So, what are the differences between students in Burundi and American students? I was thinking about this recently, and I've come up with a list of ten things.
1) Enthusiasm
The kids often want to learn, especially on lab days. One day this past week, after lecture, several of the boys came up to my desk and asked questions during break.
One boy came up to me after class and gave me a homework assignment! He wants me to look up the temperature of lava in volcanos. His friend later told me that he spends a lot of time afterschool in the library looking at science books.
I did a lab last week where students played with cornstarch and water. When you hit it or try to move quickly, it's hard like it's solid. But, when you move slowly, it acts like goo. One student was sick when we did the lab. They asked if they could do the lab, even though they were excused from it.
2) Experiences
I often take too many things I know for granted. I sometimes forget that at some point, I learned how to do certain things.
One lab I did with some of the older students. We used an eye dropper. Several students have never used one! They would put the end of the eye dropper in the bottle, then squeeze the end, and then lift it up expecting the dropper to be full.
I started Arts and Crafts this week and did a needlework craft. I probably threaded 60 needles. I don't think sewing or needlework is something many of the kids have done. I have not seen large needles in the market.
I knew from my experiences the 2nd term last year that I should probably start at the beginning with science for the new 7th graders. We are now finishing up their first labs based on measurements. They learned to measure length, volume, mass and temperature.
3) Love of Music
A large majority of the students love to sing--boys and girls alike. For chapel, there might be 30 girls that come up to sing a song. On field trips, the students will sing on the bus.
Often during class, at least one student will receive a dirty look from me for tapping their pen on their desk. One day during labs, one of the new 7th grade classes finished early. The different lab stations started drumming rhythms on their tables in unison. Unfortunately, the video I tried to sneak while this was happening was corrupted. Burundi is famous for their drummers, and the love for drumming must seems to start early.
The kids here would love to learn musical instruments, but unfortunately, we don't have much. We have two guitars, a couple of keyboards, and a drum set. We struggle keeping them in working order.
4) Respect
When I correct a student or a student gets in trouble, they generally don't respond negatively. Students don't yell at me and generally don't argue. When I ask for something, I will hear the response, "Yes, teacher." That doesn't mean they always do what I ask, but I appreciate the polite response.
5) Hanging Out
Outside of class, the students genuinely want to hangout with you, and they want to see pictures from America. They will ask you to join them playing cards or eating lunch. On Fridays, I will sometimes manage supplies for activities like badminton, chess, cards, jumpropes and a puzzle. The kids have started to play chess, and I would like to find some more time to teach them some strategies.
6) PDA - Physical Displays of Affection
I've never seen two kids making out at my school, and we have had very few problems between boys and girls. Our kids are between 11 years old and 22. The boys spend most of their time with boys, and the girls spend most of their time with girls. At lunches and in classes, the boys and girls generally prefer to sit separately. Burundi culture is different than America as far as boys and girls. It probably makes my job a lot easier! On the other hand, my last class ended by me calling a boy back into my classroom so he would return a stolen shoe back to the owner (a girl).
7) Auditory Learning
The majority of the education in Burundi is done by teachers talking in the front of a room filled with students, and students being tested on what the teacher said. Some schools the students take notes and write, other schools the students can't afford notebooks. I think this does two things: the kids are pretty good at paying attention during class and they are good auditory learners. But...it also means that students struggle with reading assignments, hands on activities like labs, creative thinking, and sometimes critical thinking.
8) Vocabulary and Humor
Most of my students are learning English as their third language. So, as a result sometimes their learning and sense of humor is restricted by their English vocabulary. Sometimes I struggle finding a way to make students laugh or enjoy lectures.
I'm learning to be more animated while teaching. Today I used basketballs to demonstrate heat and particle motion. I threw one basketball into another one on the floor to demonstration how heat goes from one moving particle to another. When one of the 7th graders was talking when he shouldn't have been, I acted like I was going to throw the ball toward him. I didn't expect him and everyone surrounding him to jump back so far! It was pretty funny. They were definitely paying attention afterwards, but it probably wasn't the best thing to do as a teacher.
9) Stealing
Sometimes, things disappear. Generally, they are small things that students know they can get away with. I have to keep track of everything that is on my desk, and make sure I'm near my backpack. Hanna's 32GB flash drive recently went "missing" when we were setting up the computer lab's machines. So far, either I've done pretty good job this semester keeping track of things, or the students are doing better at not taking things. Perhaps we are succeeding in teaching them integrity.
10) Gifts and Sharing
Occasionally a student will give me a nice note or a gift. We are at a boarding school, so they can't buy anything except what we have in the small school store. Students and Burundians share a lot and give a lot to each other. The girls exchange shirts and shoes often. One time, Hanna came to school and complimented a lady at school on her shirt. The next day, the lady came in and handed that shirt to Hanna.
