Mukhanyo Christian Academy

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Today was a day I have been looking forward too – going back to Mukhanyo Christian Academy.  This is the same school that I worked on two years ago and so I was really looking forward to seeing my same students again.

Mukhanyo Christian Academy:  It has grown by two grades and two buildings

We arrived at the school a little late as it is very hard getting up at 6:30!!  When we arrived, we were teased a bit about being late and asked if we got lost.  Julia was shown to one class where the plan was for her to observe the students for a bit.  I was shown to another class and told “This is Grade 5.  They are ready to do math.  Here is their textbook.  I will get you a copy of their schedule.  Thanks for helping.” !!!  In other words, I was put right back into teaching.  In a way, I was prepared for this, as last time, there were several instances where this happened as well. 

So, I put on my teaching hat, and started teaching.  I first asked the students to introduce themselves.  They all said their names and I promptly forget them.  Hopefully I can remember them over the next day or two.  We then started talking about fractions and number-lines.  I really enjoyed it, but struggled with knowing how much they were getting out of my fast-paced English.  However, by the end of the lesson, I think most of them understood it.  It then was time for breakfast.  Two students went out, picked up their breakfast and served the whole class. 

Gr. 5 students working hard. 

After breakfast, I was moved to the Grade 6 classroom.  There are 3 students in Grade 6 and I taught all three of them two years ago.  They all remembered me and we spent some time catching up.  I taught them math and through-out the math lesson, we had some interesting conversations.  According to them, their skin is black because the sun beats on them so hard that their skin turns black.  (They said this as a joke to me trying to get me to believe it).  Also, the one girl has hair extensions braided in two long braids down her back.  The other two students, boys, demonstrated how that she is like a donkey because they can use those braids as reins.  Students around the world are so similar!!'

Lunch time was around 12 and we were served some delicious pasta with meat and some orange vegetable (a type of squash maybe?) After lunch, I taught science.  It was on electricity and similar to the material I taught in Gr 5/6 Science previously so that was easy.  After Science was LA.  When I was given the teacher’s manual, I was told it was not the best with regards to usefulness.  I agree and so I did my own thing with the focus being the same, but the actual lesson being quite different.  We read a bit of a chapter from a novel they are reading as a class and then I had them draw a character of their choosing and write describing words around it.  It was amazing seeing their drawings.  By then it was the end of the school day.