1st Time for Everything

1st Lesson Taught - I taught my 1st math lesson today and it went wonderfully!  The students participated really well and my mentor teacher seemed to like it too.  I introduced the students to the concept of symmetry and we were able to do some hands on activities that they loved.  The surprising thing is, the school has very limited resources when it comes to manipulatives...I had to create my own.  Right before my lesson Mr. Plescia brought in a set of pattern blocks so I was able to demonstrate to the students, which was really nice.  It has definitely made me realize how fortunate the schools in America are when it comes to available resources.  On the other hand, I have also realized that you don't have to have all of the "bells and whistles" of teaching in order for students to be able to learn.   No matter what resources are available, an excellent teacher is the top priority and that is exactly what I hope to become! I will be doing the follow up lesson tomorrow and hopefully it will go just as smoothly. I have to admit, I am definitely ready for the weekend.  Especially Saturday morning when I will hopefully get to sleep in late!

1st Clothesline Experience - Ms. Baxen has a lady who comes and cleans her house, does her laundry, etc. for her everyday.  Although I sometimes feel weird when I come home to a made-up bed and straightened up clothes, I must admit it is VERY nice!  Maureen (the cleaning lady) came into my room this afternoon and asked if I needed any clothes washed.  Of course I did but was a little reluctant to make her wash my clothes too.  I finally gave in and this is the result...

My clothes hanging out to dry! (Including my zebra pj pants!)

When I got back home from school prep, I that is what I saw hanging outside.  I couldn't help but to laugh out loud!  Don't get me wrong though, I am very thankful for clean clothes, especially since I didn't have to wash them myself!

Food...FINALLY!

Highlight of the day...eating a cheeseburger!  At Steers they have "Wacky Wednesday" where all of their burgers are buy one, get one free and they deliver!  Aegan (Ms. Baxen's son) is a frequent patron and I'm sure I am going to become one too.  Although I have no idea what I was really eating, it tasted wonderful!  It was by far the best thing I have eaten since I arrived.  And I still haven't figured out what "South African" food really is!?

Highlight #2...the cows wandering passed my window.  As I was preparing to teach my lesson for tomorrow I heard a strange noise outside of the window.  When I looked out, I saw a line of 5-6 cows just walking down the road followed by a man.  It was a very strange sight!

Due to the time change, I still haven't been able to sleep very well at night.  After 6 days of this it is beginning to catch up to me and needless to say I am exhausted.  With the help of Melatonin, hopefully I will be able to get some much needed rest tonight.  Good night!

Busy as a Bee

Today was an extremely busy day...I feel like it completely flew by!  It was either warmer or I'm beginning to get used to the weather, or maybe a combination of both, but either way I didn't freeze to death today.  And school was wonderful!  I took over my teacher's section of study hall for an hour so I got to know the students much better after being with them by myself.  Basically I just love them! 

Apparently in South Africa no one eats lunch at school unless it is one of the students who boards (lives) their...everyone just goes home and then returns an hour later.  So I got the experience to go to my mentor teacher's house for lunch and meet her family.  They were all so extrememly nice!  Her husband is a teacher at the high school and they live in a townhome type place that is provided by the school.  It is apparent that school is MUCH more important here than it is in America, that's for sure!  

I definitely learned a lot more about what I will be doing this semester that's for sure.  I was informed that I will be helping with sports next term after our break and they needed someone to help with the high jump.  I don't really know if it is the same as high jump in America but I'm excited to be able to get so involved.  My teacher also asked me if I would teach a math lesson about symmetry on Thursday and continue it on Friday.  I was shocked that she was asking me to teach a lesson already but definitely excited!  And I got to do the glorious job of grading papers for a little while today as well. 

I got to do a little bit of exploring the city today as well.  After walking home from school, Misty (the other COST student) and I wandered into town to buy some groceries to cook dinner for Ms. Baxen and Aegan.  The city was very busy!  It actually looks like a scene out of a movie with the house covered hills all around.  I desperately need to take some pictures!

Another really cool thing about the school is that it is Christian!  In music today the students were singing songs like, "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and talking about the Bible stories they related to.  On their bulliten boards they have verses of scripture that they had written and illustrated as well.  It just provided a little bit more assurance that I'm exactly where God wants me to be!

1st Day @ School

I started at the school today and absolutely LOVED it!  After being in the classroom for 5 minutes, I was completely obsessed!  Their British accents, adorable uniforms, and funny personalities won me over instantly.  I was placed in Mrs. Hobson's Grade 4 Class of 27 boys, ages 9-10.  They are all so polite, cute, and sweet!  I cannot wait to get to know them better.  It is very different being in a classroom with only boys but I think that I'm really going to enjoy it a lot.

All of the staff was so welcoming and nice as well.  My mentor teacher introduced me to every person we saw as, "This is Ms. Willard, she's from America."  It was really weird hearing that outloud actually but everyone thought it was so cool.  My mentor teacher, Mrs. Hobson, is extrememly nice and very cooperative.  She was willing to allow me to do anything that I need to do and seemed excited to have me in the classroom.

The students and teachers love to tell me stories about things that they know about America, family that they have there, etc.  It was very interesting to hear them talk about American things such as the movie "Grease" and Olivia Newton John.  They also knew Dolly Pardon and had sets of Judy Blume books in the library.  It was interesting to see how much that they know about "American society" and how little I know about "South African society." 

Oh and by the way...it is FREEZING COLD here!  Well it's really like in the low 50's but coming from the Georgia summer heat I feel like I've entered a blizzard!  There is no heating or air conditioning in any of the houses or the school so I have been extrememly cold.  I wore 4 layers and my leggings to school today and I was still cold.  It is ridiculous!
Today was an amazing 1st day (except for the cold) and hopefully it is only going to get better!

Let the Games Begin!

After many requests, I am starting a blog so that everyone can keep up with me while I am in South Africa!  I know it's not super cute yet but it will be once I get the hang of all this as well as some time to work on it.

In case you don't know...
I am in Grahamstown, South Africa from August 5 - November 9 to do my student teaching.  I will be working at a school called St. Andrews Junior Prep and living with a family there.  Many people think that I am crazy for doing this but I really think that this is exactly where God wants me to be!

After traveling for 36 hours I finally arrived in Grahamstown, South Africa.  I had a 16 hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, a 15 hour layover, a 1 1/2 hour flight to Port Elizabth, and finally an hour shuttle ride to Grahamstown.  It was extremely long, lonely, and definitely tiring but it was well worth it when I finally arrived.  The only problem was, my luggage did not arrive with me!  I was told that I was supposed to go through customs in Johannesburg in order for them to send it to Port Elizabeth...of course they tell me this after the fact.  As of now I have 2 tshirts, a pair of shorts, and a pair of running pants; all of which have already been worn once.  Thankfully I did have my computer, camera, medicine, etc on my carry on!  After dealing with the airlines (with much help from my Mom) it is supposed to be arriving today!  

The house I am staying in is a cute little cottage type house with my coordinator, Ms. Jean Baxen and her 17 year old son, Agean.  Misty, who is doing the same program as I am, will be arriving this afternoon and becoming my roommate.  Ms. Baxen is re-doing the "guest house" and hopefully it will be ready for us to move in next week.  There will definitely be pictures to come very soon!

I begin at St. Andrews at 7:00am in the morning and I'm extrememly excited!  Well not about the early mornings...haha!  I got an email yesterday from my mentor teacher and I will begin my teaching in Grade 4, which if it is like the U.S. is my favorite grade so far!

I think that's all for now...I am going to do my best to keep up with this as often as possible so that everyone will know what is going on over here! 

Just know that I love you all and miss you already!