School picture day - 1st Term 2014

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.

Edson was my defiant child at the beginning who purposely went against whatever I asked him to do. It actually got so bad I had to ask another teacher to come in and talk with him. Within a few days he became a teacher-pleaser and I often praise him for obeying when others are not. He loves to sit as close as possibly to me to the point where he can’t see what I’m holding up because its too straining on his neck. He is now one of the most behaved and hardworking kids in my class.

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.