Professional Development Day

While the teachers back in British Columbia were walking the picket lines, the teachers in Ethiopia were ramping up for another year of school. The first day of school is the closest weekday to the new year. I was asked to teach a professional development workshop to the secondary teachers at Union Academy. The topic for my workshop was "Creating Student Relevant Lesson Plans" and I think the teachers were happy with the class. I walked them through a Canadian public school lesson and then had them create their own in their subject groups and present it to the class. I really enjoy working with the teachers here because most of them really want to improve their teaching practice.

Photo: My friend and the principal of Union Academy, Eyob 

Photo: My group of teachers working on their lesson plans.

Teaching in Ethiopia has its challenges for sure. During the workshop a huge storm came through as you can see from the picture below. The rain can be extremely heavy when it rains and the clouds make everything very dark. 

Photo: The arrival of the storm.

In the photo below, you can see how accustomed to this weather the teachers are because they continued to work all the way through the storm. You can also see the water coming through the door and slowly flooding the classroom.

Photo: The actual level of darkness in the classroom. 

Once the storm passed, the teachers presented their lesson ideas and the class provided feedback on their lessons and offered suggestions for improvement and variation. 

I thought I would include a few photos of what the streets look like here in Hawassa after a good rain.

The photos below are an example of what my office on the 3rd floor of the Regional Education Bureau building looks like after a heavy rain.