At the start of this week there was a terrible accident outside the school and sadly a pedestrian got killed. What made the incident worse was that some of the children from school witnessed the man being hit. They came into school quite traumatised so we had to take extra care of them on Monday. I also had my first session of 'Grade 7 prep' after school which was ... challenging. Only afterwards when I entered the staff room did I realise how much the teachers fear that class. And rightly so! For 45 minutes you have to persuade fifteen year olds to do their homework in silence. And they just do not listen, it's very tough - probably the hardest 45 minutes I've experienced so far at Mitchell House.
Tuesday and Wednesday were much better than the emotionally challenging Monday. It's amazing how much the kids can cheer you up at Aftercare with their dancing and singing. On Tuesday I accompanied the Grade 00 class to P.E which turned out to be hilarious. There was one little boy called Langa who would not stop picking his nose and whenever the coach saw him picking he'd say, "LANGA! Stop digging for diamonds!!" During the P.E lesson they tried hurdles (very small ones obviously), but one boy just couldn't master them. It was extremely funny watching him tackle them. He'd run up very fast to each hurdle, then stop in front of it and step over it. That lesson made my day!
Sadly on Friday one of my partners, Michelle, went home after battling homesickness for the past two weeks. We will miss her but also think it was the right decision. It does mean that Zoe, Kathryn and myself will have an extra load of work but I'm sure we can handle it.
Now onto the weekend... And what a weekend it was! Saturday wasn't too exciting, we just did our washing. But today was absolutely fantastic because we went on a safari and a lion tour. During the safari we got the opportunity to get close to some amazing animals but nothing could prepare us for what was going to happen next...
The tour guide led us to the lion and cheetah enclosure and said, "Come in!" We followed him in a bit hesitantly, but then he proved to us that the cheetah and lions were quite tame. We even got to stroke the cheetah and hold some of the lion cubs! The lion cubs were so sweet but very smelly. And they had such big bellies.
Overall it's been a very intense week, but the good points have definitely outweighed the bad. Tomorrow I finally start work with the junior class in the Enrichment centre. Most of the children are autistic and it will be interesting to learn how to deal with their different needs. I also have the Grade 7 class tomorrow... Wish me luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment