First Day of Student Teaching

Today started early at 6am. I've been sleeping til at least 10 or later everyday for the past two weeks. I figured I would be so tired, but I guess the excitement had me up and ready to go. Holly, Sean and I left the house at 7 and walked to school. I met the headmaster of Kingswood Junior School and he introduced me to my teacher, Mrs. Linda Reynolds. She has been teaching for over 30 years. She has taught Kindergarten, grade R as they call it, second grade and is currently teaching third grade. She has 14 students total, 6 girls and 8 boys, 5 African, 8 white and 1 biracial. Kingswood Junior School has students from first grade to seventh. There are two classes of each grade. This is a boarding school so some of the students do stay in hostiles on the school campus. They are divided into four different houses/teams. The houses are Tarr, Rich, Slator, and Dacam. They compete against one another for points. (Like they do in Harry Potter). Other students come and go to school with their parent/guardian. Kingswood is a Methodist based school so they do have chapel and prayer.

To start the week, grade one-three came together for assembly. They talked about the weekend, made announcements, talked about what would happen during the week and then sang songs. After the assembly was over we went back to the classroom. Every student then shared what they did over the weekend. I thought this was nice because it gets the chatter out of them, so they won't be talking about it during teaching time. I've seen this done in classes before, but only one student shares and then they use it for writing. Math, or Maths as they call it, started at nine. The teaching was pretty much the same as at home the students worked in their math book silently while the teacher took small groups to work with. Next they had Xhosa (The x makes a c sound). Xhosa is one of the main African languages. It was neat it sit in and listen to them speak it. Then the students went to music with the other third grade class. After this, the entire school has a 20 minute break time. The teachers all go to the lounge for tea, coffee and sandwiches. This is a lot different than schools at home, teachers usually just get a planning period, which is filled with a meeting or something so there never really is a break.

After the break we went to the Gala, this happens once a quarter, it just so happened to be on my first day. It was the perfect day for it because it was 96 degrees. The Gala is a swimming competition, kind of like our swim meets, between the all houses. All students, first-seventh grade participate in the breast stroke, back stroke, free style and the butterfly. They are timed and earn points for their house. They put me in charge of taking pictures. The students not swimming at the time where doing cheers for their house to gain points as well. This was a neat experience. All the girls wore the same one piece swim suit and the boys wore speedos, they were in red in black, nice bulldog colors:-) They call them bathing costumes. When the competition was finished there was an hour break for lunch and then the students came back for sport. All students have to participate in two sports. The sports are: swimming, tennis, cricket and squash. My teacher helps coach tennis and swimming. Today was tennis with grade three girls. We walked to the tennis courts and had practice that ended at three. After sport is prep, or homework time. 

Overall I enjoyed my first day. Things are definitely a lot different than schools at home and the township schools I visited with Debbie. I just can't help but think how those township children are sitting in a classroom with no books, crowded, having to share crayons and sometimes without a teacher; and then the Kingswood kids participate in two sports, have multiple types of school uniforms, plenty of books and school materials. Blows my mind how these schools are in the same community and are run so differently. Guess it proves that money does make a difference. I'm not hating on the Kingswood school or parents for paying for a great education, but its just sad to think that its not an option for some families. Their children miss out on learning so much and aren't even able to enjoy reading a fun picture book because they don't have one. 

People Definitely Know We're American

Today  Sean and Holly took me around Grahamstown; took me to all the main shops and even went to the grocery store. (I bought some Ramen Noodles:-)) We ran into a little trouble halfway through the day though. Holly's cell phone, $400 cell phone, got stolen by a pick pocketer. We were shopping in this clothing store and when we went outside this guy brushed up against her to walk past us and grabbed her phone. We thought it was a little rude of him to be so close, but we just thought we were taking up too much room on the sidewalk. When we went back to the store, hoping that she had left it in the dressing room, we talked to the security lady at the door. She said she saw the guy get close to us and he probably stole the phone:-( She suggested that we go to the police station and report it. She also said that she would be willing to identify the guy if need be, which was very nice. So we walked a long long way to the police station on a very African cultured street. While Holly was filing the report, a guy waiting was very interested in mine and Sean's conversation. He asked where we were from and then said he like the way I talked. He then proceed to ask if my teeth were real because they looked very nice and white. He didn't understand what braces were, but I assured him that my teeth were real and they had lots of work done. After talking with him for an uncomfortably long time Holly's report was finished.

