P.E.A.C.E.

Today we went to a ceremony called Peace Promoting Schools. This ceremony acknowledges different schools throughout South Africa that agrees to have different programs to promote peace. I believe there were at least 20 schools that participated in the program. The ceremony was full of speakers that were very big supporters of the Peace Program. All of the speakers were very good, but two caught my attention. One of the speakers had us play a game about colors, according to our table. This caught my attention because at the end of the game she played a song that gave directions to people that sat at tables with certain colors. It gave me an idea of how could introduce colors in my own future classroom. The other speaker caught my attention by using a Time magazine article that was written about education across the world. It basically said that instead of the U.S. being ahead of the world in education we are steadily getting behind. He also goes on to say that it may be because teaching is more than just teaching now. There are so many more things that teachers are responsible for outside of teaching the students. It is now 50% teaching and 50% testing and other things. I just thought it was very interesting that even educators outside of the U.S. has began to notice all the extracurricular things teachers are required to do. He also, goes on to say that one day he wants South Africa to even be in the rankings of having a well-educated system. I believe that the PEACE program is a great way to start building up South African schools.

Weekend!

Saturday, I went to my first soccer game EVER! From what I'm told, it was between two top rivals, Bufana Bufana, and the Ivory Coast. There were 22,000 people there, and they were so pumped up for their teams. So many people showed so much support for their country. They were all dressed in yellow and green, some even painted their hair the same color. It took me a little to get into the game, but it is actually interesting. The game ended in a tie which was shocking to me because in other sports they usually want to see who would be the winner. After the game, there were people singing in a circle and two of my friends joined them. It was quite hysterical especially after learning that they were singing about the Bafana team not having their best players on the field. The coach was afraid that they may get hurt and not be able to play in some big game that they have coming up.  The spirit of the game was still lingering a while after it was over. Soccer in Africa is like football in America, except the fans are very good sports. I didn’t see any arguing.

Today, I went to church at Lighthouse Family Church. I didn’t know what to expect by going to a church in a different country, but it actually reminded me of a church in Wilmington. I enjoyed the music a lot. It was hard for me to understand everything the Pastor was saying, but the message was about avoiding opposition. Afterwards, we found out that the church is involved with an orphanage and there is a possibility that we may be able to go and visit the children there. I’m very excited about this because one day I would love to adopt a child of my own. I just want to give them the love that no one else wanted to give to them. Every child deserves to be loved, and while I can’t personally take care of every child I meet, it is good to help in some way.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Respect is my word of the week. If someone was to ask me how the students’ manners are, I could proudly say that every student that I have come across has shown me respect. They are just impeccable when it comes to showing good manners. Not only does their level of respect show with their good manners, it also shows with their dedication to school. This is one of the ways that I can tell the environmental differences between the U.S. and South Africa. The students’ want to learn and they want to come to school. They do not take their education for granted, and they know that it is needed to make a difference when they get older. I think that every student that is in high school or below should have the same respect for their as they do here in any country. In the US the students know that education is free, so they don’t take as much pride in it. Half of the students probably don’t want to be in school. It is so refreshing to see students who are self-motivated and show genuine interest in school. I found this life cycle of respect and I can honestly say that every student at Emafini Primary completes this cycle on the daily basis.

Molweni/Uhambe (Hello/Goodbye)

Thursday November 10, 2011 was my last day in grade R. I could not successfully teach the students because of the language barriers. They could not understand anything that I was saying to them. I’m so glad that I did get the opportunity to teach the Days of the Week song to them, along with Lindsay! They really enjoyed it, and they practice it at least 3 times a day. I hope that I can visit their classroom one more time before the end of our trip. 

 

Today was my first day in Mrs. Gladys 2^nd grade class, with Garreth.  I really enjoyed it. There were little to no language barriers. I could tell that the students were understanding by their facial expressions, responses, and involvement. It felt amazing when the children responded to my “good morning class”. I can definitely see myself growing more as a teacher from this class than in grade R. The first thing I did was introduced myself, and in return allowed the students to introduce their selves. After reviewing the days of the week, I taught them the calendar song. I have never seen students so excited to learn. I thought they would refuse to stand up and do the Macarena dance, but surprisingly they all did the dance with no complaints. After that, I called some of the students up by two’s and had them do it in front of the class. They were ecstatic and it turned out well.  Garreth taught a literacy lesson and I assisted him. There are not enough books for the students to take home so we had them copy the words from the book to take home and read over the weekend. The book was very short, but this lesson helped us identify the different leveled groups in the classroom. We plan to use what we learned today, to help us split the class into groups for future lessons. I thoroughly enjoyed my first day in 2^nd grade. I’m certainly excited about this class and opportunity.

Emafini

There are no words to describe how I felt when I saw the students at Emafini Primary school! They were all so excited to see us. I felt extremely overwhelmed, but in a good way. They were so welcoming, and so kind. I’m glad that it is exactly how I pictured it in my head. I thought I was going to be culture shocked, but it was the complete opposite. I felt like this is the place that I need to be. As I was walking towards my classroom I started to tear up because of all the different emotions I felt at the moment. As I walked in my classroom the students started singing immediately. They were welcoming me into their classroom. The classroom wasn’t as nice as the classroom back in the United States; it was located in a little trailer in the back of the school. The pictures on the wall resembled typical stuff that Kindergartners (grade R) are required to learn. It was fascinating to learn that the students did not really speak English. They only knew a few songs because their teacher had taught them. Immediately I knew that the language would be more of a barrier than I expected. Their schedule is a bit different. They don’t have specified times when they are doing any particular subject. This would definitely be something frowned upon in the United States. Also, they have their lunch and then an unsupervised break.  The break is for everyone in the entire school, including teachers. It just amazes me at how much discipline the students have to stay at school even when no one is watching. I definitely don’t think that could be something to try in the U.S. After the break grade R has about 30 minutes to do an activity, pray, and then go home. Prayer is also a very big thing throughout the entire school which is one of the things I admire the most.

Safe Arrival!!

My first plane experience went really well. I was really nervous at first, but after the plane took off I was very relaxed. The stewardess made sure that I was very comfortable. On the second plane, from NY to Johannesburg, I was not as nervous. The plane ride was much longer. It took 14 and a half hour to arrive. My legs were tired from not moving. The food was so delicious. It gave a preview of some of the food we could expect in South Africa. I’m really excited to see what is to come next.