Anthony Maundli

Title:  Librarian/Writing Teacher

Subject:  English literacy

Hometown:  Machakos, Kenya (72 km south of Nairobi)

Bio:

Anthony’s first language is Kikamba and he is from the Kamba people.  The landscape in Machakos is filled with savannahs and plains.  He misses his home but he is used to Ndonyo Wasin now.

His father is a retired teacher and his mother is a housewife.  He has three brothers and three sisters.  He is the fourth born.  Anthony’s eldest brother is a teacher and the other is a mason.  Two of his sisters are married and one of them teaches in a preschool.  His other sister is a nun.  His youngest brother has just graduated from high school and is deciding what his next steps will be.

Career:

Anthony is approaching the end of his fourth year at NWPS.  He is the librarian at NWPS.  He also teaches reading and creative writing.

A literacy teacher from Maplewood, NJ visited and worked with Anthony.  He mentioned that she helped him think of ways to motivate his students to read.  He discovered that providing his students with a choice of periodicals to read has been highly motivating. The teacher from NJ has also taught Anthony to keep records of what the children are reading so that he can guide them to choice appropriately leveled books.

Q&A:

What made you want to become a teacher?

“When I finished my high school, I was requested by the head teacher in my home school to go and assist them.  So I first volunteered as a teacher, before I went for training and then I got the interest from how I operated with the small children in our neighbor school.  Then I went for teacher training and then I am happy to be a teacher. I don’t want to leave the profession.”

After graduating from high school, Anthony was asked to help out at the primary school he attended.  During his volunteering, he taught math and English to standard four.  He gained a great deal from this experience and thus went on to study education at a teacher training college.

Is there anything that you would like to know or learn from our teachers?

Anthony is very curious about how teachers at Packer are able to work with learners of all levels.  He is interested in how we carry out writing instruction.  He is also interested in learning how teachers at Packer work with struggling learners.

“I wish to learn how they carry their creative writing lessons.  What are strategies to move the class together all at the same pace?”

Is there anything that would make teaching easier for you?

Anthony spoke about how they received computers, but that they really could use some computer games that would enhance the students’ literacy and math skills.

Click here to listen to the interview.