The Classroom

July 13, 2011 (Hamle 6, 2003, Ethiopian Calendar)

This morning we began our classroom instruction. It was a little rough, but by the second session it was much better. The classrooms tend to be dark, the electricity flickers regularly and chalk is a rare commodity. But everyone is adapting wonderfully.

I am with Lauren, Jessica, Emily, Carly and Jake working with the computors. We, too, had a rocky start, but regrouped quickly. We realized before we could attack the Intel software we needed a little keyboarding review. None of these kids have ever sat behind a computer before, so we restarted at the very, very beginning: this is how you start the computer! This was followed by checking the wifi connection, logging in as themselves, connecting to the network and finally connecting to the teachers. We covered basic vocabulary like click, double click, space bar, capital and lower case. Things are going very smoothly. Jake is teaching and the girls each are watching over a table full of students. There are 5 of the local teachers helping and translating where necessary.

Jake and spent the afternoon with the teachers. We had a group of the more advanced users and worked with the lego robots and the microscope. Lee, a member of the Intel group has been great, but appreciated help teaching. As he says, he is a technician, not a teacher. Both the students and the teachers are so excited and very appreciative of all the new equipment. The biology teacher is so excited by the microscope he can hardly contain himself.

I wish they had internet. That would really make the package complete. The lack of resources is a major problem. But they do well with what they have.