Teacher!!! Teacher!!!

On Wednesday (or "Robe" in Amharic), Tiffany & I taught our first
English lessons at Big Ahope. We teach two, 30 min. classes. First
we teach the 3rd graders & then we teach the 4th graders. Mom &
Ralph's sponsored girl, K., is in my 3rd grade class.
The classroom is small. We have a tiny dry erase board up front,
and the rest of the room is stuffed with 2 rows of four old school
bench style desks. Each class has around 8-10 students, but we could
maybe stuff 16 kids in our cheery room if we tried. The bright blue
walls liven up the room, and the 2 windows in the back emit lots of
sunlight, which playfully dances on the beautiful ocean mural that the
students recently made. On the other wall is a big world map. The
kids love looking for Chicago & Wichita. They all stand on top of the
desks, pushing their way closer to the map, attempting to find these
faraway places. We give them hints, "Chicago is by a lake" and
"Wichita is in the middle". As they find them, many brown fingers
fight to touch each city.
Our students are currently in the middle of finals at their regular
schools (yes, even 3rd & 4th graders have finals here), so we try to
make our first day easy & lighthearted. We start off by making name
signs with construction paper & scented markers. My grape scented
marker takes me back to my childhood. K., is a perfectionist & spends
most of class time coloring her name. A sweet girl named A., sees the
hearts on my sign & adds a few to her own. When she sees that I
notice, she giggles. Two very active boys, S. & A., copy the
squiggles on Tiffany's sign. They add so many that I can hardly read
their names.
Next we move on to introducing ourselves & naming something we like.
Each student has to memorize all of the names & likes of the students
before them. The last student must remember them all. These sweet
kids like things such as pizza, hamburgers, soccer, swimming, &
praying. They don't understand what Tiffany means when she says she
likes peanut butter. We can't wait to bring some in for them!
Like all kids, ours seat themselves with boys on one side of the
room & girls on the other side. The 3rd grade boys are quite rowdy,
while the girls pay attention as they draw flowers on their name
signs. We don't expect the boys to remember what the girls like,
especially the last boy, M., who is possibly the loudest. Without
hesitation, he speeds through everyone. He is smart.
Our time with the 4th graders is the same. It goes a little faster
as they have a better grasp of English. As soon as we dismiss class,
the kids race back to their friends & pickup football (soccer)
matches. Feeling happy & purposeful, I begin the 20 min. walk back to
my room. For the first time in awhile, it really hits me. I am in
Ethiopia. And I love it.