Wow! There is nothing in this world that I would have rather done with my day than spend it with the loud, chatty, out of control, misbehaved, 4th graders at the BNC today. To some this may sound like complete nonsense, but I seriously would not rather have been anywhere else.
What I observed throughout the day with my 14 students is that they are behaviorally just normal fourth grade students; They copy what their friends write down, they want to please the teacher but do not behave accordingly, they love hugs, they always want to be correct, they tease other students, they do not always listen to directions, etc. However, the only difference (that it took me all day to conclude) is that these Namibian students are at this center voluntarily. These students want to be here and they want to learn. They value their education to a very high degree.
What American elementary student would stay after school to do reading/writing and math until the sun goes down, by choice?
Keep in mind, most of these students do not have electricity or money for candles so when they go home there are very little activities for them to engage in. Which is also why many students of Katatura do not complete their homework unfortunately.
Another thing I found interesting was that Namibians have a lot of holidays and a lot of time off from school. Sometimes to make up for the lost time, the students are called in to school on Saturdays.
My Namibian students left me in awe today with their attitudes towards learning. Again and again I see the virtues of an effective teacher popping up from everywhere. Specifically silence today, to be in awe of something like I was a child again sitting in an ice cream shop feeling like it was the best place that I have ever been, just so speechless. To observe each individual life without judgement, really left me in amazement.
Some of the students called me Miss Mary and others just called me "teacher." Which some of the volunteers at the center don't like, but I love it! About half of the class gave me a big hug as they left the classroom and thanked me. Thanked me!!!
Today was sort of an introduction/breaking the ice day because I really wanted to learn more about them. For the Do Now, I wrote a letter about myself on the board and had them write letters to me about themselves. They did beautifully! And then of course we made a list of rules as a class. Everyone promised to do their best to follow the rules not only inside the BNC but in their other classrooms, at home, in their society, and in life. We all put our John Handcock on the bottom of the rules, I hung it up, and that was good enough for me.
Tomorrow will be another exciting day to teach math and most importantly to learn more about my eager-to-learn students. I just cannot wait!
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