I know, Spot. It's t-e-s-t-i-n-g time again. It's okay. We'll get through it. All our nerves are a little frazzled these days...talk of budgets and new missions and all kinds of things. We're just going to go with the flow, because you know what, Spot? We've got yoga...knitting...walking club, you name it. Every way you can imagine to de-stress. Today's test...reading comprehension: 45 minutes of pure concentration. You could hear a pin drop! Kids were working their little hearts out to do their best to prove themselves again this year. Right in the middle of it, though, we had a few of those small occurrences that befall kids in their human states...funny things that are really nothing, but enough to make us have to control a case of the giggles. There was the usual cascade of pencils that drop the minute everyone gets set, the stuffy noses and bouts of coughing, and this year we had hiccups. The start and stop kind. We had the outside proctor proctoring me, the inside proctor. Jeesh! But then, as always, it was done. And we went on from there, jump-starting our creativity and moving into learning mode. We imagined ourselves in the faraway savannas and jungles of Africa with kids entertaining other kids with the lessons of African folktales...our own versions of them anyway, we read about the recent elections in Kenya and how very different the transfer of power was there as opposed to here when our 43rd President shook hands with the 44th and history moved forward once again. Kids couldn't imagine the violence that the Kenyan kids must've faced, but they talked an awful lot about it. Imagine how they must feel having a sitting US President who traces his origins back to their Luo tribe? Spot, you and your friends with all their new-found knowledge of this wonderful continent connected so meaningfully to these kids so far away. And yes we'll be back atcha with our tests and all that, but you know, Spot, I think that yoga is working! You little doggies do what you have to and then crave the real world of learning that much more! This, my friend, is why I love my job!
Showing posts with label Kenya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenya. Show all posts
Friday, March 6, 2009
Worlds Apart
I know, Spot. It's t-e-s-t-i-n-g time again. It's okay. We'll get through it. All our nerves are a little frazzled these days...talk of budgets and new missions and all kinds of things. We're just going to go with the flow, because you know what, Spot? We've got yoga...knitting...walking club, you name it. Every way you can imagine to de-stress. Today's test...reading comprehension: 45 minutes of pure concentration. You could hear a pin drop! Kids were working their little hearts out to do their best to prove themselves again this year. Right in the middle of it, though, we had a few of those small occurrences that befall kids in their human states...funny things that are really nothing, but enough to make us have to control a case of the giggles. There was the usual cascade of pencils that drop the minute everyone gets set, the stuffy noses and bouts of coughing, and this year we had hiccups. The start and stop kind. We had the outside proctor proctoring me, the inside proctor. Jeesh! But then, as always, it was done. And we went on from there, jump-starting our creativity and moving into learning mode. We imagined ourselves in the faraway savannas and jungles of Africa with kids entertaining other kids with the lessons of African folktales...our own versions of them anyway, we read about the recent elections in Kenya and how very different the transfer of power was there as opposed to here when our 43rd President shook hands with the 44th and history moved forward once again. Kids couldn't imagine the violence that the Kenyan kids must've faced, but they talked an awful lot about it. Imagine how they must feel having a sitting US President who traces his origins back to their Luo tribe? Spot, you and your friends with all their new-found knowledge of this wonderful continent connected so meaningfully to these kids so far away. And yes we'll be back atcha with our tests and all that, but you know, Spot, I think that yoga is working! You little doggies do what you have to and then crave the real world of learning that much more! This, my friend, is why I love my job!
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