The first day I was given class one. Fresh off a very poor training by the Peace Corps, I really was not prepared in the least for teaching and managing my own classroom. At the outset, I had no preference for what class I would teach. That first day, I will always remember the head teacher taking me to my class, giving me the keys to the room and saying, “this is your class” and then he left. All of those little tykes were staring at me. I had barely unpacked my things nor had I even come close to acquiring the essentials to even prepare a meal. Yet there I was, standing before ten children and all eyes were on me. Here is what I have learned:
Most days I will have prepared a lesson plan. But I must admit its hard to do. We are supposed to prepare “schemes of work” that are stamped by the head teacher. It is sort of an official document that states what the children in the class will be learning. A “scheme of work” is like an outline or a schedule for how the teacher will present different topics and subtopics. Such an outline needs to be made for each subject: science, math, social studies, etc… Initially, I did them but it became incredibly hard to follow when most of the time I was just trying to manage the classroom. Add in a teacher’s strike that lasted two weeks, several pointless teachers meetings during the middle of the school day, and random events that were “more important” than class and no one ever told me about. And of course I have never taught anything at any level before, so I did not know the best way to go about it.
1. Visuals
I have learned that teaching deaf children is absolutely 100% visual. Of course, I have realized this through my own personal experiences. Any visuals I had when learning something, helped me tremendously. I like to think that even fully hearing students like to have visuals as oppose to solely listening to the teacher drone on and on.
I still do not believe I will ever fully understand how a deaf person learns. This is my greatest challenge. How do you teach a deaf person to read? How do you teach them English? Hearing students are taught how to say the different sounds to each letter and when those letters and sounds are put together, you’ve got yourself a word. But since they can’t hear those sounds, how do they put a word a together? Even now when someone fingerspells a word to me, I am saying the sounds to each letter in my head because it is easier for me to figure out the word that way.
To echo the words of fellow PCV Paul Blair, “the blackboard is the enemy.” Many if not most of the Kenyan teachers resort to writing things on the board and assume just because it is written on the board that the students understand it. Unfortunately, resources are limited and the blackboard is the most reliable visual.
2. Testing
Kenya places an emphasis on standardized tests. I disagree with standardized testing, even in the way it is used in America, I feel that a person’s knowledge and ability is not accurately measured by taking a test. The students are tested at the beginning, middle, and end of each term. However, we never tested our students at the beginning because of the teacher’s strike and mid-terms never happened either. We did have exams at the conclusion of the term. In preparing for the second term, I have gone through a variety of tests for different classes and different subjects. Some of the questions are wrong. They are either asked in the wrong way, or the correct answer is not listed as one of the four multiple choice answers. This is frustrating!
Additionally, there is an exam called the KCPE which is taken by all of the students in class 8 throughout Kenya. This exam is a huge deal and a monumental step in a student’s education. Their success on the exam determines if they go to secondary school. Again, Paul wrote a great post about this exam in which he describes how it is an inefficient method to test deaf students. He cites past test scores at deaf schools. The highest score on the test last year was something like 125 out of 450. The test is a multiple choice test with four possible answers for each question. If they scores are consistently around 25%, how do you know if they are not just guessing?
This is something that I struggle with because the test clearly is not a good measure of a deaf student’s ability. And the tests that I have seen are not necessarily a good measure of knowledge at least from my point of view. So should I teach the students what I feel they should know and is important, or should I prepare them for the tests?
3. Sign Language
I thought I was doing pretty well with signing among my fellow trainees during training. But I was shocked when I came here. My signing skills need a lot of work. It is challenging because KSL is still developing. So the signs have changed over time. The KSL Research Project that develops KSL should stop changing signs for various things. The form of signing that is used here at my school is a combination of ASL, KSL, and Signed Exact English. So there are many different variations of a sign which makes it all the more difficult.
4. Make Class Fun and Interesting
When I could make the students laugh, I could keep their attention longer. Also, it is imperative to come to class prepared otherwise the students will eat you alive. They need things to do and more importantly they want to learn. I try to come up with as many interactive activities as I can. Some examples include: cutting out and decorating shapes, a word wall, writing numbers in word form, etc…I try to decorate the room with visuals as much as possible. Again, resources are limited here so I need to be creative. I keep everything I have because I hope to maybe use it for a lesson someday. I am even saving all of my water bottles because maybe I can use those for a lesson.
