Day One as a Teacher at Nansana Community Primary School

Well, my first day as a teacher at Nansana Community Primary School was great! Teaching wasn't nearly as scary or difficult as I thought it would be. The children were all so attentive, and very well behaved. I arrived at the school at 9am, and studied the material for the English class I would be teaching at 11. While I was reading outside, one boy asked me to come into his class and meet everyone. The younger ones immediately came and started playing with me, one girl spent almost half an hour playing with my bangs and trying to tuck them behind my ears.

I taught the English class in one of the buildings which the secondary students had actually built, bricks included. The students were incredible well behaved, much more so than I remember the students in my classes ever being! I read the students a story (Mr. Chameleon and Mr. Elephant) and then had them answer a set of questions. The chalkboard the had at their end of the room (there are two classes in the building, one at each end, but with no wall or curtainto separate them) appeared to be nothing more than a wooden board painted black. I would love to find some chalkboard paint and make them a new one. I can probably find some supplies in Kampala this weekend in fact.

These children could really benefit from some updated materials such as chalkboards and textbooks. The teachers here work with what they have, and do an incredible job with the limited materials. I've decided that I'm going to start raising money for the school once I'm back in Boulder. It would mean the world to these children. The children I asked today all had dreams of becoming doctors, farmers, nurses, musicians, and lawyers. Right now, staying in school is the most important thing for these children, but with the school having limited resources, they need all the help they can get.

Teaching a Reading class in the afternoon was so much fun. Once I began asking the students to read out loud, I began to notice that their reading levels were quite varied. So instead, I went around to each student and read a paragraph out of a story with them, helping them with the words they didn't understand. The books I used were slightly more advanced, and getting some simpler and more structured reading books would be really beneficial. I think I'm going to look for some books like that next time I'm in downtown Kampala as well. I would love to go to some elementary schools in the Boulder area to see if they could donate any of their books to the school. I have so many ideas for how I can help the school once I'm back at CU. I hope that those who read this become as inspired as I have. If any of my Boulder friends feel moved enough to come on board with me in raising awareness, supplies, and money, I would be so grateful =)