pronounced "ch-wee"). I found out later from Auntie that this announcement is a prayer that is said for the Muslims in the area and comes from the Muslim Monastery every morning. Another thing that I learned my first night is that there is a "wonderful" rooster who crows repeatedly every morning just to make sure that I never miss my alarm. I'm not sure if that rooster will last my whole stay, I might ask Auntie to cook him for supper. :)
On Monday, we were able to sleep in and take the day off from school, due to our extreme jet lag. We got a tour of the neighborhood from Kwesi, our "househelp" and Auntie took us to the school we would be teaching at to meet the Headmistress, teachers, and students. The students were very excited to see Jessica and myself and they kept chanting songs about us being white foreigners. All in good fun, of course. It was a very different feeling to feel like you are on display, with students staring at you, wanting to hold your hand, and touching your hair or skin. After our short visit to the school, Daddy and Auntie took us to the MaxMart in town to pick up groceries for our breakfast. They have Cheerios and Skippy peanut butter here! They also have strange milk, cheese, and butter that doesn't get refrigerated in the store... it's very interesting.
Today was my first day of school at Ancilla Primary and Junior High School. I am teaching in KG. 1A (Pre-Kindergarten) and have 29 four year-olds in my classroom. I was told that I would also be teaching lessons to the other KG. 1B classroom during my stay. The classrooms are the same but split up so that they are more manageable for the teachers. The schools are VERY different than those found in America.Writing about them here doesn't really do the experience justice. The discipline techniques that are used, as I was warned are not legal in America. The teachers frequently "cane," hit, and slap the students when they are talking or not following directions. Also, this is a Catholic school and so they start the day off with an assembly where all of the students line up and recite prayers. The students then branch off to their individual classrooms while marching to the drums, circling their rooms until the drums stop.
During instruction, the students are advised to follow directions so that they can learn and "leave" Accra. I was introduced to the class as being from America and having lots of things to teach the students. The teacher also said that they must be on their best behavior for me so that they can go to America. This comment made me incredibly uncomfortable. During instruction throughout the day, the teacher shows the students examples and then much of student work is completed out of "readers" or workbooks. My students currently are learning how to write the letters l, m, n, and numbers 16, 17, and 18. I was amazed at how many students could use regular pencils, holding them the correct way and then writing letters legibly! I talked with the teacher today and we discussed learning new things from each other and that she'd like me to teach something tomorrow. I'm a little nervous but excited to try new things with the students! I hope they understand me, I wasn't aware that my dialect would be soooo different than everyone here. The kids that live in my house always joke around that they don't know what I am saying. Another teacher at my school told me that he would teach me some Twi so that I can understand and communicate with people who aren't good at English. That sounds great.
Well, that's all for my first post, I'll write again soon.
On Monday, we were able to sleep in and take the day off from school, due to our extreme jet lag. We got a tour of the neighborhood from Kwesi, our "househelp" and Auntie took us to the school we would be teaching at to meet the Headmistress, teachers, and students. The students were very excited to see Jessica and myself and they kept chanting songs about us being white foreigners. All in good fun, of course. It was a very different feeling to feel like you are on display, with students staring at you, wanting to hold your hand, and touching your hair or skin. After our short visit to the school, Daddy and Auntie took us to the MaxMart in town to pick up groceries for our breakfast. They have Cheerios and Skippy peanut butter here! They also have strange milk, cheese, and butter that doesn't get refrigerated in the store... it's very interesting.
Today was my first day of school at Ancilla Primary and Junior High School. I am teaching in KG. 1A (Pre-Kindergarten) and have 29 four year-olds in my classroom. I was told that I would also be teaching lessons to the other KG. 1B classroom during my stay. The classrooms are the same but split up so that they are more manageable for the teachers. The schools are VERY different than those found in America.Writing about them here doesn't really do the experience justice. The discipline techniques that are used, as I was warned are not legal in America. The teachers frequently "cane," hit, and slap the students when they are talking or not following directions. Also, this is a Catholic school and so they start the day off with an assembly where all of the students line up and recite prayers. The students then branch off to their individual classrooms while marching to the drums, circling their rooms until the drums stop.
During instruction, the students are advised to follow directions so that they can learn and "leave" Accra. I was introduced to the class as being from America and having lots of things to teach the students. The teacher also said that they must be on their best behavior for me so that they can go to America. This comment made me incredibly uncomfortable. During instruction throughout the day, the teacher shows the students examples and then much of student work is completed out of "readers" or workbooks. My students currently are learning how to write the letters l, m, n, and numbers 16, 17, and 18. I was amazed at how many students could use regular pencils, holding them the correct way and then writing letters legibly! I talked with the teacher today and we discussed learning new things from each other and that she'd like me to teach something tomorrow. I'm a little nervous but excited to try new things with the students! I hope they understand me, I wasn't aware that my dialect would be soooo different than everyone here. The kids that live in my house always joke around that they don't know what I am saying. Another teacher at my school told me that he would teach me some Twi so that I can understand and communicate with people who aren't good at English. That sounds great.