These are just some of the basic concepts that I have learned in my short time here. I have also learned that I can really get through to a student if I work with him/her one on one. This is something that I love to do as it is very enjoyable and rewarding. All of the students are on different skill levels and furthermore, it is a great way for me to learn more about them and for them to learn more about me.
I apologize for as you can tell I wrote this pretty quickly and I would include more but I’m tired and I have to get up early. Tomorrow I head to Machakos with my school for a competition among the deaf schools in the eastern province. I am excited because 1) I think my school will do very well, 2) I need to get out of this place, and 3) I get to meet up with some PCVs that I have not seen since we were sworn-in in early January.
A little bit about my students:
Phancy
Phancy is the Kenyan equivalent of “Dennis the menance.” He’s a smart little guy who gets into mischief. Him and his partner in crime, Rufus, are always getting into something. One day, I came home to discover that my bread was missing. I am certain that those two little rascals constructed some device that could reach into my window and grab my bread. These two are perhaps the most frequent of visitors to my window. They never listen to me at all.
Maureen
I concede that Maureen is the teacher’s pet. She certainly has a tendency to whine whenever she doesn’t get what she wants. She is hilarious and makes me laugh. She loves to tease me and I tease back. A few days ago, while one of the new teachers was teaching a lesson, I sat in the back of the room while she finished. Maureen, looked at me with a very puzzled look. She then slowly, signed “God” then “Jesus” and then very excitedly signed “KENYA!” I had no idea what she was trying to say, but the way that she said it just made me laugh. I’m sure her intent wasn’t to be funny and that she actually was trying to say something to me, but I was cracking up.
Glory
Glory is cute as a button. She is very smart and with hard work she has very bright future ahead of her. She actually has not been around much as her parents took her home during the strike and she has only since returned about two weeks ago. She has a hard time of paying attention. But they all do. Glory cannot keep a straight face and always giggles whenever I make a funny face at her. She follows me around and always wants to see the book that I am reading.
Rufus
Rufus is the youngest in the class. He is always sucking on his middle and index fingers, and it is no surprise that it has become his sign name. Rufus and Phancey are best friends. Rufus has a short temper and a few times has even succumbed to throwing rocks at me. But it makes me want to take him home as I think he may be the next Ben Sheets. He’s got a good arm.
Lorna
Lorna is crazy as she was the one who ran around the room and than swallowed a piece of paper. Initially I thought she would be the death of me, but to my amazement she calmed down and was actually paying attention most of the second half of the term. She loves the fist pump. I’ve spent some time with her outside of class and I have seen a lot of improvement.
Jackline
Jackline is one of the older students in class one. She has her struggles especially with math but she tries hard. She frequently gets sick and it shows because she is always sleeping, but I’m sure that may be due in part to the boring teacher.
Domenick
Domenick drives me nuts. He always shows up late for class. When I tell him he is late he promptly signs sorry, but it never ends. He insists that everything he does is right and that he never answers a question or problem wrong. All he wants to do is play soccer.
Joseph
Joseph can never mind his own damn business. He is very smart but he always worries about the rest of the class and thinks he has a responsibility to help me discipline the class. He probably is just trying to help but it only makes matters worse. Like most of the students, he tries to steal things from me. And if I catch him, he insists that what he took is rightfully his.
Felix
I can never understand Felix. He is very smart and could probably be moved up to class two. But he’ll start pouting about something and put his head down. I’ll have no idea what is wrong. He will throw his arms up in disgust and whine. Sometimes he will even throw his pencil or his book off the table. If someone mocks him or does anything to make him mad, he will get up, shove them into the wall or even throw fists. He is very sensitive.
Moses
Moses is the perfect student. He always shows up on time and does what he is told. Sometimes I feel that I am not challenging him enough and oftentimes he finishes his work and sits quietly. I usually forget about him because he is so quiet. He is the first to show up and never is a problem. He always pays attention and does what is told.
