Proof of the pudding

It is now six months since we came back from Kenya, and we are beginning to settle into being at home in Germany, although we haven’t actually been at home much since we got back from Kenya. We began by acting as tour guides for two US friends from RVA who were also finishing their…

We have finished our term of service at Rift Valley Academy. Last week saw the final classes taught and the final exams sat and marked. I used the following cartoon for the last lesson of the year: There was a final flag raising and a final singing of the Kenyan national anthem. A last look…

I have taught my last lesson and my Algebra 2 students have spent most of the week revising for their final end-of-year exam, which covers topics from throughout the year. This week we have a short lesson on Monday morning (I will use it to give them exam tips). Then on Tuesday morning I will…

Friday evening was the music concert. The choir sang: The concert band blew: The wind ensemble blew some more: There were duets from Singing in the Rain and the Sound of Music. There were three movements from the Planets, by Gustav Holst, a rendition of Amazing Grace and music from Henry Mancini. There was a…

After the tragic flooding in April, the rain continued into May. The first three days of May had as much rainfall as is normal for the whole month. However, since then there has been some sun, and today, apart from some light showers around 6.30am, there has been no rain all day, after 20 continuous…

Last year Kenya was plagued with drought. There was no rain for months, the ground was rock hard, crops were failing and RVA even ended up supplying the local hospital with five tankers of water per day because the hospital bore hole had dried up. This year it is the opposite. April saw 600 mm…

It is the eve of Term 3. All the students are back on campus (apart from those whose flights were cancelled) and lessons start again tomorrow morning. From 07.45 tomorrow morning (and for the rest of the term) in addition to my three Algebra 2 classes I will be teaching two Advanced Calculus classes, standing…

We have finished Term 2, except for finalisation of the marks for the term, which has to be completed by next Wednesday morning. Most of my time in the classroom has been spent preparing to teach Calculus next term, including preparing an Easter holiday revision pack for the 31 calculus students, who take their big…

I discover it is six weeks since I last wrote a blog post…. Things have a habit of getting busy around here. Here are some of the things which we have been getting up to. Robotics Competition February 3rd saw the 10 man robotics team, plus two mentors and two coaches, take the 90 minute…

Just a quick post today – we are firmly into Term 2 now, with the mid-term break coming up in a couple of weeks, but still plenty going on. Apart from classes, and regular weekly commitments of dorm cover and library duty, a couple of weeks ago I also ran another Wizard tournament with 20…