Madam Sarah

"So, what do you want to teach?" Was our first interaction with our hostdad, and headmaster of the school, Mr. Dadzie. About 20 min later, he comes up to us, and says "Well, actually, we have a problem with creative arts. There's no teacher. Can you guys teach that?" So, I decided to take Basic 4, 5, and 6 which is about 8 to 11 year olds. Maddi is teaching Basic 1,2, and 3 and I'll help her whenever I don't have class, as one of her classes has 45 kids!!

So, for my first class I thought I was just observing, and as soon as I entered the class (basic 4) the teacher told my it was Library Class. She gave me a book and told me to read it to the class. So, for half an hour I just read stories, and I'm assuming this is what Library Class is. I've found so far that no one, including the teachers, are telling us what we should be doing. But, the kids know what is happening. They're the ones that   are taking us in, and teaching us what we should be doing. The self-reliance that these kids have is amazing, and it's reassuring that they really do appreciate having us here.

So, my biggest challenge so far? The fact that what I'm teaching is Creative Arts. It's basically elementary art class, mixed with a bit of drama and singing, and games. Because all they want to do is play games. I've already run out of new ones... I think I need a tad bit more of creativity myself!! So, coming up with what to do during lessons is going to be difficult. I feel like if it was anything academic, then I would know what I'm doing, but there's no criteria for what I should be teaching these kids.

So my first day was playing name games, like when you say your name and the name of an animal that starts with the same letter, and you have to repeat all of them. We then played Stella-stella-hola, and I taught them the french version which they absolutely loved. Then they made nametags, and I've also played games like Scatagories. Luckily the ages are similar, so I've been doing the same type of thing with all my classes.

But, nothing here goes as planned. Whenever I think I have class, someone else is teaching a different lesson. And whenever I think I have free time, a kid comes and gets me saying "Madam, we have class!" So, whenever I don't have class I help out in Maddi's younger kid classes, and they all love me in there. Especially when I bring my coloured pencil crayons which they don't have themselves, so my supplies that I brought are absolutely getting good use. So when I'm not teaching I can go hang out in the creche with the little kids (1-2 yrs old), or if I even just walk around the school once someone will get my attention and there will be somethng to do. I was helping a group of JHS1 (about 13 years old) with math homework, and it was one of my favorite parts of being here so far. Finally, some math! They really are so enthusiastic about learning, and it was the first time that my academic skills came in use. The other neat thing was talking with the French teacher, and all the kids think it's really neat that I can speak french. Basically my ego is just getting way bigger, because whenever they see me I get compliments. It will be very interesting to see how they interact with us once the novelty of us wears off a bit.

It will also be nice to get into a bit of a routine, but I knew the first week would be overwhelming. But whenever Maddi and I go to town and come back to our little pink house, it is like coming home/

So sorry for rambling, and I'd love to hear from you! And if you contact me with art ideas, or games for kids then you can be my best friend.

Love,
Sarah xoxo