The PEPY Team Journal

Traveling Teacher Support: A Lesson in Lesson Planning

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:43:20 +0000

by Shannon Behary

It’s been two and a half years since PEPY established Traveling Teacher Support, and the project has not stayed still in any sense. The Traveling Teacher Support (TTS) project exists to train government teachers in English instruction, with the goal of creating self-sustaining English programs based in the government schools. Chim Seng, the project’s sole PEPY employee, holds training seminars twice per month for the Grade 5 and Grade 6 teachers in which he models two English lessons. Beyond these trainings, Seng—equipped with baskets full of supplies—criss-crosses the commune on a motorbike to attend the weekly English classes at each of the participating schools.

Whilst the project is popular with the participating schools (and has been requested at an additional school), Traveling Teacher Support does face significant challenges and much adaptation is still necessary. At most of the schools, both Seng and the government teacher are in the same classroom, a setup that allows Seng to make notes on each teacher's performance. He observes whether or not the teacher creates a positive atmosphere, explains concepts clearly, and engages students. However, at two of the schools, the teacher is scheduled to teach two classes at once due to a lack of trained educators in rural areas. In these cases, Seng delivers the lesson to the more advanced class while the government teacher takes the other students.

The fundemental challenge for TTS also remains the same. Primary school teachers were not recruited to teach English, and even though the government has mandated that all 5th and 6th grade classes receive 80-90 minutes of English instruction per week, it has not provided any training to make this a reality in rural areas such as Chanleas Dai Commune. Due to this, even the most highly dedicated teachers have a very low level of English and can be uncomfortable teaching the subject. The means that without Seng’s involvement, the lessons are stilted and short.

The English tuition and training is also hampered by high levels of teacher turnover and reassignment. Teachers who have attended training for several months and have attained some mastery over the material are sometimes reassigned to teach other grades once a new school year starts, a switch that leaves Grades 5 and 6 with new, untrained replacements. This provides a real challenge to the long-term sustainability of the project. To address this, TTS has been negotiating with principals, trying to elicit commitments to keep teachers in the same position unless it is absolutely unavoidable that they be moved.

Despite these obstacles, the efforts of the TTS project have yielded positive results. The project creates an expectation that teachers will devote 80 minutes per week to English; otherwise, the burden on teachers to come up with a lesson and activities in a language they do not speak could be overwhelming. Moreover, Seng sets a great example for the other teachers. When put before the primary school classes, he speaks clearly and loudly, fills the time with activities rather than rote memorization drills, and creates a positive and energetic classroom environment.

Teacher Mei Lmom from Run Primary School acknowledges that her students are happy to learn English since they participate eagerly and have fun. Lmom, as well as teachers Khloeut Poeuy and Luy Samarth, agree that without the help provided by Traveling Teacher Support, teaching English would be difficult. The principals also express excitement about the program and are proud to have it at their schools. While aware of its limitations, TTS is making the delivery of a highly appreciated English program possible where it wasn't before, allowing both teachers and students to grow in confidence and ability.

While we are happy with this feedback, we are keen to understand the impact of TTS more comprehensively as part of our organizational impact assessment that will take place later this year. In the meantime, we have developed the process of evaluating teachers thanks to the creation of a short and clear evaluation form. TTS is still looking to improve in this area by collaborating more closely with the principals at each school, and to this end the project has just adopted a progress report that allows the tracking of teachers’ scores from week to week. This will then be shared with both the principal and the PEPY team to ensure that all parties are aware of, and invested in, the success of the project as it develops.

Thanking our friends in Japan

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:22:32 +0000

by Nick Bradford

We want to send some PEPY love out to our supporters in the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program. Coming from various countries around the world, “JETs” work in Japan for one to five years teaching English. Both former and current JETs have close relationships with PEPY, with ties going back to PEPY’s beginnings: the very first fundraising PEPY bike ride was made up of JETs!

Today, many JETs actively support “Promoting Education, Empowering Youth” in Cambodia by spreading the word about PEPY in their communities. Every year they also organize events to raise funds for PEPY programs. And they are having fun doing it: among the most popular events are the fundraising bicycle rides that happen in some of Japan’s most beautiful locations. This spring JETs in Himeji, Japan, organized another ride, with many supporters showing up and joining in. Thanks to Daniel Pruitt, Emily Lemmon, Anne Smith, and all the 2012 participants for making this happen.