Next we went to eat a place called Steers, was kind of like a Dairy Queen. When I was ordering, I told the lady I wanted water to drink. She could not understand what I was saying for anything. I repeated clearly, many times, from what I thought. Anyways, my conclusion is that they don't say any words with the "er" sound. Their "er" is replaced with an "a" sound; so instead of "water" its "wata."

Tonight the Ohio girls and I went to the movies because Dr. Baxen was having her colleagues over for dinner. We went to see the second Sherlock Holmes movie. Yes, I know this movie has been out awhile, but for South Africa its very new. Their TV shows and movies are a few months behind us. The movie theatre was nice, reminded me of the Nova Discount Cinemas in Commerce, a lot smaller theatre than usual. There was a school outing for the boys and girls school in town, so we shared the theatre with a bunch of kids in uniform. Overall it was a great experience.

After the movie we went to this college hangout place/bar and grill, called the Rat and Parrot, not far from the movies. We were waiting for Dr. Baxen to pick us up so we wouldn't have to walk home in the dark. We met some guys in the Rat and Parrot who were celebrating their friend Travis's birthday. Travis was really enjoying his birthday and had had a little bit too much to drink. He was very fascinated with my accent and how I talked so much different than Holly and Sean, the Northerners:-) We started talking about the differences between the North and the South. Travis was cutting up with us all and tried mocking me. He then started joking around about the information he knew about the South, aggravating me. (Keep in mind that Travis is African).  In summary he said that I must be from Mississippi, that the South is full conservative republicans, that we want to lynch black people, and I'm a member of the KKK. I know you all probably have a dropped jaw right now, but he didn't attack me with all these things. We were just joking back and forth and the more shocked I was to what he said the further he took it, not angrily or trying to be offensive, just in pure amusement of my reaction. I laughed with him about it, told him he was smarter than he looked, but told him that that was the old South and things aren't really like that anymore. Thankfully Dr. Baxen showed up at the right time to end that awkward conversation. Travis or any of his friends didn't seem offended or upset because they were asking when we would be coming back to the Rat and Parrot.

This situation/conversation just really hit home to me because it kind of  hurt to be so far from home and related to such negative things that happened such a long time ago. Then I can't help but think what other countries think that "The South" in American is full of a bunch of racist, conservative, republicans. I'm not sure this was Travis's intentions to make me think so much into it, but I'm kind of glad he confronted or joked with me about these specific things. I reckon it just goes to show how history really makes an impact on people and they are affected by it long after it happens.

Grahamstown

Yesterday Debbie and Kathleen drove me to Grahamstown so I could get settled before I start my student teaching on Monday. The drive takes about an hour. It reminded me a little of home because there were cow pastures on both sides of the road the entire ride. We stopped at this place kind of like a farmers market that has all kinds of vegetables, food and candy. We got lunch here. I had a pie with chicken in it and a Slush Puppie. The pie was delicious, tasted almost like chicken and dumplings, minus the dumplings.  

 

I also tasted, “bill tongue” there (not sure how you spell it, but thats how they say it). Bill tongue is like our beef or deer jerky. It comes in these huge pieces and then they slice it off in thin pieces. It was really really good.

 

  

Grahamstown is called the city of saints and schools because there are so many. They have big universities and schools of all types for all ages. They have boarding schools, all boys and all girls schools, private schools, regular schools, and preschools. Its mainly known for being a Universtiy town with a lot of college students and night life. Guess you could kind of compare it to Athens, but its not really the same to me. They have lots of big stone churches too. So far I've saw a Catholic, Baptist and Methodist church.

While I'm here, I'll be staying at Professor Jean Baxen's garden cottage behind her house. There two other girls that have already started doing their student teaching. They are from Ashford University in Ohio. Their names are Holly and Sean. They didn't know each other before this trip even though they go to the same college. I'm sharing the cottage with Holly, she is doing middle grades at Kingswood, where I will be. Sean is in the house with Dr. Baxen, she is doing early childhood at another school. The cottage is small, but nice. It has a room with two twin beds, one closet, one bathroom and a kitchen.  