Well, that's all for my first post, I'll write again soon.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Information About Ghana
Republic of Ghana
*three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green, with a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; red symbolizes the blood shed for independence, yellow represents the country's mineral wealth, while green stands for its forests and natural wealth; the black star is said to be the lodestar of African freedom
| Country Name: | |
Conventional long form: Republic of Ghana
Conventional short form:
Ghana
Former:
Gold Coast
| |
President: John Dramani Mahama (2012)
Population (2012 est.): 25,241,998
Life Expectancy: 61.45 years
Life Expectancy: 61.45 years
Land area: 88,811 sq mi (230,020 sq km);
total area: 92,456 sq mi (239,460 sq km)
*About the size of the state of Oregon.
Capital: Accra, 2.269 million (2009)
Other Large Cities:
Kumasi, 1.773 million (2009)
Monetary Unit: Cedi ( 1 Cedi = 0.528 U.S. Dollar)
| ||||
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
67.3%
male:
73.2%
female:
61.2% (2010 census)
Education:
Primary School: 6 years (*Kindergarten: 2 years); Junior Secondary School: 3 years; Senior Secondary School: 4 years
| ||||
Monetary Unit: Cedi ( 1 Cedi = 0.528 U.S. Dollar)
| Languages: | |
Asante 14.8%, Ewe 12.7%,
Fante 9.9%, Boron (Brong) 4.6%, Dagomba 4.3%, Dangme 4.3%, Dagarte
(Dagaba) 3.7%, Akyem 3.4%, Ga 3.4%, Akuapem 2.9%, other (includes
English (official)) 36.1% (2000 census)
Religions:
Christian 68.8% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 24.1%, Protestant 18.6%,
Catholic 15.1%, other 11%), Muslim 15.9%, traditional 8.5%, other 0.7%,
none 6.1% (2000 census)
| |
Government Type: |
|||||
Constitutional democracy
National Symbol(s):
| |||||
Recent News:
President Atta died in July 2012. His four years in office were marked
by stability and an increase in oil production. Vice President John
Dramani Mahama was sworn in shortly after Atta's death.
| |
Why Ghana?
I've heard it presented in so many ways.. but more or less everyone is asking, "Why are you going to Ghana, of all places, to teach abroad?" Apparently people seem to think that Europe or an extremely exotic country is deserving of the most recently educated, future teachers. I think the opposite.
My journey finds the beginning of it's path back when I was in high school and decided to embark upon an international mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. It was during this trip that I came to understand that people outside of the U.S. were living simpler lives, and believe it or not, were happy! To me it was so rewarding and life-changing to see such an underwhelmed environment with high amounts of pollution and poverty with the healthiest of personalities and attitudes. Ever since this trip, I have been "itching" to do something beyond my own personal wants and needs.
While I was in college, I learned that I love children and spent four years learning how children grow and develop. After graduation, I again found myself working with those families and children who were "at-risk," or by American standards low-income, immigrants. I fell in love with the diversity and simple-mindedness of the children. I decided that my passion was not only to work with children but to teach them all of the knowledge of the world.
When I went back to school to attain my teaching license I was immediately interested in any study abroad opportunities that were available to me. When I heard through my study abroad office that there were teaching contacts already made in Ghana, Africa, I couldn't have imagined myself going anywhere else. To me, this is the very heart of why I want to be become a professional teacher, to give back and bring knowledge to the children that need it the most. Not only will I teach these children and help them grow, but I hope that they teach me how to be a better teacher and a better person.
My journey finds the beginning of it's path back when I was in high school and decided to embark upon an international mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. It was during this trip that I came to understand that people outside of the U.S. were living simpler lives, and believe it or not, were happy! To me it was so rewarding and life-changing to see such an underwhelmed environment with high amounts of pollution and poverty with the healthiest of personalities and attitudes. Ever since this trip, I have been "itching" to do something beyond my own personal wants and needs.
While I was in college, I learned that I love children and spent four years learning how children grow and develop. After graduation, I again found myself working with those families and children who were "at-risk," or by American standards low-income, immigrants. I fell in love with the diversity and simple-mindedness of the children. I decided that my passion was not only to work with children but to teach them all of the knowledge of the world.
When I went back to school to attain my teaching license I was immediately interested in any study abroad opportunities that were available to me. When I heard through my study abroad office that there were teaching contacts already made in Ghana, Africa, I couldn't have imagined myself going anywhere else. To me, this is the very heart of why I want to be become a professional teacher, to give back and bring knowledge to the children that need it the most. Not only will I teach these children and help them grow, but I hope that they teach me how to be a better teacher and a better person.
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