Additionally, PEPY is thrilled to be featured in two articles written by JETs for their national monthly journal, AJET Connect. Emily Lemmon wrote about volunteering at a past fundraising bike ride in the November 2011 issue, and in the December 2011 issue, Simon Shone wrote about fundraising for PEPY through a trip with our social enterprise partner, PEPY Tours. Thank you Emily and Simon for further spreading the word about PEPY.

Finally, we want to again recognize Anne Smith of Akita prefecture for her two years as the head of the PEPY Special Interest Group for JETs. She has volunteered to connect hundreds of JETs with PEPY information, helped answer any questions that fundraising event organizers had, organized PEPY booths at nationwide JET conferences, and has been an all-around champion for PEPY. This is her last year in Japan, so she is now in the process of looking for an energetic successor. While we are sad to see her go, we’ll always be deeply appreciative of the hard work she put in for the sake of education in Cambodia.

We are very thankful for our friends in Japan and encouraged by the efforts they make in support of PEPY. Arigatou gozaimasu!

Operacy training: Remembering to think out of the box

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:57:26 +0000

by Grace Cullinan

Photo Credit: Danny Silk

Last month, the PEPY Siem Reap office members joined the Chanleas Dai staff for operacy training at the Chanleas Dai Primary School. While we boarded the PEPY truck bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 8:30am, some of us couldn’t help but wonder: what exactly is operacy training and how will we use this training?

Our questions were soon answered when Ms. Chanchhorvy Hay, PEPY’s Effective Teaching and Learning (ETL) and School Leadership Trainer— as well as our facilitator for the day— explained that operacy training provides skills to help people develop into confident, successful, and happy individuals. Part of this training included recognizing that this was an opportunity for change, cooperation, self-discovery, and an expansion of one’s knowledge. Chanchhorvy stressed that she was simply presenting what she had learned, but she encouraged all of the participants to think critically and independently.

Keeping that in mind, we dove into a full day of workshops, activities, and games to learn key lessons about broadening our thinking and how we process and analyze challenges. Everyone was full of enthusiasm and showed great interest in learning about what Chanchhorvy had to say. There was a commendable amount of preparation put into each activity to engage and teach the group.

For one particular activity, staff members learned how to create tessellation pieces from an ordinary piece of paper. Though everyone had the same set of shapes, each person created a unique image. Chhanchhorvy included this as a part of operacy training to show that people can make the same animal, such as a rabbit, but in different ways and in different positions. This activity, which can be replicated in the classroom, allows students to combine mathematical and creative thinking, and it encourages students to problem solve while leaving space for imagination.

By encouraging people to take the time to think critically and to ponder multiple ways to analyze a task rather than to look for a quick and standard answer, Chhanchhorvy stressed the importance of cultivating the minds of students so that they can grow into innovative, out-of-the-box thinkers. The day was an excellent reminder that there are many teaching techniques that are not only effective in the classroom but also useful to people regardless of age, ability or profession. We were all grateful for the opportunity to engage with these principles and to think about how we can apply them into our everyday lives.

Classroom Libraries – Teaching us more than we could ever imagine

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:43:26 +0000

by Thea Anderson

Photo credit: Nuon Ream

Three years have passed since PEPY first introduced the Classroom Libraries project, an initiative that brings books into the classroom in order to empower teachers to use these resources creatively while giving students increased access to reading material. As you can imagine, that’s a lot of time to learn some valuable lessons.

In the early months, there was plenty of excitement about how to best implement the Classroom Library model, especially since this was a collaborative effort with the organizations Room to Read and BETT (Basic Education and Teacher Training). Throughout 2009 and 2010, Room to Read and BETT provided teachers with the training necessary to run 39 classroom libraries in three communes: Chanleas Dai, San Sok, and Kroch Koh. BETT also tailored the collection of books in every Classroom Library to complement each school year’s curriculum. In 2011 the training responsibilities transitioned from our partners to PEPY, and we now offer Classroom Library trainings to teachers three times per school year.

Ideally, Classroom Library teaching time lasts 15 minutes each day for Grade 1 and 2 students, while 45 minutes per week is the Classroom Library standard for students in Grades 3-6. PEPY uses these standards as one measure to monitor teachers’ performance. Another measurement PEPY relies on is a question-and-answer session with the students to see if they have completed certain lessons.

