Adventures in Namibia: Celebrating Love at A.I. Steenkamp

     We were all excited for a great Valentine's day with our learners at school today. With all of us dressed with reds and pinks, we headed off to school excited to do our various lessons, many having to do with Valentine's day.

     I started off with my 6A class, which really meant saying farewell to half of the class as they were doing the great class swap today. It was hard to see them all go and I gave them each a hug on the way out. Being that they were so close to earning their top secret, I told them all to come by after school to receive their class prize. I then met my new 6A learners. Although it meant re-teaching many of the routines and procedures, I had half the class to help me teach them this time. I called on various learners to tell the class different things we do, such as hand clapping for attention, the 'calm down' sign, etc, and why we do them. It was great to hear the explanations and for them to think of them all (I am sure I would have forgotten some). We then went over the various parts of writing a letter, and I read them the Valentine that I made for their class. They then had the opportunity to make their own, and they were so excited. I made sure to tell them to write their Valentine's cards to whomever they wanted to--parents, friends, sisters, brothers, etc. I walked around checking their work and they all worked hard on their letters the entire period. It was a great start to the day.

     I then had 7B, and being that the teacher was busy in meetings, I had them to myself. We had promised them the week prior to play a game today, so we played the board game from the book. Learners were suppose to bring their own dice, but since we didn't have enough I ended up making some impromptu spinners with construction paper and paper clips. They loved them. The game went pretty fast, so I let them play a few times, being that we had a double period. I then collected the boards and taught them the same letter writing lesson as my grade 6 class. They, too, made Valentine's cards for the remainder of the period. About five minute till break time, I had them pack and clean up. We then took a couple class photos and a 'Happy Valentine's Day' video for my class back home. We had another minute or so left, so we then practiced our alphabet in sign language before heading out to break.

     Break time was spent half in the staff room receiving a love poem and avoiding being set up on a blind date by my principal (yes...she tried to set us all up with some of the single, male staff members), then with my old 6A learners. I met them in the class and chatted with them about their new teacher. I promised them I would still see them around school and say hi to them.

     I then had 2 periods off, which meant some freedom to plan and roam. I ended up meeting a woman named Mary Beth who runs a volunteer after-school organization. We exchanged information and talked a lot about her program. Located in the heart of Katutura and within walking distance of about 12 elementary schools, this organization has the school text books and sets up 'classrooms' to help the learners catch up in English and Math. Although I am not sure how much help we can be for the last 2 weeks, it was great to talk to her and hear about the program. I know that I am going to try and go visit at least once or twice before we leave and help.

     Pre-Primary was my next stop to help with their Valentine's projects. They painted hearts on cards and wrote 'I love you' on the inside. They also went through magazines and cut out pictures to paste inside. It was interesting to see the magazines they were using to do this, but they all seemed so excited with the project that they didn't really notice. The teacher also gave me a flashdrive so I can give her the letter I wrote to the Parliament about their visit. She then tried to get me to do her homework for her class on Montessori teaching, which was unsuccessful on her part.

     Next door to the Pre-Primary class is the Special Class, which MJ had to herself today. A few boys were outside who had gotten in trouble, so I sat them down and we talked about what had happened. Being that I had just taught them in PE the week prior, I knew their names which was very beneficial. I then was able to observe MJ doing her end of the day read aloud. The kids in their are so precious, and it was great to see them all so captivated by the story.

     My 'break' was now over, which meant time for 6A English again. Half of this class still had their books to work on and finish, where as the other half were knew and had no idea what was going on. That being said, it was time for a little differentiation. :) My veteran 6A learners continued to work on their books, and we discussed what that looked and sounded like. I gathered my new 6A learners in the center of the room to do their own project. We started making a school bubble map together, just as I had done with the rest of the class before. However, instead of finishing they began working in pairs to figure out the various parts of the subcategories of school, such as playground, library, classrooms, etc. Once their lists were approved, they began to make posters of their part of the bubble map, which will become a giant bubble map on the back bulletin board. Although it isn't a book, they are at least practicing some new writing strategies.

     The lesson set up went great, overall, until a prefect from the class across from mine came to get me. The teacher in her classroom was gone, and the kids were "going crazy". I went in to find 6B, a class I had never taught before. They were all elated to see me walk in the door, thinking that I would be teaching them today, which I used to my advantage to get them quickly in their seats. I then told them that I was teaching the class across from them and that their noise was disrupting their learning (well...not really, but they bought it). We discussed the expectations of the classroom (after I explained what expectations meant), and they began to work quietly. On re-entering my classroom I was afraid to see chaos. Instead, I saw 40+ learners working in partners or by themselves. What a marvelous thing!

     What better way to end my day then with 5D. I walked up to their class with them in straight lines and some-what quiet. After standing silently for about 22.4 seconds, they got the clue and were in a perfectly straight and silent line. I didn't want to get too excited, so I invited them in silently. After a Happy Valentine's Day greeting, the fabulous class was lost. Taking their seats took several meetings and several fights broke out. Having been prepared that this might happen, I got their attention and showed them the poster I made of their 3 rules: Listen well, stand in a straight line, no talking unless called on. We then set consequences for disobeying these: one warning, then their break time is mine. Although I am not a fan of taking away their break, they chose that as their consequence after listing off the various options as a class and voting. As they then worked on the pre-assessment activity on the board, I walked around and each learner signed the poster with the rules and consequences. They are now posted right above the chalkboards in the center of the room. That being said, the rest of the period went pretty well, but I do have 5 dates for break time tomorrow.

     Overall, today was a great day! I have a stack of Valentine's cards from my learners, several sweets and a couple poems. Although the sun is out, I am thinking I will sit in the shade or inside for most of the afternoon as I missed a few spots when laying out yesterday, which have left me with a random 1 inch stripe of red on my back and a splotch (including finger marks where sunblock was rubbed) on my shoulder. Tonight is our Namibia family Valentine's dinner at Joe's, and we are all pretty excited.

Here is a poem written by one of my learners. It is written to "All the lovely girls. Not the boys only the girls"

Love is not an exam to pass or fail

Love is not an competition to love or win

Love is not the end of an sad story

but love is a disease that a doctor

can't heal and love you as a

Valentine's parter, all way love you

So Happy Valentine's day to all of my loved ones at home! I hope you all have a fun, love-filled day! :)