And then there is Kelvin
Most of you know Kelvin as PENCIL. He has only been here for the last month, maybe more. He oftentimes appears very frustrated which is understandable since he just recently lost his hearing and can’t communicate with anyone. We have made a lot of progress. He now knows basic introductions, the alphabet and how to sign his name. So now, no one will mistake him for PENCIL.
Here are a couple pictures from my trip to Meru National Park on Saturday:
Classes are over! And I never have to teach class one again. Tests start next week.
Today was a sports day in which the handicapped students played games. It was not as interesting as I thought it would be, and as always, I turned out to be the main attraction for the visitors. At the end they organized an assembly where some of teachers from the attending schools sat in front. I hid in the back and snuck out feeling that they would ask the me to make a speech. I don’t see why I should have to say anything when I had absolutely nothing to do with the activities of the day. But I am the town mzungu, so I’m kind of a big deal.
Tomorrow I am going on a safari at Meru National Park. I am very excited but a little worried that the dry conditions may hamper the trip. It is very dry and the air is dusty. The school has run out of water on numerous occasions in the past few weeks. We need rain. I’m told the rainy season starts any day now and once it starts, it does not stop for a long time.
Also, I’m planning on writing a lot in the next few weeks before I head to Nairobi for additional training. There has been a lot of things on my mind lately.
This is when I made a trip to Thomson Fall’s a few weeks ago:
I currently live up in the hills in Kenya. Its beautiful here and I’m not sure what the elevation is but its up there. So my thinking is, that this could very well be the best place in the world for long distance runners. And the best time of my life to train for a half marathon and possibly a marathon. So why not start training for the Nairobi Half Marathon at the end of October. I mean, I certainly have the time. Additionally, I could finally manage to beat Shawn Dobbins. (Yeah, I said it.) So why not? It would be a great personal goal to have and help relieve some of the stresses of being a Peace Corps Volunteer?
So why not?
WILD DOGS, that’s why.
I have been running a lot lately but I’m terrified to go again because two days ago after talking a little trash on Shawn’s facebook wall I was confronted by a pair of wild and INSANE dogs. As I turned a corner, I heard some dogs. I didn’t think they were too close but there they were as I rounded the corner.
“If you get rabies, you’re a goner.”
-Peace Corps Medical Officer
It was like slow motion. They immediately sprinted after me and to begin with they were maybe 30 to 40 feet away. I thought they were only chasing me because I was running. So I stopped…they didn’t. One of them lunged forward at me. I dove to the ground frantically trying to grab anything I could to throw at them. I grabbed a rock and hit one of them in the head, hard. He yelped loudly while the other made his attempt to come after me I threw another rock and nailed him right in the neck which seemed to knock the wind out of him and he slowly fell to the ground and eventually scampered off.
The other dog recovered from the blow to his head and remained a few feet in front of me, barking loudly and jumping around like crazy. I had another rock but instead of throwing it I held it back as if I was going to hit him again and slowly backed away. He inched forward but thankfully as I kept moving backwards the distance between us grew and FINALLY the dog simply turned around and ran off, thus ending one of the most horrifying moments of my life. Making sure they were gone, I headed home, thankful all those quarterback camps were good for something.
Almost everyday I wake up around 6:00 and meet some of the older students down by the gate to go for a run at approximately 6:15. Of course I will receive many stares while running but nonetheless it is still a nice way to start the day. After the run, I will heat up some water on the stove for my bucket bath while I cut up some fruit. Usually I will have a mango or a pineapple. I’ll also have an avocado over an omelet. Its pretty tasty. After eating and taking a bath, I will boil some fresh milk for coffee and catch up on emails and read the latest news about the tanking American economy on my phone.
There is an assembly around the flagpole at 8:00. This usually involves signing the national anthem and prayers. I’m not really required to be there and if I am, no one has told me yet. So instead I use this time to prepare my classroom/lessons.
