And Then I Went Back to High School

Do you remember how awkward you were in high school...acne, the introduction to puberty and of course that need and desire to be popular. You are lying to yourself if you try to say that you didn't try to be or act cool (unless you were a brown noser because then no on liked you or cared about how you acted in class...you were just irritating), no matter what culture you interact with teenagers are a pain especially with a substitute teacher. And so begins our entrance back into high school.

As the students shuffled into the classroom the room is instantly disheveled as the students automatically rearrange the room so they are able to sit with their cliques. The more ambitious students hustle to the front of the classroom so that they may position themselves in front of the video screen. The angsty teens clamor to the corner by the exit so they can sneak out when they get bored. As our program begins there is no sign that the student's conversations are coming to a close, but as the translator makes her way to the front of the class the voices come to a halt and the lesson begins. We begin with a simple fact and question session as an ice breaker, nervous students raise their hands to spout off knowledge or questions about HIV/AIDS. A majority of the students are taking the exercise serious but some continue to talk, as we try to quite the students regaining the groups attention JJ singles out a talkative boy and asks him a question. The stunned and embarrassed boy instantly adjusts his attitude. JJ then continues to tell the students that he is volunteering his time and if the students don't want to be here they can leave, it makes no difference to him. His nonchalant but authoritative attitude seems to really have an effect on the students, they shut up...real quick.

After the fact and answer section we dive right into the "animation," this program was created by Stanford. It is not only educational but it seems to hold the children's interest. The program is very useful for they created different programs for different countries. We show the students the program in English and Swahili, with intermittent question and answer times in order to see that the students are digesting the information. After the animation we ask the students for feedback regarding our teaching methods, this is useful for they give us strategies in order that we can make the program more age appropriate for the younger primary schools that we will visit next week. Overall the students display a real interest in the material and are well behaved (by the end of the lecture the rowdy kids have snuck out anyways).

Teaching is always an interesting phenomenon, (anyone that knows me knows that I am impatient and a bit awkward aka this will be a learning experience for myself and the students) anyone that steps up in front of a classroom to mold the minds of willing leathers has quite the task, no matter the age or subject matter. What is said has a profound impact on someone, obviously not everyone is listening but someone is. It is a strange feeling knowing that my time here will have a lasting impact on someone, even if it was an indirect interaction.