Actually Working

So my second week of work included much more actual work, which was great!

I teach 7, 2-hour classes per week, not counting the discussion and film club at the US Embassy.

On Mondays I just have the class with the three gentlemen I had on Friday. The topic that dominated the conversation was, of course, the election that was going to take place the next day. I had found a lesson plan on C-SPAN Classroom.org about how the Electoral College works, so I modified it for their level and we worked through that. I also found a simple video that explained it in simple terms and used that as well. It is not an easy system to explain! But it generated a lot of conversation, which is great. We’re working on fluency with them, so the more interested they are and the more they talk, the better. After I finished with them, I sat in on Mr. Thiam’s “Issues in ELT” course for the higher-level students.

Bottom 3 are LOTS, top 3 are HOTS

We talked about Bloom’s Taxonomy and the difference between Low Order Thinking Skills (LOTS) and High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). The idea he is trying to get across is that true communication only happens at the HOTS level, everything else is just repetition and memorization, so unless the teacher creates activities that require HOTS, the classroom is not very communicative. He reminds me a lot of Dr. Cubillos J

Tuesday I meet with the two advanced level classes (B1 and B2 who are working towards the high school level certification). Both of these classes were dominated by explaining the Electoral College and the logistics of an American election. The students were very active and participating in the discussion, so I considered the classes a success.

I spent election night at the US Embassy’s event, which was held at Ambassador Zumwalt’s home. The Embassy decided to invite young Senegalese adults who are interested in the US and how things work there. They had asked for volunteers who could man the different booths they had set up for the evening. When the Senegalese came in, they were to pick up a voter card and a ‘passport’ that would be stamped at each station. There were 4 stations: Two on election-specific content (U.S. electoral process and diverse voters), one on studying in the United States (EducationUSA) and one for mock voting. There was also one where those who had gone to each of the stations would collect a small prize. This was an informational evening for young Senegalese, and because it was an Embassy event, personal political opinions were not to be shared. It was very interesting to see what kinds of questions everyone had, and I found that they mirrored questions I had been fielding all day from my students. I ended up working the prize booth, but even then people asked for more information about the process.

I did get to see one of our UD Mandela Washington Fellows, Aminata! I hadn’t seen her since she had been at UD for the summer of 2015, so that was fun! I was able to send a ‘neener-neener’ picture to my friend Susan who had also worked with Aminata. She had posted a picture of herself with Vice-President Biden who had stopped for some pictures after voting on the UD campus, so I figured I’d send her a picture of me with someone cool too! It was fun to see her.

Aminata, from UD to Dakar!

Wednesday I was at the US Embassy for conversation club and the Meet Me in the US film club. We were still on the subject of Education (because that’s of course what everyone wanted to discuss the day after the election?!?!) so we had an article about how many international students the US hosts at university campuses around the country, and then we watched the movie Finding Forrester. It was nice to not be talking about the results of the election for a couple of hours at least, since I had been fielding questions all day from my Senegalese friends on the surprising results of the American elections. Afterwards, I met with a woman who works in the consular section of the Embassy so I could see her house and meet her dogs before I started house-sitting for her. She was going out of town for Thanksgiving, so I was going to watch her place and the puppies for 10 days. The topic of conversation was, of course, the result of the election. Many of those who work abroad for the diplomatic corps are extremely worried by our President-elect’s complete lack of diplomatic experience (or any experience pertinent to the position, for that matter). I think many Americans, especially those with little-to-no international experience, underestimate the impact that America and its leaders have on the rest of the world. Everyone follows what is happening, everyone is worried by these results. Many people believe that the American election is about America, and that those outside of the US don’t matter, but the US actively sought out being a world leader, and with that position comes responsibilities. You cannot wish to be a world power without being accountable to the world. As an American here on a high-profile program such as Fulbright, and in a visible position such as teaching at a local university, I was getting a lot of questions about how this happened and what might happen next. Especially from my students.

Explaining the system

Thursday & Friday: I had class with my B1 students as well as with the C1 student, who is at the lowest level offered at FASTEF, on Thursday, and then with my B2 and C2 students on Friday. Of course, the election results dominated the conversation. While I may have had other plans, I felt it was important to answer their questions. Our conversation ranged from more questions about the Electoral College, how one can win the election but lose the popular vote and so-called ‘faithless voters’, to gerrymandering and the Voting Rights Act. Many of them expressed their surprise at how the US system worked and noted that if such practices were used in an African country’s election, the rest of the world would call it out as an unfair, if not rigged, system… With the US probably leading the pack. When you look at how the Voting Rights Act was gutted and the resulting inability of thousands of eligible voters to be able to vote, I have to admit that they kind of have a point there…

Saturday

Ngor island benches for enjoying the view!

After the week we were having, Colleen, Brenna, and I decided to get some beach time. We wanted to check out Ngor island, just off the coast of the Yoff area of Dakar.

There’s not much to the island except a little bit of beach and some restaurants that cater to tourists, but it was worth getting some sun and beach time! We met up with a friend of Brenna’s, Blair, and took a little pirogue (small boat) out to the island. We decided to explore the island a bit before we stopped for lunch. There were some beautiful views from different parts of the island. After wandering around, we decided to have lunch at an Italian restaurant where we thoroughly enjoyed our meal before spending some time on the beach. It was a great way to recharge our batteries after a very long week!

We all needed some Vitamin 'Sea'

Colleen and I decided that the best thing we can do as Fulbrighters is to represent the United States as best we can to our international friends, many of whom have had no previous interactions with Americans. I, as a teacher, a Fulbrighter, and an American, will not shy away from the hard discussions, nor turn a blind eye to our weaknesses and mistakes, nor the large amount of work we still have to do as a young and growing country. We are dedicated to showing them that no matter who our president is, or what he says, we as Americans and as Fulbrighters will continue to uphold the ideals of the open-mindedness and big-heartedness that launched the Fulbright program in 1946. We will show that the person in the White House does not have the power to change who we are as Americans at our core. We will continue to act in a manner that shows our commitment to the tradition of tolerance, freedom, free expression, and inclusivity that has made the United States an example to people all over the world.

An Open Letter from 1,500+ Fulbrighters Regarding the Election