At the Base of the Mountain

It’s a cold, windy, foggy, and misty day here, so what can I do with my time staying inside but write a well-overdue blog post? I would consider myself (by now), settled into my site.I arrived to my site on about a month ago.

Other than today, I live under a crystal clear, bright blue sky with rolling hills and mountains in the distance. All around me, there are grassy fields that hide much wildlife that is unfamiliar to me, such as snakes, monkeys, springboks, wild bores, and porcupines. Also, within the grassy fields there are short, broad-branched trees that are popular for herds of cows and goats to sit under during the hot days. Does this description remind you of Disney’s film, The Lion King?

The school I am volunteering for is approximately a 30-minute walk on a dirt path from my house. Unless it is or has rained, the 30-minute walk isn’t too bad, besides the steep slope near my school (my school’s on the base of a mountain). On my walks to and from school, I am usually accompanied by anywhere between three to twelve students. Their curiosity drives quality conversation about life in South Africa and my life in America. When there’s a lack of conversation, we sing songs.

At school, students (K-12 grade) wear red and white uniforms. I like the uniforms because students look prepared and ready to learn. I asked some learners about their opinions on the uniforms and their responses varied. Many learners favored the uniforms, but as more upper grade learners chimed in, the feelings became more mixed. There are about 12 teachers and a principal. School assembly begins at 7:15 and the school day ends at 2:30.

Although the principal usually leads assembly with a prayer, hymns, and announcements, I have been able to help the principal in leading assembly. My role in assembly has been incorporating five learners from a selected grade to perform a prepared reading, role-play, or poem each day, exposing learners to public speaking and more English. So far, everyone has really enjoyed the contribution to assembly and there is one 10th grader who is really passionate for performing his own written poetry!

Since I have arrived in the middle of term 3, I haven’t been teaching. Instead, I have been observing classroom teachers teach, cleaning out supply closets, and starting to create a school library. One day, while cleaning a supply closet, I found boxes of unused children’s, non-fiction, and young adult chapter books. I organized these books into non-fiction and fiction books and alphabetical order. From there, I numbered each book and recorded them into a notebook. There were over 500 books, which will make a good start to the school’s library. Besides books, I found science materials, many posters, and a lot of dust. In the future, I will be teaching 4-7 grade English (as a foreign language) and 4th grade math. I’m very excited to begin teaching!

In other news, on Monday, I have a meeting to present a behavior management program to the principal and teachers. This behavior management program is called Positive Behavior Intervention and Support, or PBIS. Currently, the principal and teachers are very stressed and inconsistent with behavior management within their classrooms and the school. I have observed students confused on what are proper behaviors, as well as a negative learning environment. From implementing PBIS, I hope to train teachers and model examples on how they can enforce/reinforce positive behaviors, form uniformed, understood student expectations, and create a more positive learning environment. I understand that change can be difficult, but I’m hoping my principal and teachers are on board with my proposal.