Found out today that my phone, which gives me internet and hence blog postings, will not work in zimbabwe or botswana (no surprise really). So i will sign off for now, and when I return i will have finally realized my childhood dream of playing Sheena at the culminating victoria falls scene (imdb it!). Im bungee jumping too. Luv u guys! Back in 7 ish days give or take. Dont worry tho if not.
sent using MTC Freemail service
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
More Pictures Online
Link is on the left, or http://picasaweb.google.com/heyjenjackson
They're in order by date taken, now, so that the comments will make more
sense.
They're in order by date taken, now, so that the comments will make more
sense.
Holiday!
I'm headed east in a few hours with the girls, Rachel and Mita. Our first
stop is Katima. Thursday we will make our way into Zimbabwe and Victoria
Falls!! (Google it if you haven't already.) I'm not sure how long we'll be
there. May also go to the Zambia side.
stop is Katima. Thursday we will make our way into Zimbabwe and Victoria
Falls!! (Google it if you haven't already.) I'm not sure how long we'll be
there. May also go to the Zambia side.
From there we are headed South into Chobe National Park in Botswana where
HOPEFULLY I'll get to see me some biiiig animals!
I'm not sure what the cell phone situation is in Botswana (I'm assuming it's
a no-go in Zim), but I'll do my best to put up short A-OK posts from the
road.
At the very least I should be back in commission no later than Sept. 6.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Change of Plans
So I often just think a lot when I can't sleep...or maybe it's all the
thinking that keeps me awake, either way, I lay there, mull over problems
and usually come up with plans to solve them.
Things just aren't working in my math classrooms. The learners who mostly
get it are the ones that are participating, and all the rest say "yes" when
I ask if they understand. Due to time I can only glance at homework for
completion, not correctness, but that doesn't matter since most of it is
copied anyway. Me being one and them being *very many*, I can't give too
much individual attention, and really it's only the ones who do fairly well
that come in for extra help anyway. And you all know how exams turn out...
I strongly suspect language/accent to be an issue, the ever-present
disinterest in math and that many simply give up after a few failures (who
wouldn't?!)
So I have a new plan...teams. I ranked all the learners by their exam
scores, and went Team 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-... right down the list. The top
performers are the "team captains" and each team has some middle, low and
very low scorers. There are between 5 and 6 learners on a team. They will
of course get to come up with team names and decorate some sort of team
banner. The teams will sit together every day (except quiz day) and I'll
allot time in class for team pow-wows with the material. I'll assign
homework every day, as usual, but will not be checking it, even for
completion. The motivation for doing the homework will be Quiz Day. Once a
week there will be a short quiz, with problems virtually the same as the
homework. The team with the highest average will get 1 point. The team
with the most points at the end of the term wins...something, TBD. I'm
going to make little score boards for the classrooms.
If someone has a question outside of class, they should come with their
team. If someone is absent/ditches class, presumably their team will want
to catch them up...if someone is having English issues, hopefully their team
will explain in Thimbukushu...all to better their team score on Quiz Day.
With a guaranteed quiz a week, I will have enough scores to choose the
highest ones to record in the register - not to mention no longer having to
sift through their notebooks weekly. Oh, AND, hopefully they'll get a
little more used to tests, which should help allay some jitters for the next
round of exams.
Think it'll work? I'll let y'all know...stay tuned...
thinking that keeps me awake, either way, I lay there, mull over problems
and usually come up with plans to solve them.
Things just aren't working in my math classrooms. The learners who mostly
get it are the ones that are participating, and all the rest say "yes" when
I ask if they understand. Due to time I can only glance at homework for
completion, not correctness, but that doesn't matter since most of it is
copied anyway. Me being one and them being *very many*, I can't give too
much individual attention, and really it's only the ones who do fairly well
that come in for extra help anyway. And you all know how exams turn out...
I strongly suspect language/accent to be an issue, the ever-present
disinterest in math and that many simply give up after a few failures (who
wouldn't?!)
So I have a new plan...teams. I ranked all the learners by their exam
scores, and went Team 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-... right down the list. The top
performers are the "team captains" and each team has some middle, low and
very low scorers. There are between 5 and 6 learners on a team. They will
of course get to come up with team names and decorate some sort of team
banner. The teams will sit together every day (except quiz day) and I'll
allot time in class for team pow-wows with the material. I'll assign
homework every day, as usual, but will not be checking it, even for
completion. The motivation for doing the homework will be Quiz Day. Once a
week there will be a short quiz, with problems virtually the same as the
homework. The team with the highest average will get 1 point. The team
with the most points at the end of the term wins...something, TBD. I'm
going to make little score boards for the classrooms.
If someone has a question outside of class, they should come with their
team. If someone is absent/ditches class, presumably their team will want
to catch them up...if someone is having English issues, hopefully their team
will explain in Thimbukushu...all to better their team score on Quiz Day.
With a guaranteed quiz a week, I will have enough scores to choose the
highest ones to record in the register - not to mention no longer having to
sift through their notebooks weekly. Oh, AND, hopefully they'll get a
little more used to tests, which should help allay some jitters for the next
round of exams.
Think it'll work? I'll let y'all know...stay tuned...
On Trash
Trash. Trash. Trash is EVERYWHERE and it drives me absolutely batty. I'm
looking out my bedroom window right now, and the ground is literally
littered with trash. But there's really not much to be done about it.
