Good Morning 1C...Good Morning Mr Simon

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As you may recall in our last episode, Rachel had a run in with the toilet all night after a dodgy pizza at Stiggy's. Well she was very delicate for a few days after that, eating only very plain food to ensure that she didn't upset her stomach again. Well by the Wednesday night she was feeling a bit more adventurous and after a plain dinner decided to have some Indian snack mix which we have had a few times. Well the 2am stomach alarm went of again, and poor Rachel was sick again, although at least this time it was only an hour or so.

So next morning, there was no way she was going to school so I volunteered to stand in as Miss Rachel for the day. Fortunately, Thursdays are a quiet day for her, so all I was up for was Home room which is first and last thing for the day, and then 2 periods of English in the morning. Some other remedial classes she had were going to have to be covered by someone who actually knew what they were doing.

So Rachel wrote me all the instructions of what to do and off I set to tackle my first day as a teacher. The day started out quite well as I managed to shepherd all the kids into class and get them sitting down (OK I had the help of the class bully - I mean class captain - Rachel is trying to coach him). So far so good. Fortunately, all the kids were there so I didn’t have to contend with the forms you need to fill out if anyone is away, and left those for Rachel to do the next day. I managed to bluff my way through the formalities of the Morning Prayer by roping in one of the kids to lead the class as I didn’t have a clue what the actual prayer was. Then with the list that Rachel has supplied ticked off, we started the first period of English, although I was a little concerned as the bell had yet to go, so there’s me thinking I must have missed something, as that all went too quickly (it's 15mins). I later realised I had missed the whole homework procedure the school has in place here - yes even little standard ones HAVE to be given a minimum of homework 3 times a week from each subject teacher, that's 5 x 3, 15 lots of homework a week. (Of course Rach gives them the minimum, never on a weekend and only does this because homework records have to be completed and are spot checked by the Homework Masters!!)

Anyway, Rachel had given me some activity sheets to get the kids to do which involved picking a word out of a picture dictionary and then getting them to draw it and write about it - they LOVE the picture dictionarys. Other than a few fights over who gets the good pencils and the good rulers, it seemed to be going quiet well and my confidence was growing - thinking this isn’t as bad as I thought. Obviously some of the kids had already finished before some had even started so they got to do 2 or 3 more pictures as the end of class was miles away. I managed to keep the noise down to something like akin to a football stadium roar, and the magic triangle (rach nicked from a box of the music supplies which were donated but have not been used) actually does really get their attention when it gets too loud. Of course all the kids want to show you what they have done and as soon as one comes up then suddenly 10 kids are at your feet trying to show you theirs. Thinking I had loads of time to pack up and get them ready standing behind their desks in time for the next teacher to come in, (and wondering why Rach had said allow plenty of time) I obviously learnt that Standard One’s take a bit more organising than a crowd being chased by the riot police. Needless to say when the new teacher came in it was a bit of a shambles, but it did resemble something like a classroom and the incoming teacher had a bit of a laugh when she saw me and not Miss Rachel.

Of course when I saw Rachel back at our apartment she thought it was hilarious and was laughing so much at some of the little things that had happened that she has been able to train out of the kids, but of course as soon as a new person is in the class they are up to their old tricks.

The second period of English was the lesson before lunch and I was going to get them to sit on the big mat they have and read them a story - couldn’t be hard surely???

The kids seemed really please to see me and some of them met me almost coming out of the office and walked me back to class - I guess they figured another period of light entertainment was about to happen. Arriving in the class to a bit of a cheer, I noticed that one of the girls was sitting at her desk and crying and despite my attempts to find out what had happened, and the 28 kids who volunteered to tell me what was wrong I still had no idea other than everyone telling me this Swahili word, “shose”. I had a vague idea that maybe she had had a little accident but there didn’t seem to be any evidence that she had wet herself, but something was definitely up. I collared a passing local female teacher and explained that one of the girls was crying but I didn’t know why and she came in and talked to the girl and then stood up and told me she had “Shose”, which I said I knew but what the hell was “Shose” and my suspicions were correct, she had wet herself. The big mystery was the lack of evidence but apparently she had needed to go sometime in the previous 2 lessons but was not allowed, so had not been able to hold on any longer. It turns out in the staff meeting the day before the teachers were told that too many kids were going to the toilet in class time and they had to make them go in the break times. Obviously this was taken literally, but when you’ve gotta go.

After the girl was taken away to be sorted out by the passing teacher, I told the rest of the class what we were going to do and they were all very excited as they took of their shoes and made their way row by row to their place on the mat, after the class monitors and class captains had a fight (like literally) about who was going to set up the mat (apparently there are appointed tasks - but that little detail was news to me).

I was quite proud of the fact that I seemed to have everyone sitting down neatly in rows with their legs crossed and arms in the laps, waiting for me to start. Rachel had said get one of the kids to pick a book to read and after telling the kids to stay put and getting the kid nearest the book cupboard to come up and pick a book, all was well. She first picked a dictionary which I explained was going to be a little boring and suggested a big picture story book when suddenly I noticed a pair of hands reaching round me into the cupboard to get a book. I turned around to see 28 kids queued up behind me ready to pick a book - bugger. Something else you obviously learn from experience - never turn your back on the class. After getting them all back down again and reading the story, all was fine and then it was time for lunch. If you have a class before lunch you are responsible to take the class up to the dining hall to get fed.

After getting them all outside in a line, I said OK lets go and proceeded to walk over to the hall with them all in tow. After about 10 metres I noticed a lack of kids behind me and looked back to see them all stopped at the buckets washing their hands - oops, forgot that little detail.

After retreating back to the office for some rest I only now had to cover the final home room where you have to check they are all still alive, make sure they have all their homework books, sign all the homework diaries, get them packed up and off to the buses for the trip home. Of course the kids being little they are more than ready to go by this stage, and me nearly forgetting to go to the class when the bell went, plus also forgetting to take a book from the staff room to give them for homework, and a mad dash up to get it, it was ‘right kids its time to go outside to the buses’, only to be met with NO, NO Mr Simon, the prayer, the prayer, so a quick end of day prayer with the help of one of the kids again and we were outside in the two lines ready to go to the two different bus pick up points. Apparently I was to send one lot off on their own or with a passing teacher, and then take the other one to the buses, of course I went with the wrong kids - oh well.

So my first and likely, last ever day of teaching was over and let’s just say that my hat goes off to all the teachers that do this day in and day out. A tough job that I really enjoyed, but I won’t be trading in my computer for the classroom anytime soon. Of course Rachel was in stitches when I told her of the days events, and was very proud of her kids who had constantly corrected me when I had done something wrong. So I guess now she knows that all her hard work is paying off and the kids really are learning from her. Needless to say by the end of the day she was relaxed and excited to go back to class the next day, and I know the kids were pleased to see her come Friday morning.

The best part for me was that I got to spend some time with the kids that I rarely have the chance to do, and now at least when I walk out into the playground 1C come running up to greet me, so I guess I didn't do too bad a job. The next day I walk over with Rachel to the class after one of the breaks and I was literally mobbed by some of her class, wanting to say hello. I even got a valentines card from one of the kids (Rachel got the class to make cards to give to whoever they wanted to) and one of the little boys called Evance came into the office to give me mine - how sweet.

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