Back-to-School - Three

Reflections - Week Three


Week Three kicked off, after a Stormy Weekend of Wind and Rain.

a Kind of Shakespearean Introduction to the Week that lies ahead!?

As we were warned, last Thursday, at the Teachers' Visit to the School in Eersteriver - the Community of Eersteriver was not too happy with the thought of having their brand new School 'soiled' by Students from Scottsdene... The Staff wasn't prepared to risk the safety of the Students.

Monday Mayhem started with another School Assembly, to explain the latest Developments to the Students and Parents, whom arrived bright-n-early on this Cold Winter's Day...

Die Burger - Thursday, August 6th 2015

Tygerburger - Wednesday, August 5th 2015

Northern News - Wednesday, August 5th 2015

The Teachers were adamant however, that Learning will most definitely take place on that Day!

Once again, we had our Daily Schedules, this time it included Classes for the Grade 11s and from Tuesday, plans were put in play to accommodate the Grade 8, 9 and 10s as well. The Education Machine has finally started to get it's Grind on...

I even received my own classes to keep an Eye on, while we are 'still finding our feet'. I was assigned the Grade 11A and Grade 11B Classes to supervise, while their Homeroom Teachers were at the other Locations (not on the School Grounds) - getting the Younger Learners settled into a routine...

My first experience of being the Solo 'Teacher', included getting the Kids to come to order and trying to get the Class Monitors to present me with a Student Name-list - combined classes can get messy (students offering fake names and being in the wrong classes, just to canoodle with their friends). When, I still had some Students only arriving at School after 08h30 (School started at 07h45 and Lessons were suppose to start at 8am)... I had to take a 'moment' to raise my Voice and have THE TALK about Respect and Wasting TIME - Both that of the Educator (mine) and the Learners (theirs)... Some of whom still do not realize (care!?) that they have already lost another TWO Weeks of School and have a lot of catching up to do... When I mentioned / 'threatened' that they 'owe' me my Life, because they wasted LIFE, when they wasted Time... I had some bug-eyed stares. I am grateful, that I have not been pushed to using harsher Words and Images... Needless to say, we did NOT get a lot of Learning done, during the first Period... Perhaps, it was a blessing in disguise - it was suppose to be a History Lesson and I don't know much about the Subject, at all!!!

Our first actual academic experience was the second Period, which was to be a Life Orientation Lesson...

From the (Verbal) Notes that I received (in passing), we were to start on the Chapter on Careers and Job Applications. After my 'harsh words' earlier... The Learners were a little bit more co-operative and we managed to get a decent discussion going, regarding their knowledge of the Job-market and the reasons WHY they would choose certain Jobs over others... Mostly, for the Money and the Cars... Hah! The Grade 11s however, had a little bit more 'Vision for the Future', than the Grade 12 Classes I attended to during the earlier Weeks. There were some Gems too... Those who thought it would be a Dream to become a  part of the Entertainment, Tourism and Conservation Industries and even a few who want to become a Teacher!!! They said they wanted to 'Job-shadow' ME to get a 'feel' for the Job... I referred to the Drama we had that morning and we joked about how the Wheel turns... :-)

By the Time that it was their first break, we had somewhat of a better understanding of each other - I think, I learnt a lot more about the learners... Than they did of me though...

After the break, I had a double period of English...

I was tasked to start on the Short Stories that the Grade 11s need to get through, for their September Test Preparation. Once the Class finally settled down, we started on The Dube Train by Daniel Cadoise Themba. Since I too, only first laid eyes on the Story that morning, we started on the background of the story and how the Setting and Imagery related to their own experiences... Township Life in the Story, compared to their own lived experiences in their respective Neighbourhoods... I figured, it would be wise to spend the time on getting them to be able to relate to the Narrator (and Author) of the Story... Constantly referring back to their own experiences, as we read the Story together (mostly Teacher, as volunteers to read where non-existent!)... This did help, as the learners were a lot more involved in the Lesson, compared to what I witnessed with the Grade 12s, when their Texts were read to them and notes were simply copied and handed out to them...

At the completion of this Session, I felt a lot better about being thrown to 'the Wolves' that morning. At least, I was not 'eaten alive'... Yet!? The Kids even promised to do their Homework, by working on the Questions I set them to complete for the next day... I chanced it, but knew I would have to allow time to complete the Questions in class the next day. True to form... They might not have done their Homework... However, it was a joy to see how much they remembered from the Reading the next Day - that made the Day's Task a lot easier... Exited and enthusiastic discussions on the themes of 'Township-loving is Rough' and surviving the 'Daily commute to Work/School' made for some very pleasant Classes. Towards the end of the Week, I might have felt Physically worn out (from all the Terror Teens 'trying and testing' me...), but... Emotionally, I felt that I have accomplished at least 'something' this Week!

The Struggle continues... :-)