Preparing for Teacher Training

We spent the weekend at a beautiful lodge close to St. Jude's, called Karama Lodge (it means 'to be honored' in Kiswahili). Worked very hard all weekend, and battling a small case of what might be dysentery, but there was never a more lovely spot to be sick or to prepare for professional development.

Tomorrow morning, we will begin 30+ hours of professional development with a staff of about 55. We will spend the early part of the week focusing on what current research suggests about best practices and developing teacher quality objectives with the group. Toward the middle of the week, we will introduce their new course objectives, syllabi, and curriculum maps, as well as a planning process.

On Thursday and Friday, we will be working with them to help plan their first units of the new year, and providing a mini-session on effective classroom assessments, as that is a major need school-wide, and they have expressed an interest in that work in particular.

On Monday evening, we will have a dinner out with the full leadership team (16!) to get their feedback on the first day of teacher training, and then at the end of the week, on the night before we leave, we will have dinner again with the Director and Assistant Director to present our report of the work accomplished and our recommendations for ongoing work in the school.

Then on Friday, we finish at 3:30 and are on a plane to Amsterdam at 9:30! So, all a whirlwind and time is slipping away fast!