Kuuliza si ujinga

It says a lot that my most valuable possession this week was an empty glass jar.

This week I taught four eighty minute classes on combustion. My lecture went something like this:
-have students brainstorm how they use fire in their lives
-lecture about combustion
-demonstration: light a candle, cover it with a jar, and have students watch as the candle uses up all the oxygen in the jar and then goes out
-ask students some questions to test their understanding of combustion (example: is boiling water combustion? Why does lit charcoal glow when you blow on it?)

The demonstration was by far the best part. I had to split my fifty person class into groups of twenty-five, which were still far too big. But even so, the students were leaning forward to stare at the lit candle. I could hear an audible "aaaah" in the room as the candle went out. It was fun.

Some challenge I can see after a week of teaching:
-it takes a long time to get students to raise their hands. You have to stand in front of the classroom, look them in the eye, and wait. I hate making people uncomfortable and didn't do a very good job of this in the first class. But I think I'm getting better.
-Some students speak English well and look bored. Some barely speak English at all and have no idea what is going on.
-I went around the class trying to help students and see how much they understood. A few simply would not answer me, even when I asked a yes or no question. I have the feeling their English was not very good, and they were embarassed to talk.

Also it's fun to make students laugh. Simply say "ugali" and "mchicha", and they start laughing at the fact that a white person knows Swahili words for dinner food.

Next week's lesson: rust. I'll do my best to keep you posted.