near my house. With only eight students I consider it to be just about the perfect size
for my novice teaching abilities.
 |
| My students and myself in front of Kalende Mission College's sign. |
Of the eight students and myself, I’m the only one in my 20’s – the rest are all older than me, which is somewhat strangeto be the teacher when I’m essentially the correct “student” age.
This isn’t a typical class in a typical college though. The college is a small Bible college where students from all over the North-Western Province of Zambia come to earn a theological degree.
The administration of the college heard that I was in the area, tracked me down and asked if I would be willing to teach their first-year students in a life skills class. As it turns out, life skills in this part of the world mean agriculture, so I happily agreed.
Every Tuesday and Wednesday from about 8 a.m. to half past noon, I teach the students of Kalende Mission College about crop farming, gardening, forestry and I’ve even sprinkled in some extra subject areas like fish farming, nutrition and basic business skills.
So far, one term finished and midway through the second, I’m really enjoying the chance to teach in a more formal setting and have at least one structured activity during the week.
The teaching isn’t without its challenges though. At times I struggle with getting the subject matter to neatly fit my time constraints. I seem to nearly always go too short or too long for a period – never just right.
And I also have those moments when my students try their hardest to stump me with a seemingly impossible or unknowable question, and luckily I’m never too proud to say that I don’t know or that I’ll get back to them when I can findthecorrect answer – not something I make up.
It’s been a great experience and what makes the teaching so much fun are the students themselves. They genuinely seem to enjoy having me there.
And as the weeks pass I’m becoming just that much more familiar with each of the students and their individual personalities.
For example, when one student raises his hand I know to expect a very good question. And I know which student is most likely to fall asleep during a class; which student has the best humor; and which student needs a bit of an extra push and reassurance that he’s doing things correctly.
Teaching about beneficial trees (for soil improvement and food) or how mulching can provide many substantial benefits to a gardener is good, but watching the idea click for them and seeing their eyes light up as if they have just made a great realization is the best.
Now I know what all those teachers from my years at Pennfield were talking about when they said watching a student learn was what made the job and their efforts worthwhile.
My hope in teaching this class is that after the students learn from me, in my class, they’ll go back to their communities and teach their friends and family what they learned.I can imagine no better means of transferring knowledge and nothing would make me prouder or make my time and efforts here more worthwhile.
This isn’t a typical class in a typical college though. The college is a small Bible college where students from all over the North-Western Province of Zambia come to earn a theological degree.
The administration of the college heard that I was in the area, tracked me down and asked if I would be willing to teach their first-year students in a life skills class. As it turns out, life skills in this part of the world mean agriculture, so I happily agreed.
Every Tuesday and Wednesday from about 8 a.m. to half past noon, I teach the students of Kalende Mission College about crop farming, gardening, forestry and I’ve even sprinkled in some extra subject areas like fish farming, nutrition and basic business skills.
So far, one term finished and midway through the second, I’m really enjoying the chance to teach in a more formal setting and have at least one structured activity during the week.
The teaching isn’t without its challenges though. At times I struggle with getting the subject matter to neatly fit my time constraints. I seem to nearly always go too short or too long for a period – never just right.
And I also have those moments when my students try their hardest to stump me with a seemingly impossible or unknowable question, and luckily I’m never too proud to say that I don’t know or that I’ll get back to them when I can findthecorrect answer – not something I make up.
It’s been a great experience and what makes the teaching so much fun are the students themselves. They genuinely seem to enjoy having me there.
And as the weeks pass I’m becoming just that much more familiar with each of the students and their individual personalities.
For example, when one student raises his hand I know to expect a very good question. And I know which student is most likely to fall asleep during a class; which student has the best humor; and which student needs a bit of an extra push and reassurance that he’s doing things correctly.
Teaching about beneficial trees (for soil improvement and food) or how mulching can provide many substantial benefits to a gardener is good, but watching the idea click for them and seeing their eyes light up as if they have just made a great realization is the best.
Now I know what all those teachers from my years at Pennfield were talking about when they said watching a student learn was what made the job and their efforts worthwhile.
My hope in teaching this class is that after the students learn from me, in my class, they’ll go back to their communities and teach their friends and family what they learned.I can imagine no better means of transferring knowledge and nothing would make me prouder or make my time and efforts here more worthwhile.
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