The second, first official, day of school- I walked to school and was very excited only to realize the schedule wasn’t posted and I had 3 students. Yes, that’s not a mistake... three (3) THREE!!! I had 2 students in 10th grade, and 1 student in 11th grade. It wasn’t what I expected, but I tried to make the best of it, the first day we did LRL's, which is Liberia Reads to Learn. They are passages on one side and 10 questions on the other side. The students read and answer the questions, when finished they turn it in and I correct it. They must complete 10 of them, pass with a 70% or higher, then they can move onto the next level. In regard to poor student turnout, I was being told by administration, "they will come", so the next day all optimistic, I walk to school and have 3 students again, the day after I had 4... the rest of the week I topped off at 3 students, for the cherry on top of my first week cake on Friday we didn’t have school at all ( it was a working day). That means students come to clean up the campus, cutting grass/sweeping. I did however decide the first week I would try and continue as if it was a full class, so i gave a quiz assessing previous skills in both physics/ math.
I had decided all my rules for the year. I went with an acronym of SCHOLAR, S= sit up, C= challenge yourself, H= honesty, O= Organized and prepared, L= Listen, A= ask and answer questions, R= respect. I decided the class would be worth 100 points, 50pts for the final, 10 pts for attendance, 15 pts for assignments, and 25 pts for quizzes. There would be 5 quizzes (each 5 pts) and if you were there the day a quiz was administered you could take it 2 times, only highest score would count, if you were absent I let you take it one time. Attendance would be chosen randomly, I allow you to miss 3 days with no reason, if you missed more than that I needed a note explaining why you did not attend, if a note was not given I was going to take 1pt off your final for every day missed. Every day missed mean every day administration has school. So, if you registered late (which SO many kids did), I still count the time the school was open against you, I did however give them a pass for the first "official" week of school. The attendance rule is to show the importance of coming to school, while still being understanding of those who must sell or take care of kids. Spying (cheating) rule is that if I see you spying, I will not only take your paper and give you a 0, I will take the persons paper your spying off of and give them a 0, even if they are not aware your spying will they get a 0. I told them reason was to keep them accountable, you won’t spy if you know your friend will get a 0 ( and most likely flog you for giving them a zero ha).
I panned the entire first period to be review for both 10th and 11th grade, this meant going back to the basics, doing place value, addition, addition with decimals, subtraction, multiplication, and long division. The real reason being the results on the quiz were low showing there needed to be review in these topics. Kids literally use check marks to help with addition and subtraction! As the third week commenced I kept getting more and more students which was a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because (like administration said) they were finally coming, but a curse because I had already started instruction, so for those coming late they were already behind, and most coming late did not stay after/ ask me to meet them for help. Could you imagine not coming to the first 3 weeks of school in America!? We went over the rules every time we got a new student, (something I could tell annoyed the 11th graders). I have about 8-10 students in each class now, in 10th grade we have 2 girls and in 11th grade I have 3 girls, which is huge because last year’s numbers showed in all senior high (10th-12th grade) they only had a total of 2 girls. Encouraging girls to go to school is very important, Liberia participated in the Let Girls Learn program (before it so selfishly got cut under Trump) encouraging females to go to school. That their job isn’t at home doing work, having kid’s young, working the farm, selling in the market, that they too need an education and encouragement to get an education. This not only betters their lives but the lives of their children. A female who doesn’t go to school or can’t read won’t see the value in education, meaning her children won’t go to school (we can almost guarantee she will have more than 1 child in her lifetime), it’s a vicious cycle. Not to mention the fact that even once in school they are typically told to be quiet, they are dumb, so they don’t speak, they don’t raise their hand or volunteer to answer questions, if they do and its incorrect they are far more likely to be shamed for it then a male student would be.