I try to follow the timetable and start everyday with math. The children love learning math, especially when I bring out the ‘math blocks’. They come in different colors and they usually start fighting over the color they want. I try to be fair, but usually within the first few minutes, Rufus will start crying because he didn’t get black, or Maureen will pout and whine because she didn’t receive white. Luckily, this usually blows over after a while. After math, its English. I’m still not quite sure how to teach English to deaf students. Sign language is different than English in that there are no linking verbs. For example, That house is red would be: HOUSE::THERE::RED. We have additional training in a month in Nairobi, so this will be one of the many questions that I have for the trainers and other volunteers. So far, I have been sort of combining KSL and English so they can at least learn how to identify and spell different things and for all I know that could be exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.
This is just an example of what I attempt to do each do in class. There are also two tea breaks in the morning and of course a break for lunch. And oftentimes, things come up that I am never told about such as a parents day in which there is no class and I’m supposed to give a speech. Or its the day before parents day and the children need to spend the entire afternoon cleaning. And of course there is Kenyan Time. The other teachers are almost always late for every class and even end their classes early. I try to always start on time and lead by example but the children are on Kenyan time too.
When classes are over (around 3), there are games. I am supposed to “help” with games but this only consists of watching the children play volleyball or soccer. This is really boring. So some days, I’ll keep my classroom open and work with a student one on one. I really enjoy this as I can give the student my full attention and because there are no other crazy students, I know I mostly have his/her full attention also. The next term, instead of helping out with games, I want to organize an after school study hall where I can tutor some students that need help and I’m hoping that some of the older students can help tutor the younger ones.
I will head home around 4:30 and play with my neighbor’s kids. I’m slowly teaching Nestor how to play catch. Right now its more like a game of fetch, but he freaking loves it. I have also picked up another word in his vocabulary. He now says, “Gaa!” to accompany his Ahhhs and Eees. The funny part is he’ll repeat me whenever I say one of those three. I’m also trying to teach his sister, Esther some card games, right now we’re working on the speed card game. Any simple card game suggestions?
At the end of the day I will either go into Maua to eat dinner and buy food or I will head back to my house to prepare dinner and/or read a book. I have been making some pretty good dinners and I actually enjoy learning different recipes and putting more effort into my meals. I spend the rest of the night preparing lessons for the next day or I continue reading. I’m usually in bed by 9:30.
What do you want to read about?? Let me know if there is something specific that you want to hear about and I’ll do my best to write about it.
The view of the Nyambeni Hills on my morning run.
Happy Birthday Dave and Andy!
I know that it is extremely important to give deaf students visuals and activities. This not only is the best way for them to learn, but it keeps them occupied and most importantly, prevents insanity on my part. Well, I thought that I had prepared some very good lessons for the day and then everything went to shit. One student just started crying. I don’t know what happened. Another student refused to listen to anything I said. Correction, NONE of the students listen to me. I feel like I have given this a very solid effort. I was so frustrated I told everyone to get out. I canceled class and went back to my house and took a nap.
Well, after my nap I was feeling a little better and after I enjoyed a delicious mango (mangos make everything better) I was slowly getting my motivation back. I keep telling myself that this is a learning experience and that the harder I try, the more I will get out of it.
Tuesday rolls around and I think it was the worst day ever. There were seven kids crying and at least three rather brutal fights.
I was furious.
The only way I’m going to discipline these kids is if I follow through. After a few days of threatening them with the possibility of sending them to the head teacher’s office, I finally began to follow through. I told one student to leave and go to the head teacher’s office. He ignored me. I demanded. He ignored. So what did I do? I dragged him there. He immediately starting crying once we got there. The head teacher is a nice guy and he only asked the student what the problem was and that he apologize to me. It was good that he and the class knew I am not playing around anymore.
About an hour later, another student started hitting the student next to him. Again, I told him to go to the head teacher’s office. Again he refused, and again I had to drag him there myself. He too, started crying as soon as we left the room. I hate it when they start crying, but its something that I have to learn to deal with. The head teacher made him apologize and then we headed back to the classroom.
Right before I was going to dismiss the class for lunch a fight broke out. I think it started over a pencil, but I’m not really sure. These two kids were really going at it. One of them started bleeding and bawled uncontrollably. But I think she was the one who started it. My plan was to let the rest of the class leave, and that I was going to attempt to talk to the two students myself and hopefully broker a peace agreement. Of course, both students ignored me and took off with the rest of the class for lunch. I followed them to the cafeteria and before the entire school demanded that they come to me. Again, they ignored.
