July 27, 2010
Posted by Josephine
The Most Impotent Thing to Remember…
A photo of the cutest baby in the world has nothing to do with this particular post, but I’m putting it up here anyways. Because this kid is just beautiful. It’s one of my favourite photos so far.
Onto more topical ideas: I think we’ve finally cracked the code for teaching Kenyan children computer lessons!
Sing, dance, clap, snap and BOOM suddenly everyone is alert and getting involved. Lyrics like “Space bar makes a space, backspace rubs it out” may not be the wittiest or catchiest, but surprisingly enough these very lyrics got an entire class on board today.
A few days ago, Robin and I showed up to the Centre to teach our first class at 9am and the kids were all outside singing “Josephine we love you, Robin we love you” and dancing! How amazing is that?!
The kids have been pushing themselves up a steep learning curve. There have been some humourous mistakes (a boy writing in his notebook “The most impotent thing to remember is to always press save”), but there have also been tons of feel good moments that make the long, long days feel very satisfying. Keep in mind most of these kids (aged 10-14) had never used a computer before this.
They’ve figured out how to use a mouse, open a document, create their own, hustle through typing drills, make art in Paint, and tons of other things. We take it for granted, but figuring out how the heck to navigate a computer if you’ve never touched one before isn’t as easy as it looks.
These kids are a determined group, and though our project wraps up in less than a week, it’s cool to think that these kids will probably end up spreading their computer skills to their friends and even to their teachers in the time to come. It’s like planting a seed and watching it grow. Feels good.
3 Comments
July 30, 2010
Amazing photo! Glad to see you’ve found a way to get the messages through, and that you’re still enjoying your time there.
July 30, 2010
Jos, I’m going to have to sign my love you’s to you from now on. Love you!
July 30, 2010
*sing
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