The third week went off without any real problems. We had a discussion like feel to both of my classes. That means if I ask a question really anyone can speak it, the class presence reminds me more of a big study group I’m facilitating. The classes are so small that to nitpick on everything seems excessive, yet they are so small that when I need to lay the law down I am still able to do it without any real issues. My favorite thing to do is to hand pieces of chalk out to a student or a few students and tell them to do a problem on the board. This allows me to pick who I want to see try the problem, and give them one on one help at the board. I’ve also agreed to a study class after school Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-6 for those who may be struggling. To say I’ve made myself available for extra help is an understatement! I teach 16 hours a week, I’ve made myself available 9 hours outside of that to help anyone who might need it. That ranges from staying during recess, coming on the weekend, coming during our planned study session, and not to mention if someone comes to talk to me we can set up an alternative time. The idea that people will still fail my class with all the extra help I’m offering is shocking to me, utterly shocking!
I had decided all my rules for the year. I went with an acronym of SCHOLAR, S= sit up, C= challenge yourself, H= honesty, O= Organized and prepared, L= Listen, A= ask and answer questions, R= respect. I decided the class would be worth 100 points, 50pts for the final, 10 pts for attendance, 15 pts for assignments, and 25 pts for quizzes. There would be 5 quizzes (each 5 pts) and if you were there the day a quiz was administered you could take it 2 times, only highest score would count, if you were absent I let you take it one time. Attendance would be chosen randomly, I allow you to miss 3 days with no reason, if you missed more than that I needed a note explaining why you did not attend, if a note was not given I was going to take 1pt off your final for every day missed. Every day missed mean every day administration has school. So, if you registered late (which SO many kids did), I still count the time the school was open against you, I did however give them a pass for the first "official" week of school. The attendance rule is to show the importance of coming to school, while still being understanding of those who must sell or take care of kids. Spying (cheating) rule is that if I see you spying, I will not only take your paper and give you a 0, I will take the persons paper your spying off of and give them a 0, even if they are not aware your spying will they get a 0. I told them reason was to keep them accountable, you won’t spy if you know your friend will get a 0 ( and most likely flog you for giving them a zero ha).
I panned the entire first period to be review for both 10th and 11th grade, this meant going back to the basics, doing place value, addition, addition with decimals, subtraction, multiplication, and long division. The real reason being the results on the quiz were low showing there needed to be review in these topics. Kids literally use check marks to help with addition and subtraction! As the third week commenced I kept getting more and more students which was a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because (like administration said) they were finally coming, but a curse because I had already started instruction, so for those coming late they were already behind, and most coming late did not stay after/ ask me to meet them for help. Could you imagine not coming to the first 3 weeks of school in America!? We went over the rules every time we got a new student, (something I could tell annoyed the 11th graders). I have about 8-10 students in each class now, in 10th grade we have 2 girls and in 11th grade I have 3 girls, which is huge because last year’s numbers showed in all senior high (10th-12th grade) they only had a total of 2 girls. Encouraging girls to go to school is very important, Liberia participated in the Let Girls Learn program (before it so selfishly got cut under Trump) encouraging females to go to school. That their job isn’t at home doing work, having kid’s young, working the farm, selling in the market, that they too need an education and encouragement to get an education. This not only betters their lives but the lives of their children. A female who doesn’t go to school or can’t read won’t see the value in education, meaning her children won’t go to school (we can almost guarantee she will have more than 1 child in her lifetime), it’s a vicious cycle. Not to mention the fact that even once in school they are typically told to be quiet, they are dumb, so they don’t speak, they don’t raise their hand or volunteer to answer questions, if they do and its incorrect they are far more likely to be shamed for it then a male student would be.
The third week went off without any real problems. We had a discussion like feel to both of my classes. That means if I ask a question really anyone can speak it, the class presence reminds me more of a big study group I’m facilitating. The classes are so small that to nitpick on everything seems excessive, yet they are so small that when I need to lay the law down I am still able to do it without any real issues. My favorite thing to do is to hand pieces of chalk out to a student or a few students and tell them to do a problem on the board. This allows me to pick who I want to see try the problem, and give them one on one help at the board. I’ve also agreed to a study class after school Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-6 for those who may be struggling. To say I’ve made myself available for extra help is an understatement! I teach 16 hours a week, I’ve made myself available 9 hours outside of that to help anyone who might need it. That ranges from staying during recess, coming on the weekend, coming during our planned study session, and not to mention if someone comes to talk to me we can set up an alternative time. The idea that people will still fail my class with all the extra help I’m offering is shocking to me, utterly shocking!