Hey Y’all,
Sorry about the recent length between posts, but I haven’t been in town as frequently as usual. And now I neglected to bring the post I wrote with the pictures, so here’s a hasty redo.
Two weeks ago I carried a battery, inverter, laptop, micro projector and speakers into our hall. I set it all up facing a white wall and finished covering up the windows with cardboard curtains to block the light. Then, I marched across the lawn to one of my science classes and gave them the sign to follow me. They walked into the dark room with a large, red 3M logo on a blue background projected on the wall and began speaking in a dull roar. They dragged desks and chair over to create an ad hoc amphitheatre and whispered away. A few of them stayed standing and watched an gesticulated as I moved my finger around the scroll pad getting Planet Earth setup.
Then the Emperor Penguins came on the screen and chirped through the speakers. Bedlam. Chaos and a cacophony of laughter and screams erupted behind me. I stepped to the side and watched as all 30 students stayed glued to the screen for 40 minutes. Certainly it was on the cusp of their attention spans, but they made it. It was a phenomenal experience and helped me get out of the depressing mood I’d been in.
Teaching here is the most wholly taxing thing I’ve ever done. Trying to communicate to students how important condoms are in a country where 1 in 4 people has HIV, while students are asking if it’s okay to cut a hole in the end of a condom, is not an easy thing. And I don’t know how to restrict my vocabulary to the 200 English words they recognize, because those definitions are invariably inaccurate. Close, but not quite there.
So, Planet Earth is not only hugely fascinating and eye opening for the students, but therapeutic and encouraging for me. Thank you Ma and Pa for Planet Earth, and thank you NGC Crew for the projector and speakers. They are phenomenal and a boon to all who experience them.
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7 comments:
Haha I've never been the first! Phil you're fine! that's all!
Hang in there buddy.
me lobe yoy long tim.
Me too what maggie said.
dad
phil the "ruth" comment was me at ruth's house. i took a motorcycle class and her place is closer than the burg, so i used her computer forgetting she's probably logged into her account. 100% on my written test. el v.
Phil-----had a great time with your Dad here. He was here Fri. from 9:30 all nite and Sat. from about 6pm all nite. Enjoyed having him here and of course I will be up there tomorrow for the BIG 60 celebration which is supposed to be a surprise but found out it isn't! I liked your name fillup! Love, Aunt Ruth
Hi Phil-----what a neat 60th party-----an amazing chocolate cake! Of course the star of the show was Lucy! She is a cutie and so friendly doesn't seem to care who is holding her. Almost as perfect as Ollie! Love Aunt Ruth
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