Day 3 from Ed Lane

Go Figure! I was uncertain of my desire to teach entering today (I currently work in radio and plan to for the time being), but that attitude changed within an hour or so this afternoon. Jeff, one of the teenage students at Mercy Care Center came up to me as I was photographing and asked me to come in to his class for a chemistry lesson. I actually thought he just wanted me to sit in and so i was like “sure, why not? This ougtha be interesting.”
After walking into the classroom and seeing the seventeen or so students, I introduced myself to them all and took pictures of them. I was amazed at how two of the students were very camera shy and had what is often called “photo phobia” in the ghettos of America, a fear that pictures taken of you will be used against you in some incriminating way. Anyway, the rest of the students had a blast having their pictures taken and being photographed in different poses. We then talked a bit about life, as I told them that I had just graduated from university (college) in America and now work in radio.
Then the teacher walked into the room. She didn’t mind our talking, but she quickly started showing me their Chemistry textbook. At this point I thought, “Ooooooh, I get it. She wants ME to teach Chemistry? Does she not realize that this was one of my weakest subjects in school?” Well, what can you do, say no to a group of kids so eager to learn? Don’t think so. So I walked up to the board, and for my first classroom lesson I improvised teaching chemistry, turning to our instructor (whose name I can’t remember, which is sad but then again I met like 25 new people in a matter of 10 minutes) to make sure I was making sense to her. She then talked to the students to make sure they understood what I was instructing, which, thankfully, they did.
No really, they did!
I condensed the lesson, trying to make chemistry was as understandable as possible. Heck, I struggled to understand the concepts and information I learned, so I basically sought to present it in a way which they could comprehend. How I did it with Absolutely NO preparation I may not know fully, but God had to help me figure this out, because it meant a lot to the class to find someone who could try to make this fun. Not that the teacher normally didn’t but I’ve been a struggling student and I just used that to their advantage (they’re the ones who really gain here).
As I fielded some questions after the lesson, one of the students asked me how we learn in America. I told him that the tactic which works best for most American students is to take what they learn in the class and then apply it in some “real life” way, whether it be a lab or an internship or just reading a book in light of one’s own life experiences. For chemistry and really any science, the best way to learn is in a lab, which allows the students to actually see the complicated information they are being taught. These kids need the lab equipment, whether it be for chemistry, biology, or whatever, because I can tell them all day about how elements work, but unless they see the process themselves, it’s very hard for them to absorb information. I just graduated this past May and my mind worked the same way. Thankfully, Wayne assured me that equipment was on the way in August, and really it can’t get to these students soon enough.

When I left, they said Asante (yes Philadelphia Eagles fans, I first thought Asante Samuel too) which means thank you in Kenya. They were genuinely thankful for the lesson and actually wanted me to come back Friday. Since Friday is field day, it’ll have to be Tuesday when I return to the class room, but really I too had to part with Asante, because they showed me how fun and rewarding it is to teach students, especially ones who want to learn.