This morning was the first time that we got to go visit the school that we will be student teaching in for six weeks. To be honest, I was not very excited about it, because our professors told us that we mostly would just be doing a lot of waiting and sitting around. They also told us to go in with no expectations, but that we might be ignored because people would not know what to do with us. They said the other teachers would probably not be very welcoming or friendly. We all drove in a taxi to get to our school. First, our taxi driver dropped off some people at the other school first. They exited the car and just kind of stood outside in a line, not quite sure what to do because the gates to the school were locked. As we drove away our taxi driver started giggling. We asked him what he was giggling about and he said it was because we just let them there.
The girls and I at my school were very excited when our school was open, but also there were lots of people milling around. My school is called A.I. Steenkamp. We went into the staff room and one of the teachers took us to see our principal. The principal of the school is awesome. She introduced herself and asked us to write down our names and specialties so she could place us in a classroom. She seemed very grateful that we were there.
We then went back into the teacher's lounge, we were greeted by several teachers. They were very welcoming and friendly. For one teacher that we met, Liz put out her hand and the teacher said, "No, no, we do this the Namibian way" and she reached out for a hug. We got a lot of hugs. The teachers seemed incredibly excited that we were there. They asked us where we were from. There was a Pacific Lutheran pennet hanging on the bulletin board so we pointed to it and told them that we were from the United States. They asked us what we taught, because they wanted to know if we would be placed with them.
It was interesting to see how the teachers greeted each other. When they would hug us, they would hug on both sides like some cultures do with a kiss greeting. There were also some teachers who greeted each other by doing the hug, but then ended with kiss on the lips. A greeting with the men was a special handshake. They would do a normal handshake, but then tilt their hands up and entwine their thumbs and then go back into a normal handshake.
Overall, there was a great energy and enthusiasm in the room and everybody seemed ready to start another school year. After about 45 minutes of just greeting each other, the meeting started. During that 45 minutes we got to hear many languages including ones that included clicking. The meeting began with religious songs. I thought about doing "ice cream, watermelon" but some of the songs repeated a lot so I caught on and was able to sing parts. When we were singing, one of the teachers said that she thought people's hearts were not in the school and that she could sense that someone was not well in the room. She told everybody that if their heart was not there, they needed to leave. She then invited everyone to sing again and then we all went in a circle and she danced on the inside. She said that she was going to go around and tap people who she thought were unwell and that she was going to pray over them. I was really thankful that she did not tap Alicia, Jenn, Allison, Liz, or me. She then read some bible verses and the principal gave an inspirational opening.
The principal's opening was very good. She talked about how even though we were a diverse group of people, we still had the same mission. The common mission we have is to provide a quality education. She talked about and celebrated the successes of last year, but also said that we have some things to work on in 2012. She handed out a paper that talked about how we need to sit in the driver's seat and take responsibility and to accept external factors. But ultimately we are responsible for seeing that our learners succeed and pass. She asked several of the teachers what their goals were for 2012. One male teacher said that he had the resolution of growing in his teaching and also to be a good father. She also called upon Allison, who gave a good response about how thankful we were to be there and that she wanted to grow through teaching in Namibia and also be able to get a job after graduation. Rudolfine, the principal, said it was her resolution to see that all the teachers met their resolutions.
Continuing the theme of providing a quality education and taking responsibility, the grades from the last school year. It was interesting because there were very few A's. The idea grades were that there were more than 10 A's and very few E's or failing. We would clap whenever anybody reached this goal. I was surprised that there could still be over 50 D's and yet it was still considered successful. We also heard about how many students would be staying in the same grade as the previous year.
After the grades were read, it was a little awkward because they invited us to leave. I told them though that we would be staying until 1:30, because that was when our taxi was coming back. They seemed to accept this and then gave out what committees everyone was on and what grade they would be teaching. It was crazy to me that school starts on Tuesday and they do not yet know what grade they will be teaching.
The other school we drove with ended up being done early, so we did not get to stay for the whole meeting. I think it was okay though. Although I was not originally very excited about going today, my expectations were blown in concerns with how welcoming everyone was and how we did more than just sit around. I am even more excited now to start school and meet my learners, as they are called here.
P.S. I heard from my classroom in the United States today and it made me happy. I had sent them an e-mail and some pictures of my trip so far. They said I was very brave to eat the caterpillar. :)
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