Radiography Students - New Challenges

Today I started four days of lectures with the 10 Senior G3 and 19 Junior G2 Radiography students. I miss my classroom. I've gotten very spoiled and familiar with the technology @ Coosa Valley Technical College. Benard is here early today to help me get the classroom set up before the students arrive. The students seem anxious to learn and are attentive. There is definitely a language barrier. English is not the first language for any of these students and I have an accent that is different from the English they've heard spoken before. They also speak very quietly, which is a challenge because of my hearing loss (too many years of loud Rock and Roll with Headphones turned up too loud).

My standard jokes get a blank stare because humor has a lot to do with nuances of shared culture. By the end of the day I'm totally skipping them. We have three class sessions 8 - 10 then a 30 minute break for tea. 10:30 - 12:30 with a 1.5 hour break for lunch and the final session is 2 - 5 p.m. That gives me 7 hours x 4 days - 28 hours. My main issue isn't that I have enough but that I have too much. The classroom has more chairs than are needed. The chairs are not stackable so they pile them along one side of the room. The students are used to moving the chairs that are being used are moved into whatever order the they want which ends up being no rows. but random clusters most as close to the back wall as possible.

That 30 minute mid-morning tea break could be really addicting. I've got to talk with my Dean Frank Pharr and see if that could be worked into our day @ CVTC. There is a tent set up outside and tea (Hot with milk) is provided for the faculty. For an additional $100FRw ($0.40) you can have a warm flat bread with our without a filling. The 1.5 hours for lunch drives me nuts though . At lunch time we have to take down and lock up the laptop and projector. After lunch we set it up again. I found out at lunch that Benard had his clothes stolen off the clothes line during the night. He is trying to be pleasant about it, but many of the things taken were his favorites (kind of like losing old friends).

The American students are leaving this evening and the Rwandan students want to go say good bye at the airport. After lunch, we negotiate an early departure today @ 4:30 with a class time extension tomorrow to catch up. I lectured until 3:00 and gave them a 10 minute break. At this point more than 1/2 the class decided they needed to transact business with the accounting department. 25 minutes later I've only got about 7 students who have returned. So after consulting with Benard I disconnect my stuff and close class for the day. My time is being wasted by waiting for whatever is happening in accounting. I call Abdullah to see if I can get a ride to the guest house and I'm told 15 minutes. 35 minutes later I call again and he tells me he's right here - now. 20 minutes later another driver asks if I can be taken by him to the guest house Abdullah is somehow indisposed. During the wait for Abdullah I visit with Nick and a couple of the other American students who had a bit of free time before their flight and are hanging @ KHI. Many of the Rwandan students come and appologize for the mass absence.

By the time I get home I'm about as cranky as I get. I spend the entire evening (until 1 a.m.) trying to pare down and spice up the lectures to get them to a more appropriate introductory level. Tommorrow is another day and my bed is calling loudly.