This EdCamp I was uncertain as to how many teachers would attend. At the first EdCamp we had about 50 participants. The big difference between the two: for the first EdCamp I paid money for transport, so those teachers out in village schools would have a free trip to town to come for EdCamp. This time around I made it clear that there would not be transportation money. Food was provided at both EdCamps. One school let me know that they could not attend because the school did not have transport money for the teachers. I simply replied, “Sorry to hear that, maybe next time.” I also invited two of the government (not Brethren In Christ) schools that are in Choma. St. Patricks was the school that gave me a panic attack the day before when they told me 40-46 teachers were going to attend (see previous blog post). The reality was that 14 teachers attended from St. Patricks. We were pleased to have them and they contributed nicely to EdCamp. The school where the venue was also said 3 teachers would attend but the reality was that none of their teachers came. There was still a good turnout with 29 teachers attending from 4 schools, plus myself.
Our agenda for the day looked like this:
9am: sign in, tea, coffee, rolls (buns), informal talking with teachers, door prizes (starting early on for those teachers who arrived prompt!), plus finalizing discussion topics, opening remarks and prayer.
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| Getting tea, coffee and rolls ready! Memory Musukombwe was hired to help out. |
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| Teachers signing in as they arrive |
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| Opening remarks: how EdCamp works..... everyone is an expert! Discuss challenges and advice! |
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| Me telling the teachers that I've never taught in a school in Zambia, so I'm not the expert - they are!! |
*To finalize discussion topics I had a list of topics: preventing early pregnancy, assessment, teacher attitude, remedial work, school library use, teaching computers, computer skills for teachers, teaching reading, positive discipline, phonological awareness, handwriting and spelling, making math interesting, making reading interesting, teaching oral English, hygiene, punctuality, phonics, absenteeism, plus multiple spaces for other ideas. The list was passed around and teachers checked up to 3 topics they wanted to discuss. Then the schedule for the discussions was set
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| Filling out the topic discussion sheet and chatting with other teachers. |
10:00 - 11:30: Discussion Groups #1 - Remedial Work, Teaching Reading, Computers
11:30 - 1:00: Discussion Groups #2 - Assessment, Making Reading Interesting, Making Math Interesting
1:00 - 1:30: Lunch
1:30 - 3:00: Discussion Groups #3 - Handwriting and Spelling, Phonics, (one blank space to be decided at lunch)
3:00: brief closing remarks
I attended the “Teaching Reading” session. Though stopped in at Remedial work to make sure everything was good and they were discussing (and not waiting for a facilitator to come like last EdCamp!) Another MCC worker (Grade 8 teacher), Todd, attended EdCamp for the first time. See his write up at the end! The teaching reading session was in full swing by the time I arrived. They did not hesitate to get started and there was a strong leader, a primary teacher from Nahumba, who had begun to share how she teaches reading. (Phonics, sight words, blending sounds, practice). It sounded a lot like the workshops I’d been giving and it was a great encouragement. She pointed out at the end that she learned these things from the older teacher next to her. Her mentor. This was also a great encouragement to me to see older teachers mentoring other teachers at her school and sharing her knowledge. The older teacher became very passionate about teaching each student at the level that student was at, even saying “Don’t follow the syllabus” at one point! (Lots of laughter at that, but it was interesting she said it since most of the time Zambian teachers follow the curriculum set out for each day without going backwards to reteach a lesson for struggling students).
The next sessions: Assessment was well attended and seemed to have a good discussion about formal and informal assessment of students, how to write a good test, and other related topics. I went in and out of this session (as I was focussed on lunch - I went to reduce the pre-ordered chicken and chips take outs from 70 to 35 and then again at the end to pick them up). I popped my head into the other sessions as well. Making Reading interesting seemed to go for awhile but the teachers lost interest in that topic and formed groups talking outside as I left to pick up lunch. The making math interesting session had no teachers, however Todd, the MCC teacher, was busy showing another teacher more advanced aspects of Excel.
