Let’s Get Creative

Let’s Get Creative

For the kids, the Kenyan style of teaching can get very monotonous and repetitive with most their learning being focused mainly on following a textbook for each subject. Being bored of lessons is not unique just to Kenya but is an epic struggle faced by all the students of the world. This is why we took the opportunity after exams had finished to do something that perhaps the typical Kenyan teacher couldn’t offer… a chance to get creative!

Consequences!  The word for a student must have so many negative connotations from often being used in threatening ways such as: ‘You must think about the consequences of your actions’ ‘If you don’t do your homework there will be consequences!’. But this time I hoped we could use the word to have some fun and so, after a slow start, the game ‘Consequences’ turned out to be a real hit with Standard5 and 7 at Nyota.

Standard 5 enjoying learning in a fun way

For those of you who don’t know ‘Consequences’ is a game that involves the class creating several stories with a consequence at the end. Each student writes a sentence or word for each category and after each category passes their paper to their neighbour, but folding their writing so the next person cannot see; this means every student writes a sentence for each category but no student writes twice on the same paper. The categories are: Boys Name, Girls Name, where they meet, what the boy says to the girl, what the girl says to the boy and finally the consequence.

Mister Jono with Students from Standard 5 and Madam Josephine

 

Being at the age where even the thought of having a boyfriend/girlfriend is hysterical, when it came to reading the stories, the combination of names and places had most of the students in fits of laughter. It was a nice way to reward the students for their hard work this year whilst still keeping the brains active .

By Jono Goldney

Let’s Get Creative