Saying Goodbye to January

As you all may know, today is February 1^st, and I cannot even believe that the month of January has come so quickly to an end. Each week feels as if it goes by faster and faster. Pretty soon it will be June and I will be on my way home.

In my classroom I have been working hard on getting to know my students and understanding where they are academically. I have done pre-assessment in math, given a math test on hundreds, tens and units places, I have also given two spelling tests. The spelling tests have taught me so much about where my students are with letter sounds, words, and blends. I want to make my reading club invitation only that is on Thursdays exclusively for the students that are in the lowest tier. I want to open up another day for students that want to come and practice more work. If these students can’t get more practice of learning how to read then they will have a hard time getting through the next couple years of primary school. In some families there are no materials to help them with their reading skills or they don’t have anyone that can help them read.

Some of my students singing the "Pen Army" song, while doing the hand motions to the song. They are at the "creep on my enemy" part.

The management is getting easier because I have a lot of incentives that I can give and/or take away. I have found that this is a good way to manage them without using the corporal punishment. For example, the students love going to the football games at the end of the week Friday, but if they do not behave then their name goes on the board and they cannot go watch the games. I give them opportunities to redeem themselves, like writing their spelling words, cleaning the classroom, etc. The students responded to this management well all week. I also threaten sending them to class 1, which to them, is a shame and I am sure the class 1 teacher disciplines them a little by making them kneel on the ground in front of the class.

The students are getting so much better at sharing books and I even got them to read in partners this week, which was a huge milestone. It took a couple days for them I am going to change their seats to get the concept, but I was so happy on Thursday when they read in their partners. We also made pictures this week of them at their own market experience because of the book we are reading about Neka, a girl that went to the market. This coming Tuesday, we will be holding our own market in class where other classes can come and buy things from my students.

I am thinking of changing their seats on Monday so the students can sit next to new people and so I can separate the trouble makers. It will be a lot easier to place the students now because I know them better. I know who needs to sit towards the front. Sarah made stools with one legs for her students that cannot sit still, and I think I may have a carpenter make two for me because I have a couple students that need a seat like that. I am planning on changing seats every month, something I have taken from my student teaching experience with Diane and Steve. In RME, religious moral education, we also did some acts of kindness, another activity I have taken from my students teaching experience. I was amazed at some of the things my students had done at home.

This week I have also found out that one of my students has some learning and social struggles due to a disease he has. I wish I knew this before, but I have now given him his own desk right near me and give him some jobs to do around the classroom that allows him to focus on important things and allows him to stay out of trouble.

 

Class 6 and JSS 3 have to take standardized exams in order to move into the next part of their schooling. Because of this the students pay for extra classes that we the teacher go and teach from 4:30 to 6:15. I have taken on English for class 6 and this week was the first week I got to teach it. We discussed verbs and adverbs, and matching appropriate adverbs with verbs. It was actually a lot of fun. I love teaching that age.

This week’s football matches were JSS 1 & SS1 girls vs. JSS2 & JSS 3 girls. Then after the staff played against the school team. We lost very badly, but I got to take a penalty kick and scored the first of the two goals for the staff team. It was still very fun and a great workout. I am feeling slightly sore today.



Krissi and I

This week we also had the privilege of not having to cook very often. Reverend Bahago and Reverend Ezekiel invited us for dinner Wednesday, where we had fufu ground corn flour and cassava flour, which forms a sort of pasty dough that you eat with your hands and dip in soup with chicken. Thursday night, a friend form church, Daniel, invited us from some ground nut soup. Friday, our Guinean friend, Ansou, made us a lovely Guinean dish with potato, fish, and vegetables all mixed together in a stew. Tonight, Saturday, we have a staff dinner at our house for one of our newly married staff members.

It has been a lovely week and I am continuing to learn and growing as a teacher. I have a new found appreciation for small class sizes, whiteboards, and paper. I miss all my friends and family so much. The longer I am here, the more I feel at home. It is hard to believe that one of my life’s dreams, teaching in Africa, is coming true.

God Bless,

Nikki