Teaching break-throughs! The internet, pair work and S.EX.

On my visit to Guyana in 2011 I came back convinced that I understood the main issue with rural Guyanese schools. I told Dan (who I made the trip with) that we would just have to set up a school with air conditioned classrooms.

I don’t know why I thought that this would be the silver bullet but I was yet to have a proper experience as a teacher and find out how complex education is.

This week I have taught some great lessons in hot, sweaty classrooms with no resources but a blackboard and I have also taught some terrible lessons in air-conditioned rooms with powerpoints and a projector.

The biggest factor for me is the internet. The internet opens up so many boxes for a teacher. Resources. Lesson plans. Random activities that you would have spent years thinking up yourself. I made a Skype call to Rob this week who talked to my class about one of the topics that they are studying and that he is working on. I found out about an easy practical that we did on Thursday; making esters that smelt of apples. I read a blog that made it clear in my mind how to avoid teacher burnout; more SEX (Sleep early, EXercise daily).

The internet is my saviour here in Georgetown and I now think it is crucial for development; especially at schools.

My other break-through came after 2 weeks of failure. I have been teaching chemical calculations to form 4. Most of them have struggled, a few of them have got it, a few of them have given up trying. I was in a moment of despair. But on Friday, I handed out these mini-question slips to the class. Randomly and in an unplanned fashion I said, “Work on each question as a pair, when you have finished, come to the front to collect the next question.” As a pair. This was the key. Within 10 minutes, every student was getting the problems right. It made a huge difference compared to the recent 30-40% average mark from the previous test on calculations.

So break-through number 2: When teaching calculations, I will always do pair work first.

Hopefully break-through number 3 is going to come from the marinating jumbo prawns fresh from the market today.