As I approach Wednesday evening I begin my mid-week reflection on a wonderful teacher training journey across Blantyre.
Tuesday morning began in the most special way. Karen, Charity and I visited HII school to deliver pen pal letters written by the senior pupils of Balornock Primary School.
First, we met with the wonderful head teacher who was teaching Standard 7 on our arrival and then we were greeted by Esnath. A very excited group of 90 students made their way into a classroom where I was able to have a little chat with them about Scotland and give out their pen pal letters.
It was such a joy to see the smiles on their faces as well as the focus and concentration when reading the letters. I was left impressed when I was informed that I could pick up their reply letters on the same day.
I had a little read through and they are wonderful - the kids in Balornock are going to be so happy. Thank you Ruth for organising.
At 8am we headed off to the nearby Ndrande TDC to begin training day two. Before we got set up, we had the opportunity to visit Standard 1 in Blantyre Girls School.
I was in awe of the teacher in Standard 1 who was teaching 200 little ones at the same time. She taught with such a lovely and friendly manner, whilst encouraging positive reinforcement to all learners when learning a new sound.
Soon after, some of the children headed next door to do group work on their learning tablets. I was lucky enough to be given my own tablet but I had to rely on the skills of the lovely girls sat beside me to help me progress through the game.
The first teacher training in Blantyre urban was a hit!
The teachers participated in all aspects of the training and seeing them enjoy learning new songs to enhance learning was a highlight. There were important discussions around how to plan the good lesson cycle, co-creating success criteria with children and asking effective questioning to promote higher order thinking skills (HOTS).
At 11am the rain poured down and I had to use my loudest teacher voice yet when presenting - which gave Karen the giggles - so, I thank my Malawian colleagues for engaging with the training despite the drumming of the rain on the roof.
As I woke on Wednesday morning I felt fuelled with excitement and a greater confidence to head into training day three at Nakumba TDC (Blantyre, urban). When we arrived we were lucky enough to be shown to Standard 4 in Nakumba Primary to join a numeracy lesson.
Immediately, it was evident that the school were using awesome active learning strategies. Children were working together to collaborate on multiplication calculations and used bottle caps on each table as concrete resources. Children were aware of their role in the group work and this resulted in success of understanding concepts.
A common practise in the classrooms I have enjoyed is the children having the chance to pick from a list of celebrations to receive when they answer correctly.
This is something that I will be using as soon as I return to class in Scotland - it is just fabulous.
9am quickly approached and we commenced our third training session. Teachers commented on enjoying the opportunity to plan the good lesson cycle together and taking the lesson away with them to trial in the next few weeks.
Today, we switched things up and took some of the active learning examples outside. We sang songs and tested our learning through a good old true/false debate. Very quickly lots of children gathered around us in excitement asking their teachers ‘When can we play this game in class!’.
It was a very positive day and I continue to be eternally grateful to the teachers for their ideas and participation.
I can’t believe how fast the time so I plan to enjoy every moment in schools I can.
