This summer, I’ve had the educational opportunity to teach at Star Top Community School in Lusaka, Zambia. For the past month, I have taught fifth grade English and social studies, first grade literacy, and yoga for all ages. I’ve also had the joy of working one on one with students in catch-up classes and guiding the older students in story writing. Along this journey, I’ve had the support of my two supervisors, Isaac and Mercy, as well as three other Laidlaw scholars who arrived during my time in Lusaka.

I’m looking forward to reflecting more on my six weeks, especially since I can’t fit the most important things in this blog post. I’ve experienced changes in my personality, my religious faith, and the ways in which I interface with challenges and individuals. But here, I’ll discuss two experiences that have shaped the way I’ve been teaching in the moment. When teaching becomes difficult and I feel as though I’ve not made much progress during lessons, I come back to experiences like these to remind myself how far my students and I have come. 

One of the first challenges I encountered was earning my students’ trust and respect. This challenge rang especially true with one girl in my fifth grade class. During our first several days together, she was too shy to speak to me. Knowing I couldn’t default to yes/no questions for six weeks, I worked hard to earn her trust. What ended up working most was showing this girl that she mattered just as much to me as the other students did. To earn her trust, I made space for her in my yoga class when she was pushed aside, and I worked with her when she was struggling with class material. After demonstrating to the girl that I genuinely cared about her, she eventually spoke her first words to me. During that initial moment of connection, I felt the proudest I have during my Leadership in Action project.

Another challenge I have encountered has been keeping my students engaged, especially the first graders. As I’ve navigated this struggle, I have learned that observation is just as important in the middle of a project as it is in the beginning. As each of the three Laidlaw scholars arrived, I learned more about education. Henry showed me that I needed to test my students more than I planned, while Grace reminded me of the joy of music. Florian arrived only recently, but our troubleshooting discussions recalled the need to go back to the basics with many of our students. As I have watched and learned from my colleagues, I have incorporated new approaches into my own teaching, helping to keep students interested and engaged. For the first graders, I created motivational chants to maintain an energetic momentum throughout our lessons. I have also leveraged repeated testing to meet students where they were at. To return the favor to my colleagues, I have helped them scaffold questions and understand students’ backgrounds and abilities. 

Week six will present its own struggles and moments of growth as my students and I prepare for exams. Revision often seems boring, but I hope to channel creativity and focus into my teaching to promote engagement and help my students succeed. Based on my experience from the past weeks, the revision process will be both planned and dynamic. Each day will be based on the next, but my students and I still have to center ourselves on the learning objectives. To do my best in this final preparation period, I will plan lessons ahead of time, remain open to change, troubleshoot with my colleagues, and communicate with my supervisors. I hope to leave my students with a strong knowledge foundation and a sense of belonging in the classroom!