When I first got here I got all up in arms about it, and walked around my
yard picking up every scrap. Once bagged, it goes where the trash from our
house goes...in a hole in the back yard. Not two days later, half of what I
picked up was back blowing around the yard again. See there are a few
factors working against trash collection here - namely dogs, goats and wind.
My housemates don't help - if they're finishing their beer while walking
from the gate to the door, it's dropped mid-step. If they happen to be near
a window and finish a bag of chips, out the window the bag goes. At first,
this infuriated me. All of my trash of course goes into my plastic grocery
bag, which is later emptied into the hole in the back. But again, within a
day or two I see my trash around the yard too.
This culture, like many others, is very prideful, but there seems to be
little to no pride in ones surroundings. I made the mistake of giving out
candies with wrappers a few times in class. The wrappers went either to the
floor or out the window. I tell the kids to pick them up, so fine, they get
dropped in the pile accumulating in the corner...which at odd times gets
taken to trash bins...which sometimes get emptied and burned...but most
times end up just blowing in the wind.
But what does anyone DOOO??? There's no central 'waste management'
authority, there's no reliable transportation, hell there weren't even bins
until a Peace Corps guy managed to deliver a few in the area. Even if you
could stop people from littering, which would mean undoing X years of habit,
where does the trash go and how does it get there?
This has also made me painfully aware of how much waste I'm personally
generating. See I don't eat boiled goat and porridge every day. Nope, I
eat pasta, tuna, tuna helper, egg sandwiches, fruit chutney nik naks (the
best chips in the world) - all of which have one thing in common -
packaging. I probably generate twice the waste that my housemates do, and
it makes me ill. I reuse all that I can, but eesh.
Burn scars cover this landscape, quite literally. I guess I prefer that
than trash strewn about. But I can't help but thinking of all the plastics
and fumes and CO2.
Those of you who know me know what recycling nazi I am. Here, beyond
reusing stuff, there's no such thing as recycling. Apparently there's a
recycling center in Windhoek, so someone in this country is thinking about
it, but that's a heckofalongway from here.
What to do???!!!
looking out my bedroom window right now, and the ground is literally
littered with trash. But there's really not much to be done about it.
When I first got here I got all up in arms about it, and walked around my
yard picking up every scrap. Once bagged, it goes where the trash from our
house goes...in a hole in the back yard. Not two days later, half of what I
picked up was back blowing around the yard again. See there are a few
factors working against trash collection here - namely dogs, goats and wind.
My housemates don't help - if they're finishing their beer while walking
from the gate to the door, it's dropped mid-step. If they happen to be near
a window and finish a bag of chips, out the window the bag goes. At first,
this infuriated me. All of my trash of course goes into my plastic grocery
bag, which is later emptied into the hole in the back. But again, within a
day or two I see my trash around the yard too.
This culture, like many others, is very prideful, but there seems to be
little to no pride in ones surroundings. I made the mistake of giving out
candies with wrappers a few times in class. The wrappers went either to the
floor or out the window. I tell the kids to pick them up, so fine, they get
dropped in the pile accumulating in the corner...which at odd times gets
taken to trash bins...which sometimes get emptied and burned...but most
times end up just blowing in the wind.
But what does anyone DOOO??? There's no central 'waste management'
authority, there's no reliable transportation, hell there weren't even bins
until a Peace Corps guy managed to deliver a few in the area. Even if you
could stop people from littering, which would mean undoing X years of habit,
where does the trash go and how does it get there?
This has also made me painfully aware of how much waste I'm personally
generating. See I don't eat boiled goat and porridge every day. Nope, I
eat pasta, tuna, tuna helper, egg sandwiches, fruit chutney nik naks (the
best chips in the world) - all of which have one thing in common -
packaging. I probably generate twice the waste that my housemates do, and
it makes me ill. I reuse all that I can, but eesh.
Burn scars cover this landscape, quite literally. I guess I prefer that
than trash strewn about. But I can't help but thinking of all the plastics
and fumes and CO2.
Those of you who know me know what recycling nazi I am. Here, beyond
reusing stuff, there's no such thing as recycling. Apparently there's a
recycling center in Windhoek, so someone in this country is thinking about
it, but that's a heckofalongway from here.
What to do???!!!
Friday, August 21, 2009
This is Africa
So I'm sitting outside yesterday enjoying a post-term beer and watching the
sunset when all of a sudden a bunch of dust and what seem like pebbles fall
on my head. I'm stunned for a second, wondering what the heck just
happened. Then there's a loud and something much bigger falls on me.
I look down and there is a small bat holding onto my pants at my thigh. I
of course jump up and wiggle around and act like a TOTAL girl trying to get
it off, but the little guy is holding on. I finally brush it off with my
wrist...and then proceed to wiggle around and "EEEEEK" some more (like a
girl).
This at least solves the mystery of the sounds I hear overhead at night in
my bedroom. Bats, check. (Least it's not rats...which is what they sound
like.)
That is all.
sunset when all of a sudden a bunch of dust and what seem like pebbles fall
on my head. I'm stunned for a second, wondering what the heck just
happened. Then there's a loud and something much bigger falls on me.
I look down and there is a small bat holding onto my pants at my thigh. I
of course jump up and wiggle around and act like a TOTAL girl trying to get
it off, but the little guy is holding on. I finally brush it off with my
wrist...and then proceed to wiggle around and "EEEEEK" some more (like a
girl).
This at least solves the mystery of the sounds I hear overhead at night in
my bedroom. Bats, check. (Least it's not rats...which is what they sound
like.)
That is all.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
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