Full Speed Ahead

We are now in the final months before the end of the school year.  In fact, we've got a short 11 weeks remaining.  As you can imagine, this is a very busy time for the students, staff and for us.  Trevor has started a 'Math Club.'  He works with students on an online math program called Khan Academy.  It has been difficult so far because we have very limited internet.  He uses the two modems that we have at our house which means that only two students can work at a time.  But we are hopeful that the internet in the computer lab will be working this week and then he will be able to work with up to 10 students at a time.  The students really enjoy it and we hope it helps push them quickly on their math skills.  He does this work in the evenings and weekends so it keeps us all very busy.

I have been working in partnership with the Head Teacher to push the teachers' thinking around academic standards, high expectations, creating a rigorous work environment, etc.  It has been challenging but I think we are starting to see some really good things happening.  I worked with a committee of teachers to create a rubric that outlines a definition for highly effective teachers.  This week we roll the rubric out to the full staff.  After that, I will be training teachers to do observations using the rubric.  Hopefully after that, we will be able to start doing some regular professional development based on what teachers need help with.

We've also started pushing for teachers to have more opportunities to work together to problem solve and think about what their students need.   I've seen some really amazing grade level meetings in the last few weeks.  There are so many good ideas here for what we need to do to help students achieve more and I love to see teachers having conversations about these kinds of topics. 

We are also looking to hire a few more teachers so this week we have interviews.  I'll be sitting in on the interviews.  Hopefully we'll be able to fit some great new teachers.  Once we have those teachers hired, things will get a little easier for teachers who are teaching a lot of extra classes right now. 

In addition to all the things happening at school, Trevor and I have also started training for the Serengeti Marathon at the end of November.  It is really difficult to run long distances when you live on a mountain!  So I'm a little nervous about how all of this will go.  But I'm sure that come December, we'll look back and feel proud about all we have accomplished both personally and professionally.

Land of a Thousand Hills

During the September holiday, we traveled to Kigali, Rwanda.  It was a wonderful week and much needed rest.   We stayed at a really nice boutique hotel called, Heaven.  The owners are from the US and have written a book, A Thousand Hills to Heaven, about their experiences building a post genocide community at their restaurant and hotel.  The staff were wonderful and the food at the restaurant was amazing.  If you ever visit Kigali, you must eat here!  Below is a picture of Nino with his favorite staff member.  He would tell her that he loved her at least once a day.

We visited the Genocide Memorial and it is difficult to describe that experience.  I've read and heard stories about it before.  But nothing prepared me for the pictures, belongings, names, etc that filled the museum.  It was very difficult to walk through and read about the lives that were lost.  But it was an important experience as well.  To be able to understand a bit about what the people of Rwanda experienced and how they are trying to move ahead was an incredible opportunity.

In addition to learning about the history of Rwanda, we were able to just relax some.  We had wonderful food, swam, bowled, went to the movies etc.  Patricio also got to take an art class at an art gallery the he really enjoyed.  And probably our favorite thing was that we went on a walking tour of one of the oldest neighborhood in Rwanda.  Patricio learned to pound cassava leaves and after the tour, we got to eat a delicious meal prepared by the mother of our guide.  All in all,  it was just what we needed to recharge for the final months of school.