Did any of you who talked to me when I was student teaching think I only talked about my students and what happened at school all the time? Well, reflecting upon this week, I realize that I have gotten into that habit again. I always talk about school! But then again, I am a teacher.
This morning’s tutoring session went well, with some new vocab learned and some addition facts mastered. It just cracks me up and breaks my heart at the same time when I see the students using their fingers and toes! to add and subtract. T even witnessed yesterday a fifth and a sixth grader combing their fingers and toes (because they didn’t have enough on their own) to do 50 – 46. Wow, is education sure different. While memorizing isn’t always the most fun thing to do, we have got to get our basic math facts down! And T and I will make sure to make it a fun time. J
English with the wives continues to be a blessing and a struggle. The higher level ladies love coming to class and working through the novel and how to become beater speakers. I just love making them role play different speaking scenarios; it is priceless to see them talking to each other as if they were their children or husbands! The lower level ladies still depend on Chewa a lot to converse, and T and I are diligently trying to break them of that habit during class time.
Preschool….well, the kids are so excited that we are there—that much is obviously evident. And they are learning! They just sometimes get carried away with the fun. T and I try to reign this in during class time as much as possible. They just have too much fun. But manners are definitely coming along, and we’ve started implementing procedures that my urban ed friends at home would be proud of. J Yes, you can still teach procedures to non English speakers. During our playtime at the end, we decided to introduce red light, green light to them today. That one was a bit of a stretch, trying to send them back to the start. They were going towards T and when she tried to send them back, they would a) not move, b) go back 2 feet (just like kids in America!), or c) come back by me as I was the starting line and stand by me and hold my hands for the rest of the game. Cute. J
If you’re getting a school overload, here’s some other notables of the day: 1) Little J was playing peekaboo with me while I was teaching his mother. 2) Our power outage total is up to 6 as we had 2 separate ones today, although, thankfully, they were both in the daylight. 3) P, one of the preschool boys, cracked me up today. During our ABC chant, he added his own dance moves that reminded me of early Britney Speares moves, while we sounded out the letters. Then, later on in the day after classes, he was crawling on the grass and following me for about 30 meters. ahahah Love it. 4) I’ve always been told that America is so individualistic and Africa is more of a community feeling. I’ve definitely noticed this in the childcare here. I’ve seen all of the women take care of the babies in English class and all the kids playing with each other and all the older ones watching out for the younger ones. The whole campus is a family. J 5) Mrs. D&D made the comment tonight that the next group that comes will have big shoes to fill, as we haven’t run in by her crying yet….Thanks! J We’re pretty tough stuff. 6) On the walk back to our house this afternoon, I was attacked by preschoolers who surrounded me and wanted me to lead them in EVERY song that T and I have taught them. Wow, I didn’t know we had that many songs and chants! They had remembered some that I had forgotten, too! Soon the small gathering of 5 preschoolers turned into about 10 preschoolers, 6 of our older students, and some neighborhood kids, all screaming the songs at the top of their lungs. The preschoolers were living it up because they know the most songs and could show off to their older friends. I’ve never heard “The Sheep Song” and “King of Kings” sung so loudly by such little lungs! It was so adorable. J I love kids. 7) The evening was pretty nondescript with lesson planning, BUT, as it’s Wednesday and we don’t teach on Fridays (we’re starting our school visits this week), it’s the last night of planning! Whoohoo! Boy, can I tell you that I’ve been using my creative juices like crazy here since I’ve never taught English or adult learners or little ones. New learning experiences bounding, for me and my students!
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