Exam time

Exams have been over for a while but I thought I'd do some catch up on how things went. It was a very different experience to be the one preparing the exam than to be the student writing the exam. I definitely prefer to be the instructor and not the student. The course I taught ended up being done earlier than I was given time for so I ended up giving them additional lessons over and above the course requirements and also gave the students the option to write their exam earlier than the scheduled exam time so they could get it done and out of the way which then would make for a lighter exam schedule. They chose to write early and get the course done and out of the way. 

Writing an exam for the students was an interesting experience. I'm thankful I had developed some practice questions for the students as it helped not only to find areas of weakness that I could review in class but also gave me an understanding of what to watch for. Since many of the students have done their primary schooling in Arabic and are now transitioning to learning in English, language can be a barrier for many of the students. In the practice questions I created I saw a number of problem areas where my wording was catching them up even though they understood the concepts so I made sure to be clear in what I was asking for.

Spacing was another challenge I found as I went along. Although I thought I had given enough space on the exam to do the work, I took extra blank pages into the exam with me just in case I needed them. I needed them all.

Timing was also interesting. I had 2 hours for the exam and I created an exam that I expected would take somewhere between 1/2hr and 1.5hrs depending on the student. well the first student out of the exam left shortly after the 1^st hour. By the end of the 2 hours there were 5 students left finishing off the exam. Since I was new at this, I had been tracking the number of students that left in 10 minute increments and saw that they were leaving in an expected pattern however it was taking them all longer than I expected. By giving them an extra 10 minutes (into their lunch break so it didn't affect other classes) all but one finished.

Marking the exam was also an interesting project. It was interesting to watch how the mark varied across the students. I even got an overall bell curve out of the marks (which also appeared in the spread of how long it took students to finish the exam) which was interesting to see develop. One thing I found helpful in being consistent was to mark all the exams at once going through 1 question at a time for all the students instead of marking one exam at a time student by student. In addition to keeping things consistent I was able to see if there was any pattern to how the students answered each question. One example of this was a question where I asked for the calculation of something but instead got the definition in about 1/2 of the student answers. Once I saw this pattern I reviewed the question and saw how it very easily got misinterpreted thus more of a problem on my part then on theirs.

One of the more challenging parts of marking I didn't expect was having to mark one question wrong for a student and knowing it was the only mistake on their entire exam. I never expected to feel so bad for the student that did so well. I guess part of me knows how difficult it is to get a perfect exam. 

Overall it was a good experience for me and I learned lots. I think the students did as well.

Life as a teacher for a few weeks

While J was away I started and finished teaching at the local nursing college. I was able to help out and teach some basic statistics to the students. I enjoyed the time I spent with them and also saw some of the challenges that many of them face. As a teacher I noticed that there was a wide variety of abilities in the class. Some students knew not only what I was teaching but also more advanced information that I had not taught while others struggled and had difficulty with basic math skills. Another issue was language skills. The students came from varying parts of the country and had different levels of English language skills.For some, their previous education was in Arabic and their English was limited, thus even though they were familiar with the content, they struggled to understand things due to the language barriers. I found much of what I taught was a balancing act of bringing the more complex content to them so all students understood while at the same time trying to keep it complex and interesting enough to keep those with advanced skills interested. I also found it interesting to learn some of the cultural differences in teaching styles and how the classroom works. The most interesting aspect of culture for me was when the students were dismissed. In Canada when the teacher tells us we are dismissed all the students make a mad dash for the door while the teacher stays behind to answer questions for those that still have questions. As a result I expected the 30 or so students I had been teaching to leave when class was done and I packed up my stuff. Nope.... Instead they all stayed sitting and watched me pack up my stuff and leave. That was a akward ending to my first class. It turns out that out here it is a sign of respect to sit and wait for the instructor to leave the room before the students leave. Any questions they have will wait until the instructor has returned to the office or if they find the instructor in the halls after class. Now I make sure most of my stuff is organized and packed up by the end of class so I don't take too long to make my exit. I also spend some time hanging and being available to students before heading back home.

Its been a while

Its been a while since I posted on this blog. Well part of it is because I spent most of February as both the medical "doctor" and the computer doctor. J was gone for a month to Kenya for some computer workshops/courses. Since he is the IT support for the team someone needed to be in charge and deal with any problems that came up over that time. That person was me. Although it was a busy month I had alot of fun and learned lots. before J left he gave me a crash course in all the different programs the team here uses so I could assist with any problems and do any necessary updates.

Much of my work consisted of submitting bug reports, resetting computer passwords, and pulling data from corrupted harddrives.

One team in particular had some problems when they were running a few different programs and working with someone in another country over the computer. Well its true that when the computer tech is around problems don't happen. After spending one morning running back and forth to their office fixing the problem and sending bug reports I started doing my work in their office. Well as soon as I did that there were no more problems. Later that week I got a call from the team saying they were having problems again so please come and sure enough before I got there I got another call from them saying "don't come anymore, the computer is scared of you and fixed itself". I guess computers aren't fond of their doctor :) The problem never did fully resolve (I think it was a combo of some program bugs and maxing out an already limited internet bandwidth) but we were able to manage and come up with some creative fixes so they could continue working.

