We survived Friday at the school, and in fact things went quite well. I have realized that I may be better at working with kids than with adults. At least I enjoy it more. Maybe it has something to do with my "control issues." Don't worry, I know you were thinking it as well.

We got to the school around 9:00 and of course school was supposed to have started at 8:30 but hadn't begun yet. The teachers weren't in their classrooms and of course the students weren't either. It was a bit hectic really. Who says that school uniforms are the key to uniformity?

The particular teacher who had been rather rude on Thursday was less so on Friday, although she gave me a nickname with an attitude in her voice which seemed to imply that the nickname wasn't friendly. I'm now called "Betty." I will try to accept my new name with grace, and as my Mother would probably say, "It's better than being called Liz." So at least one person is probably happy with the new name - please enjoy this moment Mom.

Around the time of the lunch break (10:30 to 12:30) my stubborn teacher came to see the software we'd brought in and spent the morning cataloguing. She was thrilled to be using one of the laptops and we even caught her singing along to one of the songs in the particular program. Eventually students began to wander in and gather around the teachers sitting at the laptops - it was fascinating.
They were so intrigued! I think the most dismaying part was that the teachers didn't encourage the students to try the computers, in fact they said nothing to the students and ignored them completely. It raised my fears that the lab will be a teacher's toy and haven, rather than a place of student & teacher engagement.

After the teachers left I kept a few students behind to work with them on the computers on the basic things like "this is the mouse...it lets you move around in the computer. You can use your fingers to click the mouse and tell the computer what you want to do"

During this more private student time there was a continual stream of students peeking in the windows from across the room. I truly felt bad that they couldn't all come in, but sometimes you have to start small I guess. I had to start very small since the 15 kids waiting around were too much to handle. About 5 kids stayed around (we had to scoot the others out) to use one of the younger aged software programs and I started working with one boy on PowerPoint with visions of creating his own story in Powerpoint (it is a great organization tool for kids' stories) down the line.

After my earlier post, a friend asked me via email why I thought the teachers were naive. I see them as naive because they look at this computer as their savior it seems - the thing that will save them from doing their job. The computer is the thing that will get blamed when the students don't perform any better after using them, when in fact the reasons for low student performance have nothing to do with whether or not you have access to computer technologies. It has everything to do with the quality of teaching, the support of families, the support of governments, and a host of other variables. I see these teachers as naive because they simply don't recognize that the technology isn't going to teach itself to the children - it is going to require a lot of time from the teachers and a big supply of patience which they don't seem to exhibit. Using computers in the classroom doesn't guarantee better student performance or better behavior.

I realize that the teaching methodologies can vary widely throughout the world and even within the same school building. But some of the things I have seen at this school haven't built my confidence in the teachers' ability to plan ahead so that the technology is well used and integrated into the curriculum. They don't understand why it would be important to find out more about student attitudes toward the computers, they don't see any value in establishing a technology plan to lay out the goals and methods to achieve the goals that the teachers want to accomplish in the next 3 months, 6 months, and one year. Perhaps I see the value in these things because we have already been through this phase in the US school system and we have learned the lessons which I want to spare them. The lessons I think they should have learned by "watching" teachers in other places for the last 15-20 years.

Even worse, my confidence is sorely lacking that they will be able to pass on the knowledge they do have in using the computers because of many things I have seen at the school but also one particular comment which really bothered me.

On Thursday, the 4th and 5th graders were working on the new concept of algebraic equations. The day before they had learned about what happens when you try to balance an equation to figure out what the variable is. They had learned about equations using addition and subtraction. After just a single lesson their teacher had moved them on to algebraic equations using multiplication and division and it was clear that there had not been any time to practice what had been learned or to actually understand what it means when you have a variable in an equation. The students didn't seem to understand the concepts of balancing an equation at all in fact.

As one student struggled to tell the class what 35 divided by 5 was, the teacher said aloud to the the girl in front of the class:
"This is very shameful that you do not know your 5 times tables, for they are the easiest of them all."

Now, maybe it IS a shameful thing to not know your 5 times tables when you are in 4th or 5th grade and maybe for some people they are the easiest of all to learn. But this punitive response doesn't help a child to understand the times tables or to memorize them with any heartfelt desire. I imagine it does quite the opposite and squelching a young female child in math angers me a lot. Perhaps the teacher realizes that the young girl will never make it to high school, but humiliation is never the key to helping someone learn. Not her nor the other children who are silently watching the lesson unfold.

Well, I have completely digressed and again shown my frustration with a group of teachers who need more than they will get and are probably doing the best they can on low pay and low support. So I will just switch gears radically.

Yesterday we had a major thunderstorm that began around 2:00 and shut down our power for about 7-8 hours. We passed the night in darkness using just a few lights powered by a diesel generator which had some noxious fumes. We had the luxury of watching a few episodes of 24 (Season 5) on Abby's computer which I found quite fun and relaxing, but Abby, having never seen the show, found quite stressful and tense. If you are familiar with 24 then you know how tense it can make you feel!

Today, Saturday, was quite different from the rest of the trip since we were "home" for the majority of the day helping out around Harmony House with a few chores here and there. I ate dumplings and a boiled cabbage and fish dish for lunch and it was surprisingly good. I was hoping for more even.

We checked on the progress of the remodeling effort here at the Harmony House and we played some scrabble to pass the time. It has been an incredibly relaxing day - no complaints, other than the fact that Abby has beat me in both games of Scrabble. She looks awfully happy doesn't she? Well, there is always tomorrow...

Speaking of tomorrow, we hope to go to church (perhaps we'll arrive late since short services tend to be 2.5 hours long) and the rest of the team will arrive by evening. I'm really looking forward to seeing Ryan and the rest of the team - it has felt like a very long time since I've seen his sweet face.