I gave up and went to eat my own lunch with the other teachers, deciding I would confront the issue after lunch. I told the head teacher that I would bring some students to his office because they were fighting. So after lunch I managed to find one of the students and I led him to the office. He was crying the whole way there signing “sorry” over and over again. Sorry doesn’t cut it anymore. I’m sick of this shit. I left him with the head teacher and took off in search of the other instigator. I found her in the dorm and she actually obeyed me and followed. However, about halfway to the office, she suddenly protested and tried to run away. Fortunately, one of the older, more mature students in the school was nearby and he grabbed her before she could run away. She was frantically kicking and screaming. I realized that everyone, the students and teachers, were watching this event, and it would be a good time for me to really make a statement. So what did I do? I picked her up and carried her to the office, enduring the little fists of fury and piercing screams the whole way.
Ever since that day, things have been much improved. However, there is still the occasional outbreak and I still feel like I’m managing a house of cards, but its nothing compared to the first few weeks of pandemonium. Furthermore, there is another teacher helping me out. I still teach almost all of the lessons, but her presence alone makes the classroom manageable. Sometimes I feel like she doesn’t really need to be there because I think I finally have a grip on things but, I’m not going to take that risk.
In addition to already teaching the most lessons in the largest and perhaps most misbehaved class in school, I was given yet another student on Monday, bringing the class total to 11. The maximum for a deaf class at my school is 12. I was given this student on Monday, and the deputy head teacher said,
we think he’ll fit into class one, but I don’t know his name. I’ll find out and be right back.
Well, that conversation took place on Monday, and I have not heard since what the boy’s name is. They had it in a file some where in the office, but someone seems to have misplaced the file and now, we cannot figure out his name. He doesn’t know how to spell his name, therefore he can’t tell us. So today, I tried asking the rest of the class what his name is. They all understand the alphabet pretty well and can fingerspell each other’s name. They responded simultaneously by telling me his sign name. This is a good way to identify him using sign, but I would like to know what his actual name is. I asked one of the brighter students to fingerspell the unknown student’s name. And he proceeded to fingerspell:
P-E-N-C-I-L.
Pencil?
Yes, pencil.
I asked the rest of the class who can fingerspell his name. Another one of the bright students eagerly raised his hand and he too proceeded to fingerspell:
P-E-N-C-I-L.
Its been three days and the student remains nameless.
One of the highlights of my experience so far is that I have been very fortunate to spend a lot of time with children. I have never had this opportunity before. I come from a small family and I guess the only time I had such an opportunity was during a brief stint as a swim coach for a community swim team in La Crosse. But other than that the opportunity simply never presented itself. I did not even know that I would be around kids as much as I have. I knew that my responsibilities would include working with deaf children in some capacity, but the Peace Corps pretty much kept a tight lid on everything. I was blessed to spend quality time with my three host brothers and now I am blessed with 10 kids in Class one. This shouldn’t be too hard right? I mean its class one, just give them some coloring books and they’re happy. They’re just so excited to have a mzungu as a teacher, so everything I do will be equally exciting, right?
WRONG!
Good God, these kids are going to give me a heart attack. I don’t even know where to begin. At various points throughout the last few weeks I’ve had kids bleeding, crying, throwing rocks at each other, fighting, and just not pay attention at all. One girl was frantically running around the room with a piece of paper. I tried to coax her into giving me the paper but only to watch her put it in her mouth and swallow it. I have another student who will not mind his damn business, he is constantly starting fights because he thinks he is looking out for the rest of the class, but he only is a nuisance. Another student I swear is hyperactive and my superior at the Peace Corps even thinks so. Another student cries if anything happens. Two of the students are brothers, so they are constantly fighting. One student throw a rock at another student’s head. One threw a rock at me today! They locked me out of my classroom. One student got a math problem wrong and started bawling as if I told him WWE is fake. One girl is very bright, but only wants to work on math. And I haven’t even mentioned how one boy tried to choke another with a jump rope.
