I Wish I Were an Octopus

Today’s blog will be devoted to the wonderful kids whom I have met at Pendla Primary School. I will gush, yes you heard it, gush about these fantastic little people that I am getting to know!

First off, every time my partner, Liz, and I enter a classroom, all of the kids stand up and say “Good morning, teachers” which immediately puts a smile on my face. Yesterday I was quizzing a group of 4^th graders on multiplication when the teacher left the room for about 15 minutes. They were pretty quick with their times tables under 5, but once I asked what was 7x7, it threw them for a loop. One little girl sat down to draw out 7, 7 times. Another little boy was crafty and recruited his friend to help him count on both of their fingers until they came out with the correct answer. I was impressed!

The second time a teacher left the classroom that morning, he had assigned the class to work on a few roman numeral problems. The kids started to act up once the teacher left the room and we swept in and began to ask the students what they were working on and if they could show us how to complete a problem. Then the students started to come up to me and ask me to correct their work. I had seconds to brush up on my roman numeral skills! Luckily all went smoothly and I felt like a proud teacher after the kids finally got the hang of their homework.

And probably my favorite part of the day is the break for lunch and recess. I have learned many new hand games, circle games, songs, and words (including names with clicks) in different languages. These kids adore us almost as much as we adore them. They fight to hold your hand and if they don’t get to hold your actual hand, they hold your wrist, or grab onto the closest link to you. It is times like those when I wish I were an octopus and had more hands for all of the kids to hold onto. And I’m not the only person this happens to. Today I looked across the playing field and saw every other person in my group in the same situation; kids attached to each hand and about 30 more little ones surrounding them. I also saw many different games being played including a train game, ring around the roses, duck duck goose, racing, and kids hopping like rabbits. The joy and happiness that these kids have is beyond contagious and I look forward to every moment that I get to spend with them!