Healthy Eating and De Bono's Thinking Hats -

To get the students at Soksan School thinking, we introduced De Bono's Thinking Hats to the teachers.  Initially we applied the 'Thinking Hats' (feelings, positives, negatives and new ideas) to simple statements like: We go to school everyday of the week or We don't wear a school uniform.

We then used the Hats to analyse what sort of foods the students are eating at break-time.

Using the White Hat first (facts) we found that 95% of the food eaten came in a plastic wrapper and had high levels of sugar and salt, with little nutritional value.

Having listed all feelings, positive and negatives, we used the Green Hat to brainstorm what we could do to improve the situation.  We decided to do this activity with the students as part of the Who We Are Unit (Health and Hygiene) to prompt student so take a close look at the food that goes into their bodies and also the plastic rubbish that is left behind.

 The next day we bought a shop opposite the school!!! Things happen quickly here at Soksan.

It is our hope that the Inquiry will lead to opening a shop of our own with healthy options.  I'd like to call the Cambodian 'cafe' - Nyum Nyum - which means Eat Eat in English. 

 For all of $US41 we got 3 large baskets of packed/processed foods and the bamboo shop it self.  As part of studying We Are What We Eat, we plan to compare the nutrition of  the items in the old shop with more natural/cultural items.

 An example of traditional Cambodian food:  Banana, coconut and sweet rice cooked in banana leaf over hot coals.  (No plastic either!)

One costs 500riel (US$0.12 cents) to buy.  And they are as long as your hand - and SO good!

Surely the power of De Bono's Thinking Hats is its ability to slow down and deepen the thinking.   Here's hoping Soksan has new nYum nYum Cafe in the near future.

Who We Are - Planning a Unit of Inquiry in Cambodia

The beauty of being a small school, funded by an NGO and not under the guise of the government is that you can completely tailor what you teach to the needs of the students and wider community.

With the seven teachers at Soksan International School we brainstormed what we wanted the students to learn under the umbrella idea of 'Who We Are'.  All ideas were written on separate pieces of paper so they could be moved around later.

Having brainstormed, we grouped similar ideas and found we had four large concepts or learning areas.

Who Am I?

Society and Culture (This was huge - and we decided should be a unit on its own)

How do I Learn?

Health and Hygiene (Digestive system, Oral Hygiene and Diet)

 

We also wanted to include Vegetable Gardening and Business Skills to meet the needs of the students and resources of the community. 

We then created a mind-map to show the five different learning areas.  

 

Each main branch is a large learning area, and the twigs coming off them is what we want the students to learn.  We used this mind-map to write a 12 week long Unit Plan together.  It proved to be very helpful as it showed the BIG IDEAS and WHAT we wanted to teach.  Basically all that was left was HOW we were going to teach and what exactly the students would be doing while learning.

Achieve more with Collaboration

CREATING COLLABORATION

 A very affective way to get students learning is to teach them how to work in small groups. This allows lots of discussion, active involvement of all students and a gives them the opportunity to offer ideas in a less scary environment than having the whole class see and hear you.and learn from their peers.  It also allows 'Piggy-Backing'.  This is not copying, but simply students being helped up the ladder by those more confident or knowledgeable.

 The teachers led the way by working together to get their heads around how to use De Bono's Thinking Hats in the classroom.  Each small cooperative group brainstormed and discussed several different scenarios or problems using the Thinking Hats to help them look from different perspectives.  We found the Hats helped us to go more deeply into the problem and find more creative and usable solutions.

 

In class, teachers have been breaking down what it means to be cooperative and reflecting on why it is good to collaborate together.  Here Teacher Ieng is getting the students to share their group's findings to the class about what it means to collaborate.

 

 Here the students worked in small groups to design their 

own game for others to play in sport.  

 They had to discuss, design, create rules and then set the game up at the stadium using a tape measure.  What a huge amount of fun and pride the students had when playing THEIR game they had created together.  Well done Teacher Omnat.

Students working in small groups, brainstorming and discussing what COLLABORATION is.  Believe it or not, many of them can spell it too.

Stranger Danger Day

 Stranger Day at Soksan School began with a parade around the village, welcoming people in the community come and celebrate of the student's learning about what the dangers of people praying on vulnerable children.

  Unfortunately it is a real issue in the village and for that reason the students took the subject particularly seriously and learn a lot about being more aware of strangers and what to do if they get into danger.

 Om-nat, the music and sport teacher, created a song for the students to learn which would remind them of what to do if a stranger approached them.  During the Unit of Learning, the students also made 'stranger masks', created puppet shows to tell 'typical' stranger stories and wrote books with illustrations to remind themselves later of how to deal with a stranger.

 

It was a very successful day which celebrated some very important and real learning.

Landed - Central Cambodia - Soksan International School

A year after studying the causes and effects of child labour with my Year 4 students in New Zealand I arrived in Central Cambodia where many children miss out on an education due to pressures to support their families.  While it is a noble thing to help your family, it is very sad if it is at the expense of the next generation breaking the poverty cycle through education and sustainable businesses.  

 

In January I arrived in Kampong Thom, Cambodia, ready to start working at Soksan International School.  The school is fully funded by an NGO called Cambodian Kids Foundation who strives to empower the this and the next generation of Cambodians by educating those who need a hand up, working at grass root levels to give them the tools to create their own sustainable lives.

My role at the school is to help the teachers develop effective teaching strategies to engage the students in learning and to meet the needs of the Soksan Community.  We are using the IB PYP Curriculum Framework to develop the students into independent inquirers who are responsible for their own learning.  What a privilage it is to work along side the Khmer Teachers who are so passionate, patient and hard working. 

Not only do I get to be part of developing sound learning programmes, but I will be able to teach along side the staff in the Community Garden Classroom (above), teaching students thinking and inquiry skills, permiculture and business skills.  What a privilege!