The most frustrating thing is, is that I feel like I am all they have. Most deaf children in Kenya are neglected by the majority of society including their parents. But some days are just so hard it becomes a challenge in itself to find the motivation to help them.
- As crazy as it has been, I still try to look at the positives:
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As I previously mentioned, this is a good experience for me simply to be around children even if they are a rambunctious bunch.
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The best way I can get them to settle down is by giving them something to do. But when they are well behaved I just know that at any moment one of them can trigger a bedlam or as a fellow volunteer so accurately describes as Dante’s Inferno.
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This is the best way to learn. I learned a few little things: they like to “sharpen” their pencils to waste time. To counter this behavior I make sure all of their pencils are sharpened and that there is an extra one ready in case someone needs a new one. This also keeps them from using the dangerous pencil sharpener that resembles a small knife and is a fantastic way to spread HIV/AIDS.
I know that the biggest if not the only reason they are so crazy is that they know I will not resort to any form of corporal punishment. Now, I have not seen anything too crazy in terms of this form of punishment but I have seen a couple kids pinched and another student hit over the hand with a pencil. At first, I was in shock when I saw it happen, but it really wasn’t anything more than a spanking. In reality, it is part of the culture in Kenya and the children expect it to happen. Maybe it explains their aggressive behavior. I should point out that it is incredibly effective. Yes, I consider it to be unethical and inhumane but whenever I have a teacher teach a lesson in my class, those little heathens turn into the perfect little angels.
So my biggest task is trying to come up with a different way to punish them. I have tried a reward system: each student has an envelop posted on their desk. In the envelop are five pieces of play money. They start each day with all five pieces, but if they misbehave, I take one away. But if they change their behavior later in the day, I give them the money back. At the end of the day, if they still have all five they get a sticker. On the surface I thought this was a good idea. I actually stole the idea from one of the many Peace Corps manuals and improvised it a little bit. But, it seems like it only made matters worse. They raise hell when I take money away from them, they complain that another student has more, they’ve broken into my desk and stolen my stickers, and they rip the stickers off the other envelopes. I tried to be consistent with this, but I got so fed up with it today that I took all the envelopes down. I will figure something else out.
After a long and stressful week I went to Meru to hang out with some quality mzungus over the weekend. Its amazing what some time away with friends will do to my morale. We baked a cake on a jiko stove and I finally got a haircut. But by far the best part of the weekend was on Sunday morning when we made a visit to an orphanage. Many of these children were deserted by their parents and are HIV positive. The older children (the oldest is age five) were at church but we were greeted by numerous crying babies. The three of us held almost every baby and when the other kids arrived we were practically tackled. They were so happy to see us and all they wanted was to be held since they’ve been neglected their entire lives. It was a very nice orphanage and I hope to make another visit the next time I’m in Meru.
I have also given a lot of thought to possible secondary project ideas. This is pretty self explanatory, these are projects that the Peace Corps requires us to have in addition to our teaching responsibilities. I think I am really going to enjoy secondary projects because it can be something that I will be accomplish through my own foresight and determination. So far I have already started a group for the deaf adults in the community. One idea that I am kicking around is the possibility of building a library for my school and maybe even the neighboring schools. The students really have nothing to do in their free time except to push old tires around, so I figure give them a book to read! I’m still trying to learn more about how to do this and if it is even possible so if anyone has some ideas, send them my way.
Today’s Picture
Some of our youngest students taking a break from the national pastime of pushing tires around:
Welp, I had a terrifying experience on a matatu yesterday. I sat in the passenger seat, also known as the ‘death seat’ here in Kenya. The driver literally floored it the entire way to Maua. He was cutting corners, swerving past other cars all the while narrowly missing oncoming vehicles by mere inches. People were literally diving out of the way. It was terrifying. I think the driver was either drunk, stoned, simply out of his damn mind or a combination of all three. When we finally stopped. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and grabbed my chest to feel my heart racing. Then the conductor (the man who collects the money) happily said, “40 bub" as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It was like a roller coaster ride. Wow.
More old pictures from Loitoktok:
One of the streets in town:
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