School

I have finished my first week of school and it was wonderful! My students are so kind and sweet. I have a few talkative ones but we are just getting used to each other.  I only had 13 of my 21 students and have been told that is semi-normal. Of my 13 that I had, 3 were born in Africa (2 Nigeria and 1 Uganda) 6 were born in America, 3 were born in Europe (2 England and 1 Italy) and 1 is from Israel. Next week we have now 4 days off because of a religious holiday and many families wont return to school until the week after that holiday. So hopefully by the end of the month I will have met all my students! 

Im still getting used to a new schedule and am struggling to pick my students up on time from specials or recess ans let them go at the right times. But it will come.  Im basically living on grace these first few weeks as I am just trying to get through it.  When I asked my class on Friday what their favorite parts of the week were, I had 2 students say that meeting me was their favorite part, so I guess Im doing okay :)

My Teaching Assistant, Naomi, and I on the first day of school. 

 My classroom is large with desks, a library, 2 teacher desks, a small group table, and more. The teacher before me was VERY organized and left me in great condition to start the year. Its still coming together but I am very excited about my classroom.

Calendar area and Ms. Naomi's desk

Student desks and my desk

Another view of the classroom

students writing and my room!

The elementary has two long buildings in the shape of a U with a courtyard in between with KG-Grade 2 classrooms on one side and Grade 3-5 on the other side with Art, Music, and French at the back.  My classroom is the first room on the 3-5 side so it is the closest to basically everything :)  The school has a lot of outdoor space for everyone.  This is a large outdoor playground that the kids play on twice a day during their 2 recesses. There is also covered walkways that they can sit or play one when they want too.

The playground on a BEAUTIFUL day!

 The outdoor sports facilities are very nice too! But the gym inside isnt that great.  They are talking of building a new building for a gymnasium but it hasnt been confirmed yet.

Outside facilities - tennis, soccer, and basketball

the pool - our new apartments to the right and fields below

the front entrance to school. Everyone goes through security at this building. 

Security is very important, not only at school, but everywhere in Nigeria.  In most places you go through security before entering - banks, malls, restaurants - almost everywhere.  At school we all have to wear ID badges (including students and parents). When we enter campus, we scan our bags and walk through a metal detector. Then we scan ID badge too.  Its usually an efficient process so its not too bad. 

Another awesome thing at school is technology. I was given a new Macbook and a new iPad.  All of my students have iPads to use in the classroom as well.  I still havent experimented much with it but I am so excited to explore ways to use technology in my classroom.  I am supposed to lock my room every time Im not in it and now that I have all this technology in my room I am very aware of how important it is to do that!

Also, the school arranges transportation for the staff to and from school.  So everyday we all ride the bus together to get to school.  In the evenings they have 2 options for buses, one right when work ends and one an hour or so later for people who want to work more or do other things on campus.   Its weird that I ride a bus now, but its nice that I dont have to find my own way of getting there.  Once Im actually living on campus, it will be much nicer to be able to go in to work whenever I want.

The staff is fairly active and they are good at promoting social activities so there is lots going on. There is staff basketball once a week. They are starting volleyball once a week. We did a Luau party this Saturday which was a lot of fun. Last week we all went to 'Bush Bar' which is basically just a local outdoor space with food and drinks. Its nice to know that the school wants us to know each other and supports us socially as well as professionally. 

Staff Luau at the pool of my apartment complex

thats a bit about my new school.  It has lots of good things, and obviously some not so good things too but I am liking what I see so far!