We don’t need no education
Our first day, teaching about 30 children from grade R to grade 3 was a day I will never forget. We arrived at Qolora Primary and Secondary School at 12 noon, all spruced up and excited although somewhat apprehensive about the learners’ ability since we had no idea what level of English to expect from them and on top of that we had 4 different grades in one class. Maria, the principal, welcomed us and showed us to what I would assume was their hall where we were to teach. The room was in need of a paint and had no furniture (other than a few rolls of rusty barb wire stored in the corner, no blackboard or electricity. Then the door opened and the children raced in, rushing to get to the front and after squashing up on the floor 2 foot from us, their eager little faces gazing up at us, we introduced ourselves and our first English lesson began. We had each child tell us their name and then our lesson plan was to teach them about animals. We held up flash cards of animals which we had printed the previous afternoon at the construction site office, (remember I mentioned in my previous blog that they were doing road works) anyway unfortunately it wasn’t in colour but none the less, they were A4 size and worked fine. We asked them questions about the animals to access their English and then proceeded to teach them to sing Old Mac Donald Had A Farm. To say they loved it is putting it mildly. They shouted the Yee Ha Yee Ha Ho at the top of their lungs and the whole building vibrated as about 30 enthusiastic children did the ducks’ quack quack sound. Theo and I were grinning from ear to ear. Maria and another teacher who joined the class were singing along just as excitedly as us. Maria had been a great help keeping order from the beginning and getting them to co-operate in the beginning by translating our requests into Xhosa. Theo and I floated out the school grounds afterwards. We heard a Yee Ha Yee Ha Ho, following us from behind a classroom wall and a shy little quack quack from someone standing in front of the long drop toilets along the fence line. We grinned all the way home. We were teachers. Unpaid but so what, we had taught a class and it was a success.
The next day we were swamped with little people, all shouting their favourite line Yee Ha Yee Ha Ho and all pushing to get a place to walk next to us or to try and touch our hands as we entered the school gates. What a welcome and no other reward or payment necessary. We started the lesson by doing 10 minutes of the song, which of course they loved. We struggled a bit to keep order that day, as Maria was not there to help control them. She and a few other teachers had gone somewhere to some meeting. The children got too noisy and before the lesson was over 2 boys were crying from being pushed and shoved by the other kids. We did body parts which they were good at, then we put them in a big circle and played Simon Says and although they didn’t quite understand the game, we all had fun.
After class, we walked around the school to get a feel for the place. They have a nice big veggie garden, tended by 2 Xhosa women who also cook lunch for all the learners. They grow sweet potatoes, cabbage, and spinach which they cook daily with either sugar beans or pap in a big potjie on a fire. I wondered if that was the only meal some of the children had for the day. Maria is very proud of her school and her students. They mostly all wear neat school uniforms and we found out that they do have electricity and a photo copy machine (which is at someone’s house for some reason) and we were told that they do have a computer. There are 8 classrooms with 8 teachers I think, we haven’t met everyone yet and about 200 students from grade R to grade 9.
Tomorrow we have Grade 4 to 7. I’m really looking forward to it but now it time to work on a lesson plan.
Our first day, teaching about 30 children from grade R to grade 3 was a day I will never forget. We arrived at Qolora Primary and Secondary School at 12 noon, all spruced up and excited although somewhat apprehensive about the learners’ ability since we had no idea what level of English to expect from them and on top of that we had 4 different grades in one class. Maria, the principal, welcomed us and showed us to what I would assume was their hall where we were to teach. The room was in need of a paint and had no furniture (other than a few rolls of rusty barb wire stored in the corner, no blackboard or electricity. Then the door opened and the children raced in, rushing to get to the front and after squashing up on the floor 2 foot from us, their eager little faces gazing up at us, we introduced ourselves and our first English lesson began. We had each child tell us their name and then our lesson plan was to teach them about animals. We held up flash cards of animals which we had printed the previous afternoon at the construction site office, (remember I mentioned in my previous blog that they were doing road works) anyway unfortunately it wasn’t in colour but none the less, they were A4 size and worked fine. We asked them questions about the animals to access their English and then proceeded to teach them to sing Old Mac Donald Had A Farm. To say they loved it is putting it mildly. They shouted the Yee Ha Yee Ha Ho at the top of their lungs and the whole building vibrated as about 30 enthusiastic children did the ducks’ quack quack sound. Theo and I were grinning from ear to ear. Maria and another teacher who joined the class were singing along just as excitedly as us. Maria had been a great help keeping order from the beginning and getting them to co-operate in the beginning by translating our requests into Xhosa. Theo and I floated out the school grounds afterwards. We heard a Yee Ha Yee Ha Ho, following us from behind a classroom wall and a shy little quack quack from someone standing in front of the long drop toilets along the fence line. We grinned all the way home. We were teachers. Unpaid but so what, we had taught a class and it was a success.
The next day we were swamped with little people, all shouting their favourite line Yee Ha Yee Ha Ho and all pushing to get a place to walk next to us or to try and touch our hands as we entered the school gates. What a welcome and no other reward or payment necessary. We started the lesson by doing 10 minutes of the song, which of course they loved. We struggled a bit to keep order that day, as Maria was not there to help control them. She and a few other teachers had gone somewhere to some meeting. The children got too noisy and before the lesson was over 2 boys were crying from being pushed and shoved by the other kids. We did body parts which they were good at, then we put them in a big circle and played Simon Says and although they didn’t quite understand the game, we all had fun.
After class, we walked around the school to get a feel for the place. They have a nice big veggie garden, tended by 2 Xhosa women who also cook lunch for all the learners. They grow sweet potatoes, cabbage, and spinach which they cook daily with either sugar beans or pap in a big potjie on a fire. I wondered if that was the only meal some of the children had for the day. Maria is very proud of her school and her students. They mostly all wear neat school uniforms and we found out that they do have electricity and a photo copy machine (which is at someone’s house for some reason) and we were told that they do have a computer. There are 8 classrooms with 8 teachers I think, we haven’t met everyone yet and about 200 students from grade R to grade 9.
Tomorrow we have Grade 4 to 7. I’m really looking forward to it but now it time to work on a lesson plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment