hooooly cow, there goes another month.

we (jimmy, samuel, and i) got back a week ago from leading a Learner Center Instruction workshop (group work, critical thinking and problem solving, related to real life situations, building from the student's own knowledge...that sort of thing) to untrained teachers on Santo.

it was loads of information that we worked on for weeks in advance at the office to simplify so teachers could actually implement it into their classrooms.

that's correct...from what i spent five years and two degrees learning at university, we picked out the most important ideas and crammed them into a week.

we worked, really, really hard.

It sounds silly, I know, to be teaching teachers how to implement strategies of critical thinking for their students when they are not even aware of phonics and their students cannot read. A country of illiterate critical thinkers? Okay, maybe not that bad. But critical thinking is something that develops over time….and it is a brand new concept for a classroom here…

Regardless. It is incredible the challenges these teachers have: 45 students in one classroom (how do I adequately assess ALL of my students?), schools so small that 1st graders are in the same class as 6th graders (how do I lesson plan to support EACH of my students?), teachers with absolutely no funding (not even a pay check) and no resources (how do I provide materials for my students??). My brain has been stretched so many different ways in the past week… Because (and this may be the craziest part of it all…) I am considered the expert in this situation.

this is jimmy. we work together at the ministry. he may or may not have fallen alseep in the middle of the workshop wendesday afternoon...

groups worked together to create lesson plans and were then critiqued by their peers...a pretty new concept to these teachers who typically write sentences on the board and have students copy...

 So, I hail mary-ed and gave them solutions: talked to them through their issues, questioned what would be effective for change, and gave my very best suggestions. I loved every minute of it. I love problem solving. I love education. I love teachers that care about education even though their goals seem impossible.

 sometimes an extra "s" makes a big difference...

 this is merelyn. she is a rockstar teacher. seriously.

 and rex...can you see his necklace?? i LOVE it. vanuatu bling of sorts.

i gave a pre and post workshop assessment, and, i have to say, i was incredibly impressed. these teachers have absolutely no formal training...some of them have only schooled through year 6. they made huge progress.

i was really, really proud.