News from Stepping Stones International!

Over the past week or two, I have been emailing my supervisor, Lisa Jamu, in Mochudi, Botswana. This morning I recieved another, and I probably couldn't be more excited to go! Obviously one of my main duties while there will be tutoring in math, however, Lisa has also mentioned the need for fresh and new ways of teaching math. As it operates currently, math is something that is almost strictly memorized by students in Mochudi, with little room for analysis. An idea that Lisa suggested to me is to begin brainstorming about some tips for teachers to use in teaching math and science... then I could hold a mini workshop aimed for the teachers on how kids can best learn math; example, teach the kids to rap math formulas in order to understand them better. I will be meeting with a professor of mine later this week who is active in holding workshops for Ontario math teachers in better teaching practices to see if I can take some ideas with me.

In addition, math resources are extremily limited. Anybody who has had to take a math class knows the only way to learn it is to practice it, but the youth in Mochudi don't have the tools or books to practice with. I am going to work hard to exhaust my contacts within the Faculty of Math at the Universtiy of Waterloo to see what I can do about getting calculators, old text books, flashcards and any other resources donated to SSI.

This placement is turning out to be a more perfect fit for me every day! This is exactly what I was hoping I was going to be able to do - help kids get excited about math, science, learning and their future! The added bonus of volunteering weekly in the local highschool, helping form a tighter relationship between the highschool and SSI, and the possibility of holding a workshop with teachers to pass on some cool ways to teach is AMAZING.

Ahh only 41 more days until the craziness begins!!!!!