FINISHED!

I have been working on this blanket for our neighbor who had a baby but that was about two months ago. I finally finished it! I am quite proud of myself!

Why order Dominos?

I made pizza for dinner tonight and it was so tasty!! I don't think I will ever order pizza again!

Before

After

Kindergarten

Linda, my housemate, has taken on a big job of starting up a kindergarten at school. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday she has a different group of about ten small kids. They are beginning to learn their letters and counting and colors. They are learning to be in a school setting which is important. Linda is doing an amazing job and really giving these kids a good start for first grade next year.

School in Namibia

I love teaching in Namibia but oh what a challenge it is! I finally have my own classroom which has made things much easier. I am teaching Grade 7 Agriculture, Math and Religion. Our last term we are studying chickens in Agriculture exclusively. I don't know much about them so I am learning along with them! We are doing geomotry in math and it comes and goes with their ability to understand. Religion we are talking about life choices which gives us a lot of room for discussion. I also teach grade 4 English. We are focusing on reading this term because they need to be able to read before heading into grade 5. Out of both classes I would say 75% of each class is well behaved in general. The other 25% are so poorly behaved you would be shocked. So disrespectful and naughty and make it difficult to teach half the time. I don't beat the learners (students) like the other teachers so I have to be creative to discipline in other ways. The most effective is losing break time or staying after school to clean the classroom. With the Grade 4, the class earns a star for behaving the whole period. If they earn ten stars they get to watch a movie and that has really worked well. For the grade 7, they get a mark for every time they turn in a an assignment on time and finished. After 25 they get a soda pop, at 50 a piece of chocolate and at 75 they get a trip to my house for a movie and pizza. Positive reinforcement has gone a long way for these kids. Being rewarded for their achievements is completely new to them because people don't always notice when they do anything well. They get so excited to see how far along they have gotten. They know exactly how many marks they have. Like I said, teaching is not easy here. Supplies are limited, no real text books and learners are not taught well or anywhere near where they should be in their grade level. But I see achievements and there is nothing better then when one of my kids says, "Okay Ms. Jessica, now I understand!" I love seeing that light come on and their pride in knowing they understand.