The peaceful, relaxing silence has now been replaced with children's laughter and shouts and a sense of excitement. TOday the students are coming back to school and tomorrow begins our third and final term of the 2011 school year.
the past few days i've been busy desparately trying to get my classroom in order (i left it in a bit of a mess) and figuring out my schedule and what i'm teaching etc. of course i could have done that anytime over the past 6 weeks, but i am such a procrastinator that i always leave it till the last minute... praise the Lord it's done now. i'm not fully organized curriculm wise, but that will sort itself out over the next few days. it will be an interesting term in that i'll be teaching all the core classes to both grades. this means that i'll have both grades in the classroom when teaching math, language/phonics, and reading. usually we try to split them up at this time and have one teacher teaching math to one grade while the other grade is having language with another teacher. unfortunately we don't have the staff for that this term. I will be getting some help though as we have 3 more young ladies coming to help out for 6 wks. i've requested one as a TA. I'm not sure who it'll be yet as they don't arrive until Sept 15th. I guess i'll just have to wing-it until then. Another short termer who has come to help out wherever he's needed is Michael Geesey. He's a Sakeji alumni so it's nice that he could make it back for a visit.
Some prayer requests for this term:
1) That my students will work hard and finish the year strong
2) For those who are struggling to get the extra assistance they need
3) That we'll have a great term; that God will give the teacher's the patience and engergy they need and that Christ's love will shine abundantly in our school.
May I kindly urge you to work on your professionalism? These kids depend on you for their education and even more for some kind nurturing seeing as they are away from their parents. Please don't procrastinate on lesson planning - your work is vital and important and you need to acknowledge that and prepare accordingly.
ReplyDeleteRe. your comments on the 'boring' AGM: This is one of the only opportunities that parents have to raise concerns and find out how the school is running....the school that is responsible for THEIR children for most of the year. Surely you can find it in you to go into a meeting like that with a certain respect for the process?
In general, please do all you can to imagine how it is for these young children and their parents separated for so much of the year. Most of the kids are happy most of the time. But all of them hurt and feel lonely at times and you will need discernment and kindness and love to sense that even when the kids appear fine.
My above comment was probably too harsh. I wrote it in the wee hours of the morning after wading through reports on the abuse at CM&A schools. I have been a boarding student at mission schools so I know what I'm talking about but I don't want my comment to be too discouraging for you.
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