rain=rain bugs

So, from last Tuesday, it has rained: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and again today! Welcome to the rainy season. It is nice and cool when it rains, and you don't know what moisture on you is perspiration and which is rain, so that's kinda nice. BUT- at night, the rain bugs come out to play. uuuugggghhh! they are soooo nasty. Like an ant, maybe an inch or so long, with 4 wings (wingspan 3-4 inches). I don't think they do anything but crowd light, and make a yucky flutter when they fly by your ear. uuugh. i shudder just thinking about walking home tonight.

School!!! well, the math teacher showed up yesterday! he's fabulous! he will sit down with the one student that is struggling and walk him through it, again and again. There are sooo many teachers in the JSS, so i feel just like another body, correcting papers and such. Which is fine for now. The student teachers leave June 11 (which i think is just an excuse to watch the world cup) so then i will be the main go-to in the classroom. But i am helping quite a bit with math and science. But their multiplication tables are still lacking. And one on my lil prep guys didn't know how to multiply at all earlier today. the math teacher jumped right in and fixed it though while i continued with the rest. So i feel like the students get hovered over, and that they only care about right answers, not how they got there. So that's been my focus last/this week. i don't care about the answer, i care about the thought behind it. They think they can copy and cheat their way through class, but then they get to the country test, and fail. eeek. i'm here to prevent that, but they have to have the desire to understand the process of thinking for their own classes first. The ghanain education system is so different. it leaves no room for. . .creativity on the part of the teacher. There is a nationwide syllabus and schedule for all the schools to follow, with lesson plans and homework available. it's. . . different. but i'm starting to find my way through it all.

But. My purpose here is starting to unfold. I've started to find my place in the classroom and in the lives of these children. I'm so excited to get some improvements rolling, and just want some more power! haha. well, ok. just more time with them when they will actually pay attention. but still.

well i continue to sweat and live off peanut butter, tuna, and whatever Ghanain dish Cynthia brings for dinner. sit by the fan a lot and correct a lot of homework.

until next time

holli