Pearson High School’s fourth term started after break and I had a few lesson plans to finish. So, we spent Sunday recuperating and getting things ready for Monday. After all, in my head I was convinced that the first lesson would set the tone for how things were going to go…(unnecessary pressure, I know). Sunday night I had a little trouble falling asleep. This was partly due to excitement and partly due to nervousness. I kept running through the lessons and the order of the lessons and the wording I would use to explain concepts in my head as well as trying to anticipate where the students would have difficulty. Luckily, the first part was simply a pretest to see where the students were at in their knowledge of ratios and rates…
Here’s my biggest issue…
I am not totally ignorant about how students (and most adults) feel about mathematics. I am part of that rare and strange variety that enjoys solving mathematical problems and sees them as puzzles. For the rest of the world math sucks…I get it. Unfortunately, I take this knowledge and second-guess the activities and exercises more so in my math lessons than social studies lessons. I truly believe math can be made to be exciting, and with that in mind, I plan my lessons. This is something I will have to simply get over, but for all of those who are less than enthusiastic about math, give it a chance!
The first week went very well in that the students behaved well and participated in the lessons. Whether they absorbed any of the material was yet to be seen. Although Pearson High School’s academic curriculum is lecture-based, I was able to use what my Kent State professor, Dr. Brooks, would call ‘wiggle room’. My lovely behind the scenes assistant, a.k.a Gretchen, took some time to stamp and cut up note cards for an activity we thought up to help students learn a concept on fractions and ratios. I arrived home that day in complete shock. The reason being, which I immediately relayed to Gretchen, was that some of the students came up to me after class and told me how much they appreciated the ‘fun’ activity and that it really helped them learn…seriously, it was like one of those corny movies about a teacher that makes a difference! Even stranger is that the lesson involved a brief interaction with plastic baggies filled with cut up pieces of paper…not exactly what I thought would be the thrill ride of a lifetime. I suppose this is a testament to how valuable physical manipulatives (teacher jargon for stuff kids physically play with to help learn) are to the learning process. Unfortunately, it also emphasizes the distinct lack of this kind of learning the students are receiving.
Week two was also smooth sailing, but my Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University professor, Dr. Singh, was to evaluate me on that Thursday! I was confident I knew my lesson and I knew my content, but there were two things that worried me. First of all, when I get nervous when teaching, my speech is clocked at around 100 miles a minute. So, when the time came, I had to continually remind myself to pace accordingly. The other potential disaster comes from the fact that children can be unpredictable. An angelic class can have a bad day where their mouths uncontrollably spew out disruptive talk without end, or the class one would believe was karma for some previous transgression could be perfect. Is this something I could control? Of course not…however…does that every stop most people from worrying about it anyway?
Dr. Singh came, he observed and he recorded…
Afterwards we sat down and he had very positive things to say. I will allow myself a brief moment to be smug: He said that he was trying to find something to criticize me (constructively, of course) about, but could not think of anything. Dr. Singh had noticed that I can be hesitant when speaking with him, and he was worried that had transferred to my teaching. He was glad to see it hadn’t. He was off and I was left to sit and bask in the knowledge that not only was the observation over (so my anxiety could dissipate), but I received full marks! Camera flashes went off, crowds cheered…I claimed I was going to Disneyworld. I immediately called up Gretchen to tell her the good news, which she was equally excited about.
Aside from teaching my lessons, I also have started an after-school tutoring program in Mathematics (or Maths as they call it…why they add the ‘s’, I do not know). I say program, but in reality it is me working with students attempting to clarify concepts. At first I assumed no students would come for extra help. However, starting the first day, I had a group of girls who showed up asking if I was giving ‘extra Maths lessons’. By the end of the second week, I was working with students who were not even in my classes! The students valued my time and teaching, this made me feel very good about myself and my abilities as a teacher.
As if all of this were not enough excitement, my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Lees-Rolfe, invited Gretchen and I, along with the other students at Pearson, to a weekend getaway with her family in Port Alfred. Apparently, they have a vacation home there and she was kind enough to offer to take us for the weekend. My first reaction was to respectively decline as I saw it as a potential awkward situation. However, Dr. Singh’s words shouted in my head, “Take advantage of every opportunity!” So, we accepted. The other students eventually decided to come as well, but I think part of their motivation was that they were asked to monitor detention (DT for Pearsonites) on Saturday. In the end, the caravan consisted of the other American from Ohio, two Australian girls, Mrs. Lees-Rolf and her husband Arthur, their daughter Michelle and the two of us. We were packed into two cars and off we went!
Their vacation home was fairly close to the ocean. However, the weather was not cooperative for the weekend. It was rainy and chilly the entire time we were in Port Alfred. Even so, it was a great getaway for all of us. We mostly sat around the house, watched movies and played Bananagrams. It was wonderful to get to know Mrs. Lees-Rolfe and her family and to get to know the other students much better as well.
The two of us in Port Alfred.
One of the most eye opening experiences of our entire time in South Africa thus far also happened while we were in Port Alfred. Mrs. Lees-Rolfe’s father is heavily involved with a unique situation. There is a woman in town named Molly who decided with her husband to adopt ten AIDS babies (meaning their parents had AIDS) because they were not able to have children themselves. This was quite a while ago. Since then, people have dropped children on this woman’s doorstep and she sees it as her Christian obligation to take them in…she cannot turn them away. Presently, she feeds anywhere between 50 and 90 people a day. She gets her funding from private donations and a local church. Mrs. Lees-Rolfe’s father has become very involved in this and we were able to go and see this incredible woman’s home. Unfortunately, she was not there when she visited but one of the older children showed us around. It is difficult to describe the place. It was clean, but full of children. At the time neither Gretchen nor I felt comfortable taking pictures. In our minds these children were not some tourist attraction to use as photo opportunities. Both of us now regret not getting any pictures. Regardless, the experience is something that neither of us will ever forget.
The weekend came to a close and the caravan headed back to Port Elizabeth after lunch Sunday afternoon. Another week passed and we found ourselves over halfway through this incredible adventure. It is strange to think that in not a lot of time at all, South Africa, the people I have met here and the town of Port Elizabeth will be only a memory…
