Thursday was the second class of the Advanced YAN for the week. We started playing the same candy game I played with the regular YAN Club at Lycee Molyko and GHS Buea Town. I would give them one piece of candy that they cannot eat at the beginning of class. Then, throughout the class period, they have opportunities to earn more candy (following directions, behaving, staying on task, etc) or they can lose their candy (by misbehaving, going onto websites like Facebook, playing computer games, etc). The games seemed to work particularly well for this group because several of them are on Facebook and playing games every class period. But not this time!

We started the lesson out by reviewing every page and their contents:
Homepage/blog: Project description and select photos from Google which represent the research topic.
About: A picture of all group members (or solo picture if they are working alone) and a short paragraph about themselves.
Research: 8-10 facts including the website where they obtained the information.
Photos & videos: Nothing for now!

After the review I checked their comprehension on an individual level to be sure everyone knew where they stood and what they needed to do next. It’s great to be able to work with individual groups one on one – even if it is for a short period of time. The students take in the information much better when its directed specifically to them and their group. 7 out of 8 students of the Advanced YAN class were present and all got to work quickly. They are all still working on their websites but have just about finished things up.

We had a student from last year stop by and sit in on half the class. Her name is Ali and she is currently in Upper 6 class (AKA: Senior or 12th grade in American High Schools). She said she wanted to join the Advanced YAN class but was not able to due to other school activities like “practicals” which are similar to our “lab” classes in any science field. We discussed shortly about her activities last year. She researched on Education in Cameroon and interviews the Principal of the school. Her favorite part about the class was, no surprise, Facebook.

The Advanced YAN projected goals are as follows:

  • By the end of the term (April 4th) have the podcasts, photos and video edited and uploaded to the website.
  • By the time students come back to school (April 20th) they will have their community sensitization project (speech, demonstration, workshop, pamphlet/poster, etc) chosen and 2 – 3 possible audiences.
  • The month of May will be spent selecting the audience/setting up a program and finalizing the outreach materials.

Friday morning I made my way to both schools (Lycee Molyko and GHS Buea Town) so that I could make the morning assembly to give an announcement. I reminded the students that it was the last day to pay for their Youth Day t-shirts and I also announce that they could meet me on Monday to collect their t-shirt.

Monday is a public holiday and so is Tuesday. Therefore, we will meet on Monday to pass out the shirts and then again on Tuesday to march for Youth Day!!