Well, I started actually doing stuff at work this week. Monday was a wasted day, but tuesday we finally got a schedule and now we are following that schedule and assisting with classes. Some of the classes are fine, but others are pure chaos. I talked to my teachers in the nice class today and told them that I might move to some of the worse classes since they already had things under control. Pretty much, the original description of our project has gone right out the door. There was no obesity problem. There is a discpline problem. In many of the classes, the students do what they want. In one class, the teacher seems to have control, but its only because she spends so much time tongue lashing the kids. I was even confused when she said that she loved kids, stopping several times during that short phrase to reprimand students for not sitting up or not having feet on the ground or breathing too much or no blinking enough. I really do feel she is a product of teaching at a bad school for way too long. Worse yet, it seems like the principle isnt involved at all in the workings of the school, especially since I have yet to talk to him and I am a guest at his school. He was the primary contact to the mayors office who is our sponsor, and yet it seems like he knows the least about whats happening. Luckily, there is a lady who is some sort of admin. person who has her act together and has given us some structure. So, we are tutoring. I'm losing sleep though trying to figure out a way to fix the much larger issue of underfunded school systems and impoverished students who have no future.
On a really bright note, the students in my school are being taught material that seems advanced to what I remember learning in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. In science, they are working with curcuits and electricity, which I dont remember doing much of in the 6th grade. I remember life sciences class being really hard, but I dont remember taking a physics class. Some of my teammates are capable of tutoring some of the subjects because the material is defiantely advanced for kids.
After school today, I went to the high school to pick up my teammate and I played a little soccer with them. It was very enjoyable. I miss soccer. Maybe I'll start going on a regular basis to help coach.
Only one more day until the weekend.
--Will Leroi DAlen
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3 comments:
Its unfortunate but most schools have horrible PE programs.
Ours, for example, have 45 minutes for PE class. 5 minutes of that is dressing out. Another 5 minutes at the end has to be for changing back. So you're looking at only 35 minutes for any kind of physical activity. Then they cram 60-70 kids in one gym and expect all of them to be able to be active. Its terrible.
If they really want to improve Physical Education, one thing is going to have to happen. They're going to need longer class periods. Its rediculous.
Hey, come back to concord soon. They want to start a soccer program in the county. I need someone to teach me how to coach soccer ;-) I'll hook you up with the head coach position, its paid. Shout me a holla if you're in town next weekend.
Eric
Hey man, reading this post I think we really are going through some similar stuff. Tanzanian schools don't really have physical education, but the students play soccer, volleyball, and basketball after school. Of course, seeing as at my boarding school they just get ugali (think grits only so thick they have the conistency of mashed potatoes) and beans to eat so we don't have an obesity problem. Discipline though is sometimes another thing. Of course the way teachers discipline students here is a wooden stick. You should try it.
My school's physical education programs isn't the best ,either. 40 minutes. 10 mintues of changing and a ton of kids. We have lots of different things to pick from, normal things like Basketball or Lacross, to things like Square Dancing and Ping Pong. Instead of gym I take Dance. Which is pretty fun.
I really hope the NCCC is okay. I've already came to terms that I hate budgets, because starting next year, my school will have no home economics classes. No food & nutrition, no clothing, no interior decorating, no human development. My schedule next year is going to blow.
& WOW! Dalen's a beast! You can bench press me 8 times! I weigh like 130. Yeah, I'm a woman, and not afraid of her weight. Oh yeah. Go me.
Aww, lil Dalen is getting all buff...
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