May 27, 2011

I have been enjoying teaching this term and am really seeing the kids start to show more interest in learning. It’s an exciting thing to see. I am now doing extra lessons on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after we finish school. (from 4-5pm.) On the 1^st two days I focus on English, grammar, copying from the board and handwriting. On Thursdays I focus on math. I have been having groups of 10-12 each day; it is really paying off by the grace of God! One thing I also implemented was “teachers helpers” during these tutoring sessions. My helpers will assist me as I teach, walking around as I teach and letting me know how the others are doing and even helping their fellow classmates. My helpers are pupils that are strong in the certain area I am teaching and I will usually have 2-3 each time. I did this for two reasons, one, during class it is difficult to give a lot of one on one attention, there is one of me and 30 of them and also because I was noticing a strong reluctance and even refusal to be helped by anyone but me. For math particularly, it is crucial that I mark their books during class to ensure they have grasped the concepts and its fresh in their minds, otherwise I would have a lot of kids behind and could not move on to the new lesson the following day. So what I do is I mark their books and have them return to their seats to make the corrections. If I have a long line of kids waiting to still me marked for the 1^st time I will call on my “math helpers” to assist. I want them to know it’s ok to make mistakes and that it’s ok to get help from others. And this also builds leadership skills in those helping and is just another training ground for building all their characters.

Last Friday was the bible verse test..EVERY child memorized the verse perfectly!! I was so blessed and so proud of them. I am sure the piece of candy I offered for this “extra credit” played a big part but regardless they are learning and memorizing scripture. And most of them do not read, some have no one at home that can read and some speak very little English..so this is no small thing. I was sooooo proud of them.

In English class on Thursday they were learning about the proper use of “a” and “an” in the English language. I had about 12 of them crowded around me as was marking their books. I finished marking one of the boy’s books and passed it back to him. I heard him say, “TEACHER!!” in a discouraged and disappointed manner. I was still “caught up” in marking the next child’s work when I heard one of the girls say, “teacher, look at _________, he is crying” I immediately knew what the issue was. I had the 11 move so I could get out of my chair and go to him. I knelt on the floor next to his chair. He was laying his head on his desk, looking at his exercise book and he wouldn’t look at me. I called his name and told him to look at me, he didn’t budge..So I just started rubbing his back and called his name again. He looked at me and the tears poured from his eyes…I continued rubbing his back and asked him, “who makes mistakes” Through the tears he quietly said, “Everyone” I said, ”you are exactly right!” Then I said, “who is perfect” Again he responded correctly, “Only God” I sent a few more minutes encouraging him and when I looked up, most of the class was surrounding us, observing what had just transpired. I went back to my seat, continued marking books and after 2 more tries he did his work correctly. Even at a young age they put so much pressure on themselves and expect perfection from themselves. I pray God will use me to help them grow in this area and that he will help me to not get caught up in what I am doing and what I think is important and miss these discipleship moments.