30 May Storytelling

Workshop day again and I made sure to grab a cup of chai which has fresh milk from the cow, its tastes nothing like tea but is amazing and just so fresh.
In this weeks ECD workshop we began by going over the participatory learning approach and the thematic learning method which were the two main areas that teachers were struggling with as well as being the two main areas that the syllabus for ECD teachers stresses most.
Marcello spoke for some time and went through the approaches to these topics, we then had some feedback from the teachers asking about their experiences of using these methods in the last week. We had some great feedback and I was happy to have captured a lot of it on my video camera. We had some group activities where groups of teachers planned a hypothetical week plan where they choose the theme, sub theme and fill in all the subject areas for a week using the participatory learning approach and the thematic learning method.
Story telling was the next part of the workshop and the storyteller I had planned to attend had not turned up but I had planned a backup in the form of a story I found on the net called high and lifted up. I said that my theme was nature and sub theme was leaves, so every time I say the word leaf I want the participants to all say "leaf" and every time I say a colour they repeat the colour back to me. My idea behind that was that it fits in well with the aproach and methods we were discussing and also adds elements of comedy (like a running gag) and keeps the interest of all the participants. I enjoyed delivering the story and having the group participation, having somebody I respected to be a great teacher highlight the story on the evaluation sheet at the end of the session meant a lot to me.
In the evening I went to Nyalenda for a rehearsal and meeting with the drama group and centre. As I left what was a somewhat difficult meeting I realised that it was getting dark and felt quite uncomfortable walking through Nyalenda at that time. It was very much a sensory overload and being alone in unfamiliar circumstances. I do know people around the area so I guess if it was that bad I would go to them to see me off. It was partly down to the tiredness and uneasy atmosphere that was in the air at the meeting that was prior to walking back, but the neighbourhood seemed a totally different place in the dark. People hanging around corners, fires in the street and inside peoples houses, a few drunken people and just a feeling of uneasiness. Now I know to get out of the area before its dark or at least know what to expect if I am in the area. I don't feel at risk there however, otherwise I would steer clear.

Workshop number two...

Our second ECD workshop
By 6:40AM the truck was ready, all the materials loaded and four weary eyed mzungus (white people) stumbled their way into the truck. We were on our way to Disciples Of Mercy School where we were hosting the second of our Early Childhood Development (ECD) Workshops, this weeks theme was understanding the chid.
We had a hell of a lot of setting up to do as we had planned to make building blocks with the teachers. This involved 20 blocks, 4 different colour paints, turpentine, two types of brushes and rags to clean the brushes for 120 teachers. Not an easy task to setup for. Also, we wanted to be especially careful not to harm any of the furniture or the floor so we covered the hole room in newspaper and sheets the Marcel and I had bargained over the day before in the market.
Making this weeks learning material (the blocks) went really well in the end, despite not quite having enough material as we did not expect the turn out to be as good as it was. It’s a strange thing when you have to tell an adult to calm down and wait a moment for a brush or some paint to become available. I found it ironic that when I was handing out the paint brushes these adult teachers were grabbing them out of my hands like kids themselves, well more like animals actually. These are the people who should be teaching sharing and social skills to young children, funny eh!
Roxi gave a fantastic talk about the development of the brain and understanding the child ages 0 - 2. I really enjoyed standing at the back and watching her talk so passionately. She did such an amazing job. Watching her I felt really proud as I knew how much work she had put into what she was going to say. Looking round the room at attentive faces, 120 teachers that were volunteering their own time to help strengthen their skills, it really made me feel that the work we were doing was worth it.
I had prepared some notes on flipchart paper which I placed behind me, as well as some notes to help me to speak. I was careful not to write my whole part down as I didn’t want my eyes glued to the piece of paper. I had put mini activities I could do to break up the speaking in Bold. When it actually came to speaking I found that the notes were more of a hindrance than anything else. I didn’t get lost and have to pause but they just sort of slowed me down. Its amazing how quickly the time went and I managed to skip out most of the mini activities which is something I really wanted to do as I'm aware how boring being lectured at can be. I did stop and ask questions to the group quite often though. I really enjoyed talking to the large group of people. I know it was the drama student in me, but I enjoyed making sure I varied the tone and intonation and used strong body language. Its funny, I very took on the dynamic of Ralph from our countries good, a character I had played. I was being myself while I spoke, but felt that I kind of relaxed into that characters speech pattern and movement dynamic. After finishing I didn’t feel to great, realising that I had spoken for about 40 minutes and done exactly what I didn’t want to do, plain lecture. I felt confident that I spoke well and passionately. I was talking about the development of the child and understanding them from 2 to 6. All worries aside I seemed to get good feedback from the participants and was very surprised that Francisca the area officer for ECD wanted a copy of my notes. For me that was a real achievement, that the area officer wanted a copy of the notes that I had collated myself, my talk cant have been too bad then.
I'm definitely going to work on the content and way I present it more ready for the next workshop. Hopefully I can overcome some of the things I didn’t feel to great about above.
I ended with the talk with the quote "Play to Perfection" which I love, whether your talking about education through play with a kid, rehearsals in drama, or just in life as we never really stop playing. I stole this quote from Andrew Fielding my Drama teacher & Director at DLD and definitely think its wise words. So thanks Andrew (not that you'll be reading this) for that little quote, not just so I can steel it when talking to others but so I can keep it in the back of my head and when possible try and live by it.