First Day at Samuel Ntsiko

Hello from Grahamstown!

These past few days have seemed so long when the end of each day approaches because it is just go-go-go (but that's what you're supposed to do when you travel, right?)but so worth it! It has been amazing thus far and up until now we have been getting to know the area, getting to know our host families, etc. Yesterday, instead of teaching, we went to both the Samuel Ntsiko and Kenton-on-Sea schools to meet the teachers and see which classrooms we will be teaching in. It was very interesting and we met so many new people who couldn't have given us a warmer welcome. At Kenton-on-Sea, we walked across the street from the school into the township to where Fundi lives to meet her mother, sister, and son. They were so sweet and it was very generous of them to welcome us into their home. Our group had a fabulous lunch on the way back and then we went back to begin lesson planning for our very first day!

I personally was pretty nervous for today but looking back, I was unnecessarily worked up! Angel is my teaching partner and we teach at Samuel Ntsiko with Julie and Victoria, with Rick accompanying us and giving us pointers when we need it. We left Miss Christine's house at 7:45 this morning and got to the school in less than ten minutes. We went to our respective classrooms and were greeted by the students with beautiful singing prayer. Angel and I did an icebreaker with the students and We all shared our names, ages, and showed off our favorite dance moves. Some of those kids can dance!!! We didn't exactly follow the lesson plan but that's to be expected, of course. We gave the students one pre-test in maths and two in English. Tonight Angel and I will grade them to determine what level we will need to begin to teach our students at. We have lots of work to do but I am really excited about it! The students loved making their name tags and enjoyed the math flash cards we gave them to do as activities. I tried to pronounce their names but they made fun of my Xhosa-speaking skills, so that's another thing on my practice list!

I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we are really excited to see what the rest of the week brings! We are trying to update the blog as much and as often as possible so keep reading!

Stephanie Cerniauskas