Today saw the start of our Teacher Training week at T.T.C. Mururu in Kamembe. Our morning began with a slightly anxious phone call from Peter, the Manager of the Rwanda Aid team here, explaining that today had been declared a national holiday in Rwanda (for Eid al-Fitr, the last day of Ramadan) and showing concern about how many teachers would realistically want to attend the training on what should be a day of rest for them. Neverthless, thinking optimistically, we crammed ourselves into the weary Scorpio, determined to make the best of whatever awaited us.
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| Teachers assembling in the hall first thing for an address from the Headmaster of T.T.C. Mururu |
Although slightly fewer participants than we had anticipated were there at 8am, by the time we were ready to begin the first teaching session, most of the 60-odd teachers had arrived and, when given the choice to have the day off or continue as planned, most opted for the latter.
The morning sessions involved lessons on Pair and Group Work, ICT (many of the teachers have never seen a computer before), Lesson Starters and Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic Learning. It is the second time that Stephan and Francine have visited Rwanda on such a trip and both were impressed with the level of English most of the group can use and understand. We have three Rwandan teachers acting as mentors to the group; they are teachers who have attended previous training weeks and are more proficient in English. They proved invaluable assistants to us throughout the day, translating when needed but also happily involving themselves in the sessions.
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| Showing a teacher how to use Microsoft Word |
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| A teacher, having mastered the art of copy and paste, helps another teacher |
At lunch some of us sampled plantain for the first time and Stephan's Leatherman became a valued friend to those of us not used to eating large lumps of meat without knives.
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| Dishing up lunch: rice, beans, plantain and meat |
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| Lunch in the dining hall |
The final session of the day followed lunch and, as a compromise for sacrificing their day off, we agreed that we would end the day slightly earlier than planned. One of the lessons we have learnt from being out here is that things do not always work out the way we expect them to so we have to be flexible!
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| Group work in the Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic session |
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| Trying out one of Stephan's lesson starters |
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| More lesson starters |
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| Getting into pairs using wool in the Group and Pair Work session |
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Using string to ensure all members of the class participate in a group work task
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| Even this little lizard turned up for training! |
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