Hiwot in action on Friday

Making indicators with flower petals



Musa in action on Saturday

After working flat out all day on Thursday to get ready for the next phase of training for science teachers, Friday and Saturday have been very very satisfying and uplifting days. Friday was Day 3 of four scheduled days of training for one science teacher from each 2^nd cycle school and Gondar Town cluster supervisors. During the four weeks since Days 1 and 2 were delivered I’ve visited some schools, observed some lessons and had some time to reflect on how I can design Days 3 and 4. Star of the show again has been Hiwot. She too worked flat out on Thursday to prepare to deliver two of the four sessions and on the day itself she was impressive.

A brief outline of Day 3
Session 1: review of Days 1 & 2 and sharing of experiences in schools over the last four weeks
Session 2 (Hiwot): exploration of subject knowledge of acids & bases, including using flower petals as an indicator to test some common substances.
Session 3: Methods for using textbooks actively and to support learning in English
Session 4 (Hiwot): some more chemistry practicals using local materials

Friday evening was beers and blethering with Gemma & Steve.

Day 4
Session 1 (Musa, a college Physics teacher educator): basic electronics in the physics lab
Session 2: more activities for using textbooks actively and to develop English skills
Session 3: review of all the methods covered over the four days and what happens next.

I’ve really enjoyed these two days and the teachers have been fully engaged. The adrenalin, excitement, stress, being fully occupied in an activity, being fully engaged with the teachers in trying to take them forward from how they work now has been thoroughly fulfilling. This is what we need to be doing. The real test of course is the effect this all has on the actual practice of the teachers in their classrooms. Another series of school visits and observations can now start next week. Suddenly my time here is worthwhile and achieving something. The rollercoaster continues…