The Mango Tree, My Gym

There’s a mango tree that sits right outside my front door. It’s large, maybe about 25-30 feet tall, provides great shade for reading a book, and has many branches extending from its peculiarly small trunk. The mango tree has produced fruit for many years now, and this time of year the mangos are ripe for eating. It has become a common occurrence for Michelle and I to hear small thuds when mangos fall from the tree and land on the ground. The ground around the tree is littered with the small, red, yellow, and green fruit. I have come to find that the mango tree has another quality that makes it a great tree – it’s also a gym.

As one can easily understand, living in a small village means that there isn’t a gym nearby where I can work out. (I actually would find it weird if there was a gym). This hasn’t deterred me from getting exercise though. I’ve been able to run and do push-ups and sit-ups. Running is a particularly good workout because most of the roads in our area are sand, which adds an additional element to the run.

Me Hanging from the Tree

One day a couple of weeks ago I had just gotten back from a run. I was walking around the yard in front of my house cooling down. I looked at the mango tree and noticed a branch that was sitting just high enough that it gave me an idea. I walked to the branch, grabbed it with both hands, and picked my feet off the ground. It was just as I had hoped; the branch was high enough to enable me to do pull-ups. I did a set, which felt good and also amazing considering that I hadn’t done a pull-up in a few months (as I rock climber, I was used doing them almost daily). After that, I did some leg raises while hanging from the branch. It was a nice workout overall. Since then, I have discovered a place where I can do dips in between two branches.

When I first moved into my house, I thought the idea of having a mango tree outside my door was cute. It felt exotic, and it fit perfectly into my idea of what it was going to be like to live in another country; something different than I was used to. After a couple of months, I have come to find that the mango tree is more than what originally caught my eye. I also can’t help but smile as I think about the relationship I’m building with a tree. I told Michelle the other day that it would be cool to hang a hammock from two of its branches. I just need to find and/or make one.

An Unexpected, Teachable Moment

A few weeks ago, I started co-teaching in the classroom. It’s part of my training during the second phase of my Peace Corps tenure. It’s meant to give me experience in the classroom before I take over completely in January when the new school year begins.

Earlier last week, I had an unexpectedly wonderful moment with the grade seven learners. Exams are coming up soon, so I was reviewing the writing process with them. I had gotten to the step in the writing process where they were going to edit their work. I wrote a sample paragraph on the chalkboard riddled with grammatical errors and misspellings. I gave the class a few minutes to make edits to the paragraph. The learners and I then went over the edits together. While we did this, there were a couple of learners who thought I should have put a period (called a full stop in South Africa) before the word “because” in one of the sentences. At first, I didn’t think much of this suggestion; I simply explained that the sentence was written correctly.

Before I moved onto the next part of class, I asked if they had any questions about editing. A learner who’s one of the more involved participants in class raised his hand and asked, “Why didn’t you put a full stop before ‘because’?” This time, instead of saying the sentence is correct, I decided to give more of an explanation. I told him and the other learners that the word offers more information to the first part of the sentence, or, to put it another way, the second half of the sentence is an extension of the initial thought. Then something happened that I wasn’t expecting; the learners asked a follow-up question – “why?”

(Sidebar: Since I started working in the classroom, I haven’t witnessed learners ask probing questions. Usually they accept whatever is given to them. This is partly because there is a deep respect for elders, like teachers, in the Zulu culture. It’s also because learners aren’t challenged to think critically. The focus is more about getting things right. For example, another time when I was teaching, I explained that in English there are many ways of saying the same thing. Virtually all of the learners had a hard time understanding this concept because in their minds to be right is to do everything the same way, including how something is said or written.  Okay, back to the story...)

I responded with a question, “Have you heard that a sentence is a representation of a thought?” This puzzled the learners; what does that mean? Seeing that they didn’t understand, I explained that anytime they wanted to express a thought they used sentences; whether that was in writing or in speech. People who speak or write well use whole sentences, or, to put it another way, whole thoughts. I then gave them examples of what I meant. It didn’t take long for them to get it. Eventually they were giving me examples. They looked pleased with themselves that they understood.

We continued on with class, and the moment passed without further thought for me. It wasn’t until I was home and telling Michelle about my day that this experience stood out as significant. I realized it was an unexpected, teachable moment. What’s more… it was a moment inspired by a learner asking a meaningful question. It’s in these moments that I feel that I am truly making a difference. I don’t doubt, at least I hope, that the learners are learning when I’m giving instruction, but I think the best teachable moments come from the learners themselves. It’s when learners take command of their own learning and make their own meaning. It’s when they construct knowledge on their own and begin building a foundation as lifelong learners.

Computer Lessons

As I am getting more settled into my school, I am beginning to find ways to contribute. One way is by teaching the educators how to use, or become more proficient at using, computers. I started giving one-on-one lessons last week, and there is a short story that I would like to share.

My school has a desktop computer that we have been using for the lessons. Toward the end of the week, I was late for a lesson because something held me back. I rushed to the space where the school’s desktop was kept. I was afraid the educators weren’t going to wait on me, so part of me expected not to see them. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see the educators not only there but they were teaching each other. It was such a cool site to see that I took a picture. I showed them the picture and gave them praise. We share laughed.

Educators Teaching Each Other

The educators didn’t know how good it felt to see them helping each other. This brought a smile to my face, and I hope it made you smile as well.