reports with more than just the dry after taste in your mouth

in the pics: more food, special spaghetti sauce and lots! of cucumbers; where will you go in samoa, road signs abound, well, not really; two shots of a "fancy house" in samoa. i was impressed. A banyan tree. I"m reading a book called "Leaves of the banyan tree" ..very interesting.

8/18

Report time…doing the PC trimester report…some snippets. Sorry if it’s dry…but might give you a different feel for what I do.

Community integration…I feel I am integrated into my community. When school is in session, I live at the school, and eat dinner with the vice principal's family and play with the children, suipi with the vice principal. I miss the students who used to live at school and help us, but now live at home. I’ve learned that Samoans want to have something of yours in their possession. I feel that might be a samoan thing. But they rarely return my things—I have to go and get them…that is still irritating. My teachers keep asking me if I am getting an extension. I tell them it is past the deadline. They want me to stay, but I feel that two years is a good length of time to do some capacity building and sustainability training. And it’s time the teachers did the computer thing without me. it’s time to go home. I tell them I miss my family—mom and grandparents. Most recently my teachers are texting me dirty jokes…is that a sign that they accept you?

Success stories…I guess my biggest success I could have is to train teachers at my school how to teach the computer topics and maintain the computers. Towards this end, I have created a document detailing what it is I do in the computer room everyday—the teaching and the maintaining of the computers. I’m more worried about the maintaining of the computers because if one computer dies for some reason (and a computer could stop working for MANY different reasons) it could sit unused for a LONG time waiting for MESC to come and repair it. I don’t want that. I’m training two teachers and our typist to maintain the computers. I am still trying to do the classes for teachers, but lately it has been difficult—cricket practice, and the principal not reminding the teachers. My latest idea is to create some activities that teachers can do on their own time, since the computer lab has become a popular after-school hangout for teachers.

I've also been helping to university students with their computers and writing papers in English. That has been a fun side activity.

Planned activities…The biggest activity that I am completing right now is the year12 IA for computer studies. Because of the swine flu,my time table has been squished. We do not have as much time...I don't think the quality of the final products will be as good, but we'll do the best we can.

I also want to continue helping with the reading with primary school students (15 students, once a week, 1.5 hours). I am planning to do a yearbook at my school, with each class completing their own page with all their classmates in one page. I think it would be a good "data integration" activity. Later, if there is time, I want to do a PowerPoint project using pictures I've taken throughout the year, stories from the students, and maybe some music. we'll see...

Challenges…So far, there has not been any co-teaching, or other teachers taking computer studies when I have been away. I want to know if there are anyI feel that to have at least two or three co-teaching sessions would be a key part of the sustainability. Another challenge has been the hitting of students that still happens at school. I see the smarter ones being held back by the “box” that students are put in. I have cheeky/disruptive students do a 3-minute wall sit or push-ups, or write me a letter about why they have been disruptive.

The teacher training has been "hit and miss"...it has not been consistent. I want to know if there are other approaches that are effective when training is not on a consistent time table. What could I entice the teachers with?

Apart from school, when I heard three of the dogs at my samoan family’s house get shot, I really wanted to go home. I tried to explain to my father there is a different way. You don’t need to shoot dogs that annoy you or you have no more use for.

My bike has been broken for a while and it has been very wet (raining) for the last few weeks, so I have not gotten enough physical activity. That has been hard.

I've been attempting to talk with my principal about corporal punishment. Recently I gave her suggestions of what I use in class to keep students attention and and curb disturbances (ie. the cheeky students). She read them and then gave the report back to me. I thought it had good ideas in it. The reason I keep trying is that she keeps telling me the students in her class cannot express themselves adequately. I have told her that I think it is because they are scared of her and the physical abuse she uses with students. I want to know if there are any suggestions for increasing self-expression. I also want to know if there any examples of teachers who have changed their classroom discipline procedures and seen better outcomes (more self expression).

I have been showing two of the teachers at my school how to do basic (and not so basic) computer repair and maintenance. Basically I"m trying to show them everything I do to keep the computers running. One day I was showing a teacher how to replace the computer's battery and he said to me, "I'm not a computer technician." I guess that's true, but someone will need to fix the computers when they break, and so far our school has not had to call the ministry's computer helpdesk because I have fixed all the problems. I think someone that can fix the computers who teaches at the school is a much faster option than waiting for the ministry. I want to know if there is anything I can say to my teachers to encourage them.

Lessons learned…I have had many lessons, some I feel I cannot put into words right now...only will come when I look back at this experience. I'm too deep in the middle of it right now. I have many good ideas, but I've learned my principal just wants me to teach computers. so I can stick to that. It is hard to be proactive when the culture is very reactive. I'm not used to waiting for people to come to me. I want to go out and make it happen, and sometimes I hit the wall of lethargy.

I have my students who are disruptive or have not completed their homework write me a letter describing the problem and why it happened and will not happen again. i think this is an effective tool that gets students to think and express themselves.