Facilitator Workshops in Gilgil

There have been so many "Aha" moments the last two days both for Canadian and Kenyan teachers. As we exchange ideas and thoughts about teaching and our classrooms we're learning how to work together. On Wednesday we split into two group to work on differentiated and inquiry based learning. As we presented our ideas and information we used collaborative learning techniques to group the Kenyan teachers so they were able to experience some of the activities they could use with their students. What I enjoy most is the conversations we have about our students and our classrooms. There are many differences but at the same time there are many things the same. We all have students we're concerned about and we want to find ways to help them learn. We're concerned about our professional development and spend time finding ways to improve our teaching practice.

On Thursday we had great discussions about the differences between teaching and facilitating. We focused on the role of a facilitator as being a good listener and observer which is different from a traditional teacher who talks most of the time. There was lots of laughter about teachers talking because obviously we all love talking or we wouldn't have started teaching. The project based learning workshop was well received by everyone. We focused on the use of newspapers in the classroom because they are readily available and there are activities/projects for all subject areas. I worked with Simon, George and Redfern to develop primary math projects and once we started brainstorming ideas I think we were all amazed by how projects could be used to develop deeper understanding of math concepts. The beauty of project based learning is having students learn about the practical application of the concepts they're learning in class and realize that there is actually relevance to what we are teaching. It was another good day of learning and growing together.