From Puzzles to Classroom Management….A New Teaching Style Comes to Senase

Our goal from the beginning was to hire teachers and coaches (classroom assistants) from Senase, knowing they might be inexperienced, but that they could be trained in our new system of education. We also knew they would have the best understanding of their students and their living and learning conditions. What we didn’t anticipate was just how many basic skills our young teachers would need to be taught. When we found they weren’t familiar with how to put together a simple wooden puzzle, or what to do with building blocks we knew there was much work ahead!

We are incredibly thankful for Chas Moriarty, a retired teacher from Poway, CA, who came as a volunteer, and extended his stay after he developed a deep connection with these young people. He was determined to prepare them as much as possible in classroom management skills, learning techniques, and give them instruction on how to use the supplies in their rooms to teach our kids. Before leaving, Chas assessed each child’s skills and with those results put together a plan for the year that the teachers will use as their guide. Chas has created a “team” of teachers who we feel confident are ready for the challenge ahead of them with the continued support of those in leadership roles at the school as well as those of us back in the States now who will be working with them from afar.