Leaving Mbita

It is with some sadness that we have left Mbita behind us. We have felt so welcomed over the past 2 weeks. I hope that one day I will be able to return.

In reflecting on the past week’s sessions, I think the thing that I am most proud of is the way that I modified the workshop I lead on Assessment and Evaluation. The workshop was scheduled for the afternoon. The feedback that we had been receiving was that it was difficult to stay awake in the warm room after a heavy lunch. I needed to keep the participants working. In addition, my original plan called for showing several rubrics using the projector. Unfortunately, we were expecting the possibility of an all-day power outage because of power sharing. I had to rethink.

In North America, I might have decided to make photocopies of the rubrics in question. That option was not available to me. Instead I changed things around. I copied six rubrics onto chart paper and used them for an activity. I had all the participants head outside for a 10 minutes active game on the topic. I created another activity to illustrate the necessity of sharing objectives with students.

Even though the power stayed on all day, I am glad that I didn’t need it. Copying the rubrics out was a lot of work, but in the end, it was a better activity. Working within the constraints and challenges forced me to think harder about my approach. I am proud of the workshop that resulted. I certainly will make me reconsider my classroom lessons. I also think that I will be less stressed on days when the photocopier is out of order.

On to Naivasha!