Day 10

On Wednesday I spent the most of the day by the pool at Debbies, was nice just to relax and soak up some vitamin D:-) That evening I went with Michael, one of Debbie close friends to see some more animals. He will be building a house, along with many others, on this gated game farm thats a little further out of town. Whats cool is once his house gets built he will be able to sit out on his porch and see all kinds of animals, like zebra, giraffe, deer or buck, wildebeest and warthog all the time.

 

As most of you may know, I'm an extremely picky eater.  But you would be proud of me for trying new foods. I've tried Milk-tart. Its kind of like a pie and cheesecake mixed together. Its really good. (They love the way I say pie by the way.) I've tried Prickly Pears. They grow on cactus. You have to cut off the thorns and skin and eat the insides. It has lots of seeds inside. If you remember the Bare Necessities off the Jungle Book, Baloo the bear sings about them. I've also had some kind of African dish, I forget the name, with hamburger meat, onions, rice and raisins. They eat lots of salads here and sandwiches, which they call rolls. They go to the store everyday and buy fresh bread. On the rolls put butter and cheese, kind of an odd combination. Sometimes they put tomato or mayonnaise on them. Oh, a chicken sandwich is called a chicken burger here. Anything that comes on a bun is a burger.

Some more wording differences for here and home. Try using them in a sentence with an English accent.
Americans say:                             South Africans Say:
Picky                                             Fussy
Smart                                            Clever
Traffic Light                                 Robot
AC                                               Air Con
 In a minute/little while                 Just now
Ocean                                           Sea
Horn                                            Hooter
Honking                                      Hooting
Eraser                                          Rubber
University                                   Varsity

This Tuesday...

On Tuesday morning Debbie went to another township school. She didn't take me with her this time because she hasn't been working with this school long and she wasn't sure how they would react to her bringing a visitor along....Anyway, one of the classrooms she went to had 74 second graders. 74 students with one teacher. Craziness. I can't imagine how a teacher could teach and be successful with that many students on her own. While Debbie was there she did some reading assessments with random students. 6 out of the 7 students she tested could not read at all. Now lets keep in mind that kids are starting to learn to read as early as Kindergarten in the states and these kids are in second grade. There is no telling how many more students in the class of 74 can't read. Students are being set up to fail with that many classmates and only one teacher. There is no one on one teaching time with the students and I doubt there is any small group work happening. How could it be possible with only one teacher???? I'll get off my soap box now. Its just really gets me worked up to hear these types of situations and there is nothing being done about it.

Tuesday afternoon I went with Debbie to do her book club in another part of the township, Missionvale Catholic school. I got to meet a nice girl named Shannon who volunteers at the reading club. I think she is around 20 years old. We had some nice talks. She said in America, its seems like if you want something all you have to do is push a button and you get it without a problem. I got to meet some high school boys that come to the book club to do art. When they found out I was from America they asked if they could come home with me back to the states. I also got to meet some young girls that went to school at Missionvale. They were wearing Tom's. They played with my hair and talked in Afrikaans and  Xhosa, these are 2 out of the 11 official languages in South Africa.

The book club didn't end up working out because the building we were going to use was full and the school had a group from Ireland on a mission trip. They were building more classrooms because the school is adding fourth grade. Was a little sad to send the students away who came to hear the reading, but the school promised to send have a room set up for the book club next week.

City Tour

The other day Kathleen and her friend, Ashley took me around Port Elizabeth. We went to eat at KFC first. Kathleen claims it is much better than the one we have in America. I would have to agree with her. It was good chicken, but their french fries, or chips as they call them, aren't the same. I am definitely an expert on fast food so I know my french fries :-) Another thing that tastes a lot different than home is the ketchup, or as they call it tomato sauce. I also had a chance to go to McDonalds. The french fries were great, but I was so disappointed that they didn't have the same BBQ sauce as at home. The BBQ sauce was gross. They didn't even have ranch dressing.

After we ate we went to a park and fed pigeons. Then we went up a lighthouse that overlooked the ocean. We also went to Fort Fredrick that was built a long long time ago to defend themselves against the French. Its was cool to see some of the local history. A key person related to South Africa's history is Nelson Mandela. The park we went to was dedicated to him. 

