The Cat in the Hat

I finally found something fun to teach my teachers.  They do not know anything about Dr Seuss here and teaching pronunciation can be very boring and frustrating for every one. My mission now is to find The Cat in the Hat and One Fish, Two Fish books. I have managed to copy pages from online to make pronunciation games for them and they had a ball.  I would read a page of one of them slowly, and in teams the teachers would line up to race to the whiteboard to write a word when they heard a word that had a short a vowel sound. This exercise was to help them hear the difference between short a vowels and short e vowels. They have not been able to make a distinction until now.  If I had the book, they would see how much fun the kids would have with this too, because I don't know a child that does not love Dr Seuss.  One learns quickly how lacking in resources these schools are.  There is a sad litttle projector that sometimes works with my computer, but when it does, it is too sunny, so nothing is legible on the screen, and other times it does not turn on.  That is it for classroom resources other than some schools with whiteboards, and my own with old blackboards (not even greenboards). There is a school library but all I have found is religious books and a few books written in Malay. Having said all this I must admit that many of the students go on to university. Many of the teachers who teach at my schools attended the school as children and came back to teach.  They would be in awe with what is available in Canada to students and teachers in the public systems there. 
I am also delighted in how the teachers are like sponges picking up ideas I put forward to them for teaching.  They invite me into their classrooms to witness the changes they are making and I love what I see. New approaches to teaching are already being demonstrated and I have only been here for 6 weeks.  Others are using lesson plans I have developed for them and having fun presenting them. There is definitely a different tone in the schools beginning here. Far less rote learning with repetition, and far more little voices being heard during the class time. 
Now to get back on the road and spread the word! And hopefully find some vendor in Malaysia that sells Dr Seuss.  A short day, I hope, it is only Wednesday, and I feel like I have driven around the world already. 

A short chat with Jenn  this morning that did not work too well. We might just meet at Rosemerah cafe later today if I can get back there before her day is over.  Besides, everyone in the cafe is probably waiting to see the lovely lady in Canada again.