May 23, 2008 3:53 pm
It is the end of week 1!!!!!!! It has been a great week. I have already learned a lot from the school. It is a really great school and program. The children are so self efficient. The older children keep an eye on the younger children. They all clean the school and the housing quarters. They have a consistent schedule so all of the children know what to do and where to go at all times. There are 5 classes. The cerebral palsy class has about 5 students in it. I have yet to observe that class so I don't have much to say about it.
Brenda
Allan
Then there is the pre primary 1 class. Most of these students are autistic and are low functioning. I feel this class is the least effective. I look forward to spending time in this class and helping the teachers improve their methods. There are 2 teachers in the class so I feel they can be much more effective with their time management. (this is a picture of the students learning how to button up their shirts and buckle a belt)
Then there is the pre primary 2 class. On the 1st day Rachel and I both felt that this teacher was the least likable. I was pleasantly surprised with her when I spent time in her class though. Her students are still low functioning but 2 or 3 of them are consistently improving and will eventually be promoted to a higher class.
This girl talks NON STOP! But it is all gibberish. She is obsessed with her stuffed animals and she treats them like they are her real babies.
One of the rare times Esther smiled!!!
The next class is Primary 1, there is an A and B because there are so many students in this class and there are 2 teachers, they are in 2 separate rooms though. These 2 teachers are the best in the school. The children in this class are learning their letters and numbers. These teachers are embracing any ideas we have and are asking us a lot of questions. These classes are the most like American classrooms. The final class is the prevocational. The students in this class are the older students. They learn about money, telling time...they even weave blankets that they sell to the community.
We start our day at 8 am with assembly. This is where the children raise the flag, pray, and sing a few songs. At 8:30 they go to class. At 9:30 they go to PE. Than at 10 they get a break where they get porridge and free play time.
During this time we get to have tea with the other teachers. At 11 we go back to class until 12:30 then we have lunch. Rachel and I eat lunch with the head sister everyday. We ate lintels and spinach every day (this lasted only for the first week and half...thank goodness!) We either have rice or spaghetti with it. After we eat we go and play with the children. At 2, lunch is over and we have an hour of different activity depending on the day. On Wednesdays and Fridays the children clean the school and some of them go to physical therapy. They don't have much class time but it is hard to get 70 special needs children to sit for very long, so they do the best they can. I drink tons of tea now. I have it for breakfast, at tea time at school, at tea time after school, and usually at dinner. The tea here is AMAZING!!!