Some sayings that are different from home. Imagine all these in an English type accent.
We say:                                              South Africa says:
Call me                                              Phone me
Gas                                                    Petro
Trash                                                 Rubbish
Aww or OMG                                     Shame
Ketchup                                            Tomato Paste
Bathroom/Restroom                          Loo
Sweater/Jacket                                  Jerzee
That ok/fine with you?                      Are you keen to go?
Freakin                                              Flippin
Shady/Sketchy                                  Dodgy
Woods                                              The bush
Closet                                                Cupboard
Summer                                             Summa

ADDO and the BRAAI

Today the Soper's and I went to Addo Elephant park. It was so amazing. Elephants are such interesting creatures. We saw a heard of at least 100 elephants. They were around a watering hole cooling off. 

Last night I went to a Braai (SA BBQ). It was delicious. They had lamb, steak, chicken, sausage, and bacon (grilled ham, a lot thicker than our bacon). We all sat outside on the patio and just talked and ate, such a laid back atmosphere here with no one in a rush. There is not much to do in Port Elizabeth, so the Soper's, like many other families, have dinner parties every month taking turns with their friends. Every Friday, Debbie has tea with her lady friends and Paul hangs out with some of his male friends. I think this is wonderful for them to spend this time just talking with their friends. I feel like sometimes we get so busy with life we forget to stop and enjoy the small things like this.

Eye-Opener

A few days ago I went with Debbie to some of the township schools. (The township is what they call the very poor communities.) Students have been back in school for two weeks since their holiday break. Debbie was meeting with some of the principals and teachers about buying books for them through the company she works for. It was interesting to see the differences between the schools we went to. Some of them were functioning very well and others not so much. Education and teachers in South Africa are not held to the same expectations as the ones in the US. Some examples would be:

• Leaving the students alone in the classroom all day or for long lengths of time. One teacher was hanging out in the parking lot with a visitor while his class was sitting in the room. 
• Harassing students with no consequences
• Another teacher had her Kindergarten class sitting outside the room in chairs while she mopped and deep cleaned her room. There was nothing on the walls or in the classroom and nothing for the children to work on. My question is, why didn't she clean the room before school started back and why did she wait until two weeks after school started? 
• The schools no longer pays for substitutes. If a teacher needs to be absent then the class just sits in the room all day. Rarely a parent will volunteer to come and watch the class. 
• One school we went to didn't even have books. Not one book to read to the students or for the students to read from. 
• Most classrooms have more than 50 students in it with only one teacher

These are just a few things that really bothered me. It kills me because the kids are effected by the flawed system. There is no order. Its such a huge problem. Over half of the students are illiterate. Only 35% of third graders and 28% of sixth graders are able to read. Such a shame....breaks my heart. This makes me think back to the class discussions I've had at school with us complaining about the Georgia Performance Standards, CRCT, No Child Left Behind, and the "bad" conditions of the Clarke County community. The Clarke County community is like a prestige private school compared to these schools I've seen. We have nothing to complain about in the United States or about our education system. These schools do not have any books to read to their students. No books. Most the families these children come from don't know where their next meal is coming from and we in America think we have problems? I know there are starving people in America too, but these people are living in shacks with no running water and no electricity. I don't know about you but, this reminds me of how blessed I am to be an American. How blessed I am to have the things I have. That I've never had to worry about missing a meal. I'm so thankful for the many blessings the Lord has given me. 

  

All that may have seemed a little negative, but I would like to say that I did meet some wonderful teachers and principals who had a strong passion for education and the children in their school. Some of them working overtime with no pay while they are furthering their own education. They are working to make a difference in the lives of the children in the community. This is also true of Debbie. She has such a desire to help the struggling schools, teachers, students and parents. I hope that I keep the same desire as she has for all the years she has been working in education. She is a wonderful asset to the township community and has helped many. 

The second picture above is of sheep heads. The Africans cook them in the pot until they are black and then they eat the gums of the sheep. Tasty? I wasn't brave enough to try it. 

Michael Jackson? Here? Really?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to drive around Port Elizabeth. I was a little scared at first because the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car and they drive on the opposite side of the road. Kathleen was with me though and she kept me straight with my driving. South Africans are allowed to get their license at 18. The test is very difficult and its a long process so thats why Kath hasn't gotten her's yet. Anyway, I think I did very well because we made it back home alive and in one piece. Just keep in mind that if you ever have to drive in South Africa they don't have "right on red."

