I work with the lowest level, so these are the kids that barely speak English. We go to GLONA when it starts (at 330) and leave when it is over (at 6). So these children only go to school for 2.5 hours! And let me tell you, it is so draining. The language barrier is unbelievable, it makes everything 100 times longer. The main thing we worked on in the beginning was the alphabet, just to see where they are.
Here is a copy of Daniel's writing. Speaking of Daniel, I want to take him home! Can he be my carry on? Him and Mabel. They are so cute and they totally have my heart. Mabel talks super quietly, in the beginning I could barely get a word out offer, but now she is feeling more comfortable and starting to speak up! And Daniel has become so comfortable that he holds my hand now.
Their teacher sucks. He is awful! He wacks them with a cane! Like a full on beating! Not okay. We talked to him and told him that we didn't like that and we didn't think it was effective because the children are too scared to answer a question because if they get it wrong he whips them! That is crazy. He also tells the kids he's going to kill them when they act up. And if they are drawing or talking he smacks the desk with the cane and tells them to stop because he hates that. These kids have so much potential and they have done so much better since we have been their because we are encouraging them!
Let me tell you, my favorite thing is when they answer correctly. The smile on their face when they get 2+2 correct or when they tell me where their arm is. I can't even describe the beauty of it. It warms my heart and gives me hope for them. I fist bump them when they get it right and they love it! Now they put their fist out when they get it right before I do.
We are in a routine now (well...kind of...). When we get there I have each kid come up tithe board and write their name--when we started, most of them didn't know how to spell their name! Today, most ofthemwrote it without my help :) I could not stop smiling! That proves the difference we are making and the fact that they are smart and want to learn! Anyways, after a child writes their name on the board, they point to each letter and the entire class says the letters and spells it aloud. This helps the students recognize the letters of the alphabet. They just really enjoy it and after they spell their name correctly they have the biggest smile :) it's awesome
Here are their names (and mine, after I wrote it Daniel wanted to write mine) but this is from the second day. They are so much better now, and they are all spelled correctly.
Please pray for everyone teaching these kids. It is really emotional and drains us and we need to keep being positive. It is a really negative environment and it is like nothing many of us have ever seen before. Also, different opinions about the way things are handled in the classroom are coming up and just pray that it doesn't form a wedge between any of us, that we all stay friends and stay focused on what is best for the kids. Thank you so much everyone for all of the love and support :)
I'll try and post up pics tomorrow of the kids because I'm bringing my camera with me tomorrow!