Despite the efforts made by PEPY to ensure the teachers are properly trained to implement Classroom Libraries, teachers’ motivation to utilize this project on a consistent basis has been one of the main challenges. The government teachers have their own government curriculum— one that does not mandate the use of the libraries— and sometimes teachers don’t prioritize the need to bring another teaching method into their classes. While some teachers feel this way, others have embraced the Classroom Library concept, and the teachers at the Run, Chanleas Dai, Khnar Joh, Sela Romdoul and Smach primary schools are using Classroom Libraries frequently.

This year PEPY has also introduced an evaluation method that seeks to identify if students have improved their reading and book maintenance skills. Six students from every class are chosen to do a pre-test about books that they read and about how to care for the books. At the end of the year, the students are then reevaluated and we compare their scores. Results show there has been a marked improvement in both the students’ reading skills and their ability to properly maintain the books.

PEPY has also made large efforts to connect with the principals of the schools with Classroom Libraries. Although it is sometimes difficult to engage the principals, the potential to encourage teachers to use Classroom Libraries regularly is heightened through this partnership.

While we believe in the potential of Classroom Libraries to enrich the government curriculum, PEPY has decided to transition this project to teacher ownership by July 2012. We made this decision in order to follow our new strategic direction to focus more on projects for developing the skills of youth and less on teacher development. There will be a transition workshop for teachers this July to share the lessons learned from PEPY’s three years of working with Classroom Libraries.

PEPY hopes that teachers will still want to contribute to this project through their own initiative, and therefore this workshop will discuss ways in which teachers can independently sustain this project. PEPY’s Sarakk Rith, who has been project manager of Classroom Libraries since mid-2011, understands the complexities of the project and realizes that keeping teachers motivated can be tricky given the circumstances at government schools. However, we remain hopeful that a commitment both by PEPY and by local teachers to the needs and development of students will result in an enhanced learning environment for all.

For more on PEPY’s past involvement in the Classroom Library project, check out Classroom Libraries Partnership, What is a Classroom Library, Room-to-Reading, and Classroom Libraries in Practice.

Homework Club: PEPY’s newest pilot project

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:30:59 +0000

by Lout Chum

Photo credit: Khean Sak

PEPY’s Homework Clubs are working to help students in primary schools build their capacity in Khmer and Math. Currently we have Homework Clubs in two primary schools: Hun Sen Run Primary School, where 35 students in two classes attend a six-month pilot project, and Bom Bao Primary School, where 40 students are involved in a three-month pilot project.

We decided to initiate the Homework Club project for two reasons:

We found that students were not testing at grade-level in Khmer or Math.
We conducted a needs assessment with school principals, teachers, parents, and students and realized this was something desired by the community.

We aim to help struggling students in two schools improve their abilities in Khmer and Math, and our goal is to have strong, confident students who can share their knowledge and experiences to their peers.

We provide extra Khmer and Math lessons to students every Thursday while the students do not have scheduled classes. We have two levels: the first is for the students who have performed well, while the second is for students who are looking to gain confidence in their abilities.

During the first month, our facilitators taught students directly. In the later months, however, we started to provide opportunities for students in the upper level to share their knowledge and experience to students in the lower level. I have found that there are many students interested in the Homework Club. They enjoy learning with and from their friends.

In the beginning, we found that the weaker students were shy during with team activities. Some exercises were difficult for those who could not write and read Khmer properly. Weeks later, we have found that most of them are progressing well and respond well to learning with their friends. Having time to practices writing, reading, and math has resulted in positive outcomes.

Now that this project is up and running, we strongly believe that a greater percentage of students will become more successful in their studies, and we are excited to watch them grow as scholars and friends.

Check out our 2011 Annual Report!

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:22:24 +0000

For a comprehensive look at how our programs evolved last year, take a look at our 2011 Annual Report, now available online! We'd like to give a BIG thank you both to Emma Patterson for all of her time and graphic design efforts and to Elise McNamara for creating the original design template!

PEPY Tours has also released their Annual Report! Click here to learn why 2011 was a year of thinking differently.

