More of what Matt said...

It hit me last night after we arrived back from Lima that I am going home in a month.... or exactly 4 weeks to the day. I haven't blogged in a while because the last 2 weeks have been jam-packed. Matt said alot about how the activity sessions are progressing. The activity sessions show how much much kids can learn with just a little bit of instruction in how to use a computer. Most of the kids we are teaching didn't know how to use a mouse or left and right click. Now, they are formatting and creating their own powerpoint presentations about themselves. They also have the confidence to explore the menus and figure out what a computer does on their own. Before, they would press capslock and call us over because they were afriad they had hurt the computer. We're also very happy about their confidence to follow their own instincts when it comes to creating the presentations, rather than doing exactly what we tell them. This comes primarily, I think, from the difference in teaching style that we are using. It has developed to the point where today, we did not have a lead teacher like we used in the past. Instead, we had a leader for 10 minutes and then, we circulated giving kids instructions and having them work through the presentation at their own pace. It was incredible how much they learned and remembered .Today made me very proud of what we are doing and how many kids we reached. Also, I was proud of the three of us, this whole project we have been learning and experimenting with teaching styles. We have 2 full weeks left of activity sessions... and then some catch up days at the end.
The catch up days at the end are actually going to be really useful, given that we have had 3.5 school days of feriado in the last 2 weeks. The public holidays caused us to change our schedule around alot over the last few weeks. It also caused us to lower our expectations about what we can achieve. Not all the groups will be at the same level, but we can proud that they have a basis of Word, while others will have more advanced skills. We are planning classes with the Primaria teachers so that they can continue working with the programs after we leave. Slowly we are realizing that time is running out and we need to start equipping people and delegating responsibilities to people to fill in the gaps when we leave in a month.
On my side, I am going to Miraflores aka Gringoland aka Disneyland as Matt calls it. I'm looking forward to my hot shower and a bit of relaxation. It will definitely be a culture shock to be there, but a nice break I think.
All for now,
Katie