The most fun was being able to reset passwords and getting data off of corrupted harddrives. Resetting the passwords was pretty easy given how J has things set up and I got to do some MSDos style stuff to reset things. Does anyone else remember MSDos??? (if you don't remember it was around the time of Windows 3.1... ok, now I'm really dating myself). Pulling data from the old harddrive was also kind of fun too. Although it wasn't hard, I did need a special device. I had initially tried to boot up the old computer and put the harddrive into another computer to get the data hoping it was a computer problem and not a harddrive issue but both ways failed since the problem was most likely a result of the harddrive corrupted in a vital area. Well the fancy device J owns allowed me to make the harddrive into an external one where I could bypass the corrupt section and pull the files needed. Since none of the files needed were corrupted it was just a matter of copy/paste onto a new harddrive. It was pretty basic but also cool how easy it is to get data off of harddrives if you have the right equipment. If it ever happens back in Canada and J isn't around I'll spend my money on this device instead of paying for the repair.

As much as I didn't like J being away, it was a good month where I learned lots.

Beer bottle bricks

A friend here on the compound recently posted a link to heineken beer bottles that were shaped to be reused as bricks. (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-heineken-bottles-were-square-62138490/?no-ist if you want more info on this concept) Although I wouldn't encourage drinking enough alcohol to build a house, l I love the concept. If there were a way to do this with water bottles we could solve 2 problems. 1 - good housing material to make basic homes. 2 - reduce the trash on the streets as the vast majority of it is discarded waterbottles which they burn with their garbage to get rid of. Those fumes I'm sure aren't healthy.

Changes in the market

   One thing that always annoyed me in Canada was when the supermarket would redo a store and move things around so I couldnt find things again. Well out here similar things happen. Every once in a while the police will move through the market area and tell people to move which opens up the market area. Usually people will clear out for a few hours to a few days and then the return and the cycle repeats itself every few weeks or months. Last week however the police decided to clear a much larger area up than in the past which resulted in lots of changes. It was nice to be able to walk down the much wider roads and not have to fight the people and car traffic as had slowly become the norm since shortly before Christmas. It seems with Christmas coming more vendors would appear to set up shop and slowly the 2 lane road became one for both vehicles and people. The downfall this week however seemed to be a major backup of traffic on the main roads for some reason and a boda/truck accident near the market which resulted in tons of traffic driving through the previously widened market roads. Hopefully the matatu (bus) drivers don't see it as a permanent short cut in the future and then we can go back to nice open roads where we can all walk or drive without all the chaos... now if only the boda (motorcycle) drivers can stay on the road and out of the market itself I'd be happy (compare it to someone driving a bike through the local produce market).

Another bonus to having all the changes is that they have a nice section where all the fruits/veggies are and as a result I found some new things (yay for dill, green beans, and passion fruit). I couldn't find the lady that I normally got my potatoes from and haven't been able to find her back but I have found a new person for this which is great. In general I prefer to buy from the same person as then I know the price will be fair and the quality will be consistent. It happens often enough that the price goes up when they see white skin so finding someone who gives a fair price is a good thing, unlike when I paid 10 pounds for a soccer ball only to find out someone else got a similar one for 3 pounds elsewhere.

Another bike story

A few days ago my bike skills were expanded when I managed to pop a hole in the front tire on my way to school. After asking a local shop owner where I could get air where things got lost in translation and quick call to J, I was starting to walk the bike home since I had no repair kit with me. Seeing the long walk ahead of me I decided to ask one of the local boda (motorbike) drivers since I could better explain what I needed by pointing to parts on their bike and chances are they had needed some repairs in the past as well. It turns out the closest repair place was just down the road (down a hill at that) and they only charged me 25 pounds for the repair (about $8US) and a new tube. The only problem, I needed to pay cash (no one out here takes MC or Visa and even the airlines want cash for a ticket) and I had only 13 pounds on me (I figured it was enough for lunch and a bus ride if I needed it). Even J who had come to help push the bike home didn't have any cash. Needless to say that meant walking home (thankfully without the bike to push) and coming back with the money. Bonus was that the compound manager was just leaving for a meeting near where I left the bike so I was able to catch a ride with him back to the shop. In all I was only about 45minutes late for my first day at the school... oops. Next time I'll travel with more cash.

A trip through town

What does it mean to ride a motorcycle through the city? In general it means navigating through crazy drivers and people who break every traffic law that exists. It also means that as a female on a motorcycle there are many that are somewhat surprised to see me riding around. A few weeks ago I went to the airport to see a friend who was flying through. At the airport there is an area where all the motorcycle guys park their bikes and hang out until someone needs a ride so I thought it best to park there and wait until her flight arrived as I wasn't sure if I could bring the bike up to the main parking area where all the cars/land rovers are (out here there aren't many signs about what can and cant be done and even if there is, one never knows if its correct as rules are always changing). I pulled up and the conversations started. They all wanted to know if the bike was mine and how much I charge for 'transport'. They also wanted to know why I didn't have a car/land rover to drive instead. Soon the conversation turned to the standard marriage questions and how since I'm married I can't marry any of them. Skin color and why my skin is light and thiers is dark was another conversation which thankfully this time I at least didnt get told I look like a pig (previous conversation with someone else and that was what she compared my skin to). I also was told I need to learn one of the dominant local languages in addition to my arabic. It also became a bit of entertainment for the guys I was chatting with to tell any new comers that "no, she doesn't need a ride because she has a bike" before they asked if I needed a ride just to see their reaction (which ironically is the same reaction they had when I told them I had my own bike). I suspect that my market reputation of being a white person who speaks arabic has now been expanded beyond the market to the city overall as a white woman who rides a motorcycle and speaks arabic.