Sharing PEPY Methodology: Updating our policies

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 06:24:27 +0000

by Danny Silk

Photo Credit: Danny Silk

Earlier this month our staff gathered together, each one of us holding a freshly printed document covered in PEPY green. Though devoid of the pictures and visuals that normally accompany our materials, this Employee Manual still elicited a good deal of excitement. After all, every PEPY employee had participated in revising the policies inside.

The process began when PEPY managers each met with their team members to review our employee policies. Each group went through the old manual line-by-line and asked themselves: What do we like? What do we want to change? What is confusing and needs clarification? PEPY’s Human Resource Officer Seakngoy Try explains why this collaborative process was important: "All staff members practice the policy, so they should help create some of these policies, too."

After collecting feedback, the PEPY board and management team worked to incorporate these suggestions into company policy and to produce a new version of the manual that better represented the self-identified needs of staff members.

The Human Resources team conducted 2 training sessions in the first quarter to explain the changes that had been made. Today, PEPY staff members follow an Employee Manual that is largely the product of their own feedback and needs. The decision to involve everyone at PEPY in the process of improving and standardizing organizational policy speaks to our effort to remain true to our core values.

Focus on HOW

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 06:49:26 +0000

by The PEPY Team

We have learned that the WHY behind our work is not the reason we want people to support us. The WHYs in development work reflect good intentions, and, as we know, those are not enough. Instead, the HOW of development work is what determines our ability to achieve the missions we purport to be working towards. In that vein, we want you to join a movement of people spreading the message that we, whether donors, social entrepreneurs, volunteers, development professionals or conscious consumers (or all five!) need to FOCUS ON HOW.

You might have seen a TEDx talk by Simon Sinek where he promotes the idea that “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” We loved this talk too, but what we realized was that this is a big problem in the development sector. If we are all buying into the WHYs that organizations are selling us, than we are donating because of good intentions, not because of impact.

PEPY Board member Daniela Papi and PEPY Tours Communications Intern Wei Peng teamed up together to make this video encouraging people to FOCUS ON HOW. Please help spread the word that good intentions are not a good enough reason to support an organization. Let’s encourage more people to commit to asking questions before they give their time or money to a cause. This applies to PEPY, too! Thank you for keeping us accountable and continuing to ask the right questions so we can constantly improve our work!

New Newspaper Club fosters young journalists at Chanleas Dai Junior High School

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:17:31 +0000

by Thea Anderson

Photo Credit: Unknown

Noun Riem envisions big things for the students of Chanleas Dai commune. He believes that good writing prepares children for higher education and any professional career they may pursue. As part of his dream to instill a writing culture in rural Cambodia, Noun has begun a Newspaper Club for students in Grades 7 and 8. He hopes that his students will one day be able to write articles and stories that are comparable to the published ones they read. Noun’s ultimate goal is for his students to share their experiences with the community through their writing.

The Newspaper Club has been running in Chanleas Dai Junior High School since the beginning of February 2012. Four students from Grades 7 and 8 have elected to join this club, with additional students expected to participate in the coming months. The Newspaper Club meets 3 times a week and focuses on developing skills including interviewing, structuring newspaper articles, and photography. Through these lessons, the students improve their writing techniques and learn how to produce short-form journal articles.

For the first club activity, one student interviewed a fellow participant on why she wanted to become a teacher (The article in Khmer is written here). Meanwhile, the other two students worked together to interview a local farmer whose chicken was stolen. This month, the class has focused on the history of pagodas. The children are conducting interviews within their community in order to uncover some interesting facts around this subject. By offering opportunities to practice journalism, we hope there will be more and more avid young writers emerging in Chanleas Dai Junior High School in the years to come.

By perfecting the skills needed to interview fellow community members the students are able to build confidence in their abilities and strengthen relationships with the community at the same time. Furthermore, students are the ones leading the effort to determine what news should be reported and shared. This ties back to the goals of encouraging youth leadership while connecting students further to their local communities.

National Instruments help to bring Mindstorms to the classroom

chhay@pepyride.org (Chhay) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:52:24 +0000

We are so honored to be mentioned in Spectrum, the flagship publication of the the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers! The article featured National Instruments and their commitment to supporting education in developing communities. Check out the story to learn more about how National Instruments employee Nicole Richard collaborated with PEPY to foster engineering skills in rural Cambodia.