I spend most of my day with this beautiful fifth grade girl who says I should call her the Great M in my posts. Our mornings are full of learning math, history, science, and English. I am trying to convince her that math should be her favorite subject, but for the moment, I think writing in winning. You could say my job is like homeschooling someone else’s child or in another time I might have been called a governess. It is a good fit for me for this season. I am thankful for those years that I homeschooled Winter and David. I am also thankful for good curriculum that makes my life easier. The Great M is a good student who so far seems to enjoy the one on one attention. Maybe next year we will add some students to our class but for now it is just right.
For an hour each day, these two lovely ladies pictured above come to my classroom for their math lessons. The lady on the right is in 2nd grade. The one on the left is in 3rd grade. Our hour is full of math games, problems on marker boards, and trying to master our math facts. I would say that 2nd grade math is my most challenging. How do you break things down in to easy steps for someone learning about certain concepts for the first time? They enjoy the break from their other classroom and being in the same room as the Great M.
So you see, my days have a nice rhythm. My classroom management is easy. My students are eager learners, and I am done with my teaching just a little after lunch giving me time to plan my lessons and do other things. I even eat lunch at school since we have a cook for our school. What a blessing that is!! After Christmas, the teacher for the other classroom will be switching with a lady that just arrived in October, but mostly my job will stay the same. I may end up with a few more admin type tasks, but hopefully it won’t be too overwhelming.
Two days a week after school is over, I am able to continue with my Dari lessons. It has been good to review my verb tenses and a few other things. We are even working on reading and writing. I really like the reading part because it is like a puzzle. Writing is a bit more challenging as I like to switch a couple of the letters. My next task is to write the Christmas story out in Dari. I don’t know if my language teacher has heard it before. It will be a good exercise for both of us. My teacher is a 20 year old student who is in the process of finishing her degree in Agriculture. She teaches our students four days a week plus a few of us ladies. I enjoy our conversations as we sometimes get side tracked from the actual lesson.
Every other Wednesday, the ladies on our team gather after lunch to do a bible study. It has been fun leading these ladies as we go through what it means to be an Intentional Woman. God is working in each of us in his way and his time to helps us be the best us we can be. We share our stories, laughter, and sometimes chocolate. I am enjoying seeing each lady figure out what God has for her in this time and place.
Just for fun. I thought I would end with the list of my classroom rules.
- Label Papers.
- Ask questions when you don’t understand.
- Smile.
- Read directions.
- Be nice to munchkins.
- File papers correctly.
- Always bring your teacher dark chocolate. (We are still working on this one. 🙂 )
Many Blessings, Teresa
love # 5 and the dark chocolate rule!