Fun with Teaching and Learning

Wednesday, June 19^th, 2013

Today I taught for the first time here in Malawi.  I got to teach different types of angles—acute, obtuse, right.  Then, I typed up a final exam for 5^th grade English so that it can be printed out for the kids.  Some of the questions were ridiculously hard, and I don’t think that I would have been able to answer them.  Here are two of the more humorous examples of some of the questions they have to answer to pass 5^th grade:

16. I have a large mat, but I sleep on the ground.  Who am I?

a) pumpkins

b) cassava

c) onions

d) eggs

19. The skin is inside and the flesh is outside.  What is it?

a) hen

b) pigeon

c) gizzard

d) cattle

This is a poem that my students need to analyze.  I thought that it was very relevant to our students’ daily lives, but it could have used a little more poetic diction.  Then again, I’m just a math teacher, so what do I know…

Song of Entrepreneur

My name is Entrepreneur

I am in Standard 5

I work hard, very hard

I buy pencils and exercise books

And sell them to my friends

I help my mother bake snacks

And sell them at the market

At weekends or on holidays

I work with my parents

I do all I can

To make money for myself and my family

To develop our society and the nation

I am Entrepreneur

The tool for development

By Peter J. Khoman

Kim worked in the nursery school this morning.  She sang songs with them, practiced counting in English, and gave them some porridge to eat.  Then, after work we both planned some activities with the kids.  We played different ball games and patty-cake.  They were especially intrigued by my harmonica.  All the kids were fighting each other to get a chance to blow in it, so now that 50 kids have put their mouths on it, I guess I won’t be using it anymore…

After the activities, Kim and I watched some of the kids do acrobatics.  They are pretty flexible!  Then they taught us some words in Chichewa.  “Devu” means beard, and flip-flops are “sulipas” (slippers).

This weekend Kim and I are going to a local game park with the other people staying at the hostel.  It will be an overnight trip, and we will get to see some giraffes and zebras, so stay tuned for some cool photos.  That’s all for now.