Day 3 in Malawi and day 2 of our teacher development training. We headed to Ndirande TDC.
Stephen, Mandy and I felt much more prepared today and were in full swing at 9am. Our Malawian colleagues were fully engaged and we enjoyed lots of interesting discussions about the good lesson cycle.
We then participated in some active learning and singing to share different ways to engage our learners.
During the short break, the headteacher of Blantyre Girls invited us to visit some classrooms. This was a very different experience compared to my school, Crookston Castle!
There were around 210 pupils in one class and all pupils seated on the floor. The pupils were working hard and writing in their jotters. It was excellent to see how the teacher managed this size of class.
For the next part of our training we discussed organising a library. We spoke about the organisation of the books and ways to instil a love of reading within their schools. As a group, we then visited the Blantyre Girls in which previous MLOL teachers had worked on.
The library was still very much used and organised into different sections. Our final section of the day was establishing reading leaders within schools.
We explored this through role play and active learning which our Malawian colleagues really enjoyed.
At the end of the training, we headed back to the library and read with the young learners in standard 8. The girls were fluent readers and were keen to read to Mandy and I.
Mid afternoon we headed to La Caverna to meet Maureen and Marie for lunch - it was excellent to regroup and share our day.
Shortly after, we headed to Jacaranda Orphanage to meet the children and sisters. We took some gifts for the young people. Veronica and Christina took us around where they sleep and the facilities. We all then went outdoors for some singing and dancing.
In the evening, we headed back to Kabula Lodge for dinner as a group and shared stories of our day.
This week is flying by but, so far it has been a real learning experience for me and I look forward to the rest of the week.
