In celebration of World Water Day, I helped to organize and present three different half-day teacher workshops about the importance of teaching dynamic water activities in the classroom in Paraguay. These workshops were the concluding activities for the thesis work Mandi (the former EE volunteer from my community) did during her Peace Corps service about water education in Paraguay.
The Agenda:
Ice Breaker (o Rompi Hielo)- We played a fun game of what I like to call “pass the coin”. The object of any ice breaker is to get the group active and excited about spending time together. And I believe that this ice breaker does just that. The goal is to stand in a line and pass a coin from person to person in your team until the last person gets the coin. However the way you pass the coin is what makes this one of my favorite ice breakers. In order to pass the coin on to the next person in line, you must first pass the coin underneath all of your clothing until it reaches the floor. Almost everyone freaks out after hearing the rules, especially those in the group that happen to be wearing tight pants that day. However, once the game begins there are lots of laughs and the group is ready to see what is next.
Welcome- A short presentation of who we are, Peace Corps volunteers, and what we were going to do for the day, learn about water activities. We then presented the “how we learn pyramid” or the its really important that we teach students dynamically with hands-on activities.
Water- “Water, water all around and not a drop to drink!”
“The amount of water in the world, both fresh and salt can be represented by a bucket of water. Out of that bucket, only a ¼ of a cup is water that we can access, still both fresh and salt. Out of that ¼ cup of water, only a teaspoon of that is fresh water. From that teaspoon of fresh water only a drop is fresh water that we can drink.”
I presented this information to the teachers using all the materials listed above (bucket, ¼ cup, teaspoon) as visual aids to express the importance of water education in schools.
Sum of all the parts- Imagine that you just received a text message telling you that you have won a riverfront property and an unlimited amount of money to build whatever you like on the land. The riverfront property of your dreams! This was the opening to on of our activities for the day. Each person or group of 2 to 3 people, depending on the size of the group overall, was given a sheet of paper to represent their waterfront property. After 20 to 30 minutes of drawing and discussing with their group mates what their riverfront property dreams are, we gathered all the sheets and assembled them into a river. When all the parts were put together all the group members could observe how upstream development was causing downstream contamination. This activity demonstrated how easily we contaminate our rivers and how that contamination affects all parts of the river.
La tormenta- We then taught the group how to make the sounds of a tormenta (storm) by only using their bodies. While the groups quietly stood in a circle, I walked in front of each participant and began an action such as rubbing my hands together. Once I passed a person they then needed to begin copying my action until I passed in front of them again with a different action. The order of the storm is: rubbing hands together, snapping, clapping out of rhythm, slapping your thighs, stomping your feet, and finally slapping your thighs while stomping your feet. Once everyone is copying the last action, I then began to pass in front of the circle doing the actions in reserve, until my hands were open not making a sound.
Density and surface tension- Our final activity for the workshops was allowing the teachers to get the opportunity to practice teaching one another about a water science property such as density or surface tension. The idea was for them to understand the importance of using hands on activities in the classroom to teach. We divided into two groups and each was given information about their topic and some suggestions of activities they could teach to the other group. While it was a little uncomfortable for some to be teaching their peers, I believe that this final activity put them all to the test to be interactive with their teaching and for some of them this was new material.
Certificates- Probably the most important part of a workshop for teachers, students, community members, etc., is the receiving of the certificates. Every participant gained recognition for 4 hours of additional learning. These hours are accumulated my teachers through out the year by attending workshops and lectures to receive higher pay for the next school year. And you can’t forget the all important group photos.
These workshops were great opportunities to both practice my Spanish skills in front of a large group, and to visit two different cities in Paraguay, Valle Apu’a and Pilar.
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