To start our day we went to watch a competition between the houses at Kath's old high school. The students who have graduated go back and watch the competition. The school is divided into three houses, kind of like teams. Every year, grade 12, or the senior class of each house comes up with a little show or skit with dancing and acting. Each house performs on a track field in front of the entire school. They call it the oval. (The track field isn't on the school campus. Its in another part of town.) I really enjoyed it. I was so amazed at how much South Africans, especially the young people, get there style and music from the U.S. Even though the student's were in uniforms they still had the same or similar shoes, accessories, and style as us in the U.S. Some of the songs they played during their performances are songs that they play on the radio and downtown. One of the houses had a really cool performance and closed it with a dance to Party Rock by LMFAO. They even had a guy dressed up like the robot off of it. Blew my mind. They played songs from Michael Jacksons Thriller to Teach me how to Dougie.

After watching the competition I went to eat with Kathleen and some of her friends and had a great time. We talked about all the differences between America and South Africa. One major difference deals with race. In South Africa, people of mixed races are called colored's and black people are called black. They call them this openly and there is no offense taken to it. This was so hard for me to grasp because in the U.S. that is considered derogatory and unacceptable. Another difference is the legal drinking age is 18. This definitely isn't a good thing because it has created a lot of problems for the country related to alcohol abuse.

Kragga Kamma Game Park

Today Debbie took me to Kragga Kamma Game Park. Its not far from their home in PE. This is a small drive through safari ride. You pay to drive around this trail, in your own car, to see animals. It was really fun and I enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of animals. One fun fact I learned: South Africans call their deer, buck or bok, depending on the type. Besides seeing many types of "buck" I got to see: Giraffe, White Rhino, Zebra, Cheetah, Cape Buffalo, Wildebeest, Warthog, Ostrich

 

All these animals were so amazing to see in action. Debbie and I had a great time. At one point in our adventure we got stuck on the trail! There was a bad spot in the road and there was no way going around it. We tried to cross it, but we kept spinning tires. We ended up having to call the park and got them to come get us out. Debbie and I laughed about it because when we called and told them where we were, they knew the place exactly. It must have not been the first time they had gotten a call for that spot. Her little Ford Focus just couldn't make it through:-) So much for the guard saying no 4x4 vehicles were needed. 

The Soper's

I guess I should explain who the Soper family is, for my posts to make sense. I'm new at this blog thing so its gonna take me some time to get the hang of it :-) The Soper family is related to my parents neighbors in Georgia. They have been kind enough to let me stay with them for a while in Port Elizabeth. The family consists of Paul and Debbie and they have three children. Two of the children still live at home. Andrew is 24 and Kathleen is 19. Paul works from home as a structural engineer and Debbie is a certified teacher for elementary aged students. Debbie and I have much to talk about being as I'm studying to teach elementary ages like her. I met Kathleen when she came to the states last year.

I'll be staying with them for a week and a little while and then I will go on to Grahamstown to teach. I'm so thankful for them opening up their home to me and getting me situated in their country.

Day 1

After a long flight I arrived here safely. It is really hot and humid, but there is a nice breeze blowing. I have caught up on my sleep and gotten settled in Port Elizabeth with the Soper family. I will stay here a few days and then go on to Grahamstown for teaching. This afternoon I was able to go with Debbie to one of the poor communities, called Missionville. She goes once a week to this community to read to the children and do actives. She is working to help increase literacy among the children. More than half of the children in this region cannot read. It was an eye-opener to see the living situations these people live in. It makes me very thankful for what I have back at home. The children were all so friendly and playful. I enjoyed playing with them and helping Debbie. I plan to go back with her next week before I go on to Grahamstown. 

I have already experienced many culture and language differences. For example:

• The bathroom is called the loo
• Being kissed on the forehead when meeting new people
• Transportation: riding on the opposite side of the road and the drivers seat is opposite
• There are traffic laws, but they are not enforced. This allows for crazy driving.
• Woke up to an African lady cleaning the house
• Although English is the main language spoken here, there are many differences in what things are called and how they are said.