"My first day at African Angels I was a little reluctant to do anything with the classroom full of 1st graders… With a teacher in the room I wanted to help, but I didn’t want to step on any toes or disrespect her. However after I asked one question she opened up completely and told me to let her know if I had ANY plans for her class. I immediately lit up and started to think of a plan.
There were many things I wanted to do but with such a short time period to work with I decided on one big class project. We were going to pick our favourite body parts and write about them, then at the end I would put them all together in movie form. On my second day working with my new class of first graders I brought in a book titled “The Best Part of Me,” and shared it with my class. We discussed our favourite body parts as individuals and I proceeded to explain the project to them. It took a few days and lots of writing but we eventually we got it finished and on my last day we set aside time in our day to watch the movie.
I've never worked in a classroom the way I was able to in my time at African Angels. I'm thankful for Mrs. Karina Smith welcoming me into her classroom and allowing me to take charge of her class planning and instruction while I was visiting. Working with these skills has reassured me of what I want to do with my life and has put a desire in my heart to do more with this school. Not only are the kids amazing but the teachers that work with these kids are heart-warming, and Lou, the founder, is one of the greatest people I've ever met.
It’s hard to put into words how much this experience has meant to me. However, I have every intention of coming back to work more with African Angels."
By Brittany
Volunteer on the Wild Coast Schools Project, South Africa
Teaching Student at Texas State University
No comments:
Post a Comment