Lunch was typically African..... late. I went at 1:00 (after reminding them at 12 and cutting the order in half) and I waited until almost 2:00pm before the order was ready. In the meantime I ate my lunch, talked to a few friends that happened by and tried to be patient. The teachers were outside enjoying talking to each other while I was away and no one seemed to be surprised that the food was late.
I delivered the chicken and chips and the teachers were very pleased. There was even a large coleslaw that they could add if desired. I had many comments about how much better this food was compared to the nshima (cornmeal ball that is the staple food here), beans and cabbage from last EdCamp. It was truly a reminder that here, in Zambia, the workshop is only as good as the food served. I also got compliments on the different rolls (buns) that we had at tea. The ones at this EdCamp were very dense and hearty. The previous EdCamp they were light and fluffy and melt in your mouth. Also shows the differences - I preferred the first EdCamp’s light and fluffy rolls (though they were late and these rolls were ready by 8am when I went to pick them up!!!)
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| Lunch Time! |
When lunch was finished it was already 2:30, so we decided to have a quick 1/2 hour discussion time. I picked a couple of topics that all “tied” for interest on the previous sheet and handed those around. Both Hygiene and Positive Discipline were both popular so I decided to add both. After everyone was settled I wandered around and no teachers were at either the “Handwriting and Spelling” or “Phonics” sessions, so we moved Hygiene over to one of those classrooms. I enjoyed the Positive Discipline session. Talked about setting expectations and how students meet them where they are set. Also talked about being consistent. If you promise to do something (positive or negative) - follow through. Shows the students that you are consistent. The teachers were very frank: talking about what their face should look like when they beat students to the emotions involved that lead to beating students. It was a very authentic discussion. They also talked about how students don’t return to school because they get beat and students who say they deserved the beating (though I’m guessing this is rare!) Both the positive discipline session and the hygiene session went longer than the 30 minutes, though I did go into each session and tell them it was time to wrap up!
Overall, I think it was another great experience and I’m looking forward to doing it again next term break (early January).
I do still need to figure out how to transition between the discussion groups. It seems to take awhile for them to wrap up (even with reminders) and re-form into the next group.
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| The Positive Discipline Discussion Group (photo credit: Michelle Potts for this one!) |
Todd’s experience: Todd is an MCC worker who is teaching Grade 8 at one of the Brethren In Christ Schools. He attended EdCamp for the first time. He wrote the following report: (Photos are also contributed by him! I forgot my camera!)
My first Ed Camp and the second ever in Africa was an excellent experience. After a social tea time allowing for those on African time to arrive. The topics teachers were interested in discussing for the day were selected and we began. I went with computers, a topic Michelle had discussed previously with me about attending, and helped answers any questions teachers had. Since those in attendance had minimal to no experience with computers our Ed camp discussion turned into more of a computer Q&A session about how teachers can benefit utilizing computers and how to teach computers to pupils. Computer skills are a growing demand for employment in Zambia; however, computer teachers are lacking. For a wrap up and in hopes of generating interest in the teachers to learn computer skills I gave a brief grade book demonstration showing how easy it is to sort and tabulate results. As one of the teachers in attendance commented ‘As teachers we must be above our pupils’ a fact that holds true with computers because if the teachers can’t use computers how will the pupils learn? (also they don’t make computer with chitonga so english is needed)
After an excellent meal of chicken and chips we settled into the afternoon myself attending a positive discipline discussion. I was interested in positive discipline because as a new teacher discipline is one of the things I struggle with most. It was a lively discussion with examples and stories abounding. The piece of management advice that I found most helpful and will attempt to apply in the third term was ‘Don’t make empty threats, and Don’t make empty promises.’ Being laid back I realized I have a bad habit in the classroom of letting small rule breaking go at times which snowballs into chaos and no rules a few periods later. Rules that aren’t enforced might as well not be there, an obvious fact that has taken me two terms and an Ed Camp to figure out.
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