Week 5, still alive

What a week! Possibly the very first week without any sort of interruption, from holidays to sports days. This week was  full week of learning and teaching. This week i completed the necessary  lessons i required for my file for the senoir group in life science so i ended off the week focussing more on my grade 9 learners for natural science. The grade 9s are dealing with human reproduction at the moment, the penis, vagina and menstruation etc. From my own schooling experience i know that this topic can be very easily misunderstood or incorrectly taught due to learners reactions to it. Many boys seem to make it a joke while girls tend to be shy about it, i am generalising of course. With this in mind i made it my plan to remove any awkwardness or possible need for jokes from this section. Each lesson i have words which the class is to say out loud. My first lesson on the male reproductive system i told the class they were to pay attention to me at all times, and that if i raised my right hand they were to say the word "Penis" and if i raised my left hand they were to say the word "Vagina". At first there was quite a bit of laughter but as the lesson went on i found that these words lost their potency in terms of being "naughty words". The class seemed to pay attention to where i was in the class as well as what i was saying. There were the odd few who would still try and make a joke here and there but they were not as effective as the would have been. My plan was to allow the children to feel like they are doing something naughty i.e. screaming the word penis in class, but at the same time turn this into a learning experience. While the class was not 100% responsive and i did have a few learners drift off, for this particular class based on what i have observed of them with other teachers, even the fact that they participated and paid attention was a victory for me.

While this was a full week, on friday i had no classes to teach as i had finished each on my sections with the classes and my mentor teacher had wanted to begin the next sections with them, so simply  observing  was a welcomed change to the challenge of everyday teaching. Despite this i have been asked multiple times to teach the classes. I have developed a very good relationship with my two grade 11 classes to the point where they see me as somone who they can seek help from. One of the girls in a class had gotten the zipper of her rain coat(which was actually the jacket of the boy sitting next to her) jammed and despite me sitting quite far removed from the class at this point, she asked if i could help fix it, which i did. While this may not seem like a significant event, to me this speaks to at least one learner in the class seeing me as somone who is able to help with problems which  they themselves can not deal with and i think this is something for me to hold on to for days when i feel as though i am not making a difference or getting through to any of the learners.

This teaching experience, while not exactly the real thing, is very valuable and i am very impressed by my abiliy to deal with what each day brings forward. I do not expect every school to provide the same type of learners or the same type of schooling system but i do know that i currently know more than i did at the beginning of this year and that i find myself eager to know more and experience more. I have found that i am able to remember a remarkable number of names and faces in even this short space of time that i have been here. It helps to be able to call out a learner by their name when they are talking out of turn or generally misbehaving. The shock on their faces as they realise this student teacher who is only here for a short time knows their names, is priceless. Many learners show a great deal more respect once they are aware that you know their names.

Just as i say every week, i am thoroughly enjoying my time here despite a few hiccups here and there but i love that everyday is something different, something new. Even the same class taught one day apart can respond very differently and i like the idea of eachday being a fresh new challenge and i look forward to one day having my own classes to bond with and grow with.