Tuesday, April 13, 2010

My new blog to document my experiences teaching in South Africa

Welcome to my blog. I am a new blog user. I will leave tomorrow with ten students from Brock University who will be teaching in South Africa as part of their certification. I am their professor. I will document our experiences during the month ahead. I invite your comments and ideas. Enjoy!

4 comments:

Hilary said...

Hello Mom! I am so proud of you. I am looking forward to following your journey on this blog. You are leaving today. I look forward to hearing that you have arrived safe and sound. xoxo Hilary

Carol said...

Hi Sharon,
Hope all is well and that your travel plans were not disrupted by the volcanic eruption.
I am looking forward to reading your blog following you and your students (and eventually Fred) on this exciting journey.
Cheers, Carol

Dr. Figg said...

We can hardly wait to hear what you have been doing in the first few days of your trip! Are the pre-service students situated yet? In the schools?? We'd like to get a 'picture' of what they do (and what you do, too, smabbey) on an ordinary day!! :)

Sharon said...

We are into day 4. This is the first chance I have had to access a computer. We arrived just ahead of the volcano disturbance luckily. We took advantage of the beautiful weekend weather to take the cable up Table Mountain. A spectacular view and amazing biodiversity that offers lessons on interdependence between plants and animals in this harch rocky environment. Why can't humans learn this? We also went to Camps Bay to watch the high surf crashing on the rocks - another message about natures incredible power. The sunset was wonderful - painting the sky with an ever-changing picture. Lovely seafood fresh from the sea followed. Yesterday we took a boat to Robbin Island where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned. Our tour was conducted by a former prisoner. The most powerful image was the rock pile in the middle of the limestone quarry that prisoners worked in for 8 hours a day in the blazing sun with no protection. One day they moved rocks to the left and the next day they put them all back where they were. Imagine doing such a meaningless task year in and year out just because your crime was speaking up about injustice. One quote said: "The journey isn't long when freedom is the destination."
We also toured the District 6 museum. This black neighbourhood was demolished and people moved to a distant place just because white people wanted the land. This museum contains all the artifacts saved from the old neighbourhood along with letters and testimonies bearing witness to the devastation of losing homes, streets, businesses etc. and being displaced without any choice.
Our students spent their first day in their classrooms today. The classes are large - 40 to60 kids per room. There is no money to hire more teachers. The classes are in disrepair with very few supplied. Students do a lot of rote learning with little active engagement. Hopefully our students can help to make a difference. They are busy planning and adapting lessons. They are very impressive young people who have so much to share and give. I am learning from them also.