Denis is my youngest student at 2 years old almost three.
When I started teaching my own class he was content to stay with my co-teacher
and when brought to my class would just cry. I would let him wander back.
Around the beginning of March when brought to my class he started to stay. Now
I get these cute smiles from him all day long. He enjoys coloring and saying
“tree”.
Sidhani pronounced sid-thu-ni is around 4 years old and a
very hard worker. I can tell that his family life involves a lot of hitting because
he is my number one offender and I often have to ask him to come sit by me.
I’ve enjoyed seeing him hit less in the last several weeks as we talk a lot
about using our words when we are frustrated. When we are doing blackboard work
or picture reading he is very quick to answer and gets the most serious face
when he does. He is honest and I love that about him.
Monica. She is the niece to one of my co-teachers and it
just runs in their blood to be sweet and quiet! She is very bright and did
better than her older classmates in picture reading and number values. She
gives sweet hugs and says, “good morning teach-er” in the cutiest voice!
Lydia pronounced Lid-ya always has a smile on her face. When
she doesn’t know the answer she smiles and when she answers and its wrong she
still smiles. Her favorite thing to do in school is ask for specific colors and
she is always one of the last ones to finish because she is trying so hard.
Evelyne…can you see the spunk? She always has that backpack
on her and will take it off to get out a pencil and then put it back on. Even
though I will spend the time writing out the activity for her to do in her book
she still insists on writing it herself. If I want her to trace a letter she
will write the letter next to the dots I have written. She is one of my most
behaved girls who never misses a day of school.
Sumea is one of my older students who has learned so much in
the last few months. She is always willing to try even if she doesn’t know the
answer or how to draw the picture. She tends to want to mother the younger kids
and I’ve caught her doing their work before not because she realized it was
wrong but because she wanted to help. I’ve been able to guide her in using her
words to help her friends and she is now a great helper to me.
Dama usually has this smile on her face but she isn’t the
brightest in the bunch. She always tries though and I commend her often for not
just staring at me when she doesn’t know the answer. She does know how to read
a picture of an umbrella and the letter “f”. She is the best writer in my class
though and may not be able to name the letters and numbers but can rewrite them
very well. She has a twin in the other class and her younger sister, Nyevu, in
her class.
Nyevu is one of my stubborn ones who wants it her way all
the time. One-on-one she does really well but when asked to give an answer in
front of the class she becomes very shy. Even though she is stubborn at time
she has a very sensitive spirit where if I ask her to not do something she
immediately cries. She tends to receive a lot of hugs throughout the day!
Fanisi pronounced furnace is one of the sweetest boys you will ever see. He is the oldest in the class and a great leader. If I need something from another class I send him and he always succeeds. We do music at the end of each day and I catch him through the morning singing the songs by himself or teaching his friends. When it comes time for music he often closes his eyes to see if he knows the motions by himself. The video is of him singing this is the day, I did help sing but I didn’t do any motions.
Sefu looks so old and mature in this picture but he is
barely three years old. When he first started school he cried every day and
would not detach from his older brother. He now comes to school and is usually
the first one in my classroom ready to learn. He loves to write like the big
kids and actually does really well.
Silas is so cute but his looks are not going to get him
through school. He always sits in the same spot every day and refuses to sit on
the ground, he always squats. He tends to be shy but when I talk to him
one-on-one he will do what I ask. He is another slow one to color and will use
as many colors as possibly so everything looks like a rainbow.
Salim got hit in the head with a stone the morning before
this picture was taken and had to go get stiches. Other kids would have stayed
home but Salim didn’t miss a day of school. He loves to practice reading the
shapes and music time at the end of the day. He is such a sweet boy and a joy
to get to teach and hang out with on a daily basis.
Shallet is a funny but smart girl. She doesn’t talk a lot
and when she does it’s the quietest voice. She tends to miss school often
because she doesn’t pay her school fees but did really well on her exams
considering. She loves to please me whether that be picking something up that
has dropped or telling me when someone has does something wrong.
Faith is the oldest student I have. She tends to do her work
quickly and then sit patiently and wait. I often have to ask her if she is
finished and to show me her work because she will just put her book in her bag
without showing me. She loves to practice counting and doing number values
work. She tends to be shy but warms up by the end of each day.
Sauda pronounced sa-u-da is just barely 3 years old but
always wants to write and not color. For my 3 youngest kids I often give them
coloring activities to do and her and Sefu always refuse and want to do writing
like the older kids. She tends to march to the beat of her own drum throughout
the day and I tend to have to have a lot of patience with her but when she does
smile it just melts my heart and reminds me how much joy she has inside her.
Gloria is my newest student and always has this smile on her
face. During break time she often wants to be right at my side until she finds
a friend to play with. At the end of the day she is the first to shake my hand
goodbye and will offer to carry one of my bags back to the house for me. I’ve
enjoyed getting to see her learn so much in the last month and looking forward
to watching her blossom at the start of this next term.
