The next decade....what's in store?

Summer School: Graduation Day

When I started teaching all of the 41 students last year October, I thought I would have been involved with them for just the semester. It turned out to be the whole school year, and for some, that would have been enough.

But when I would give them projects to write, and I saw the low level they were at, I decided that I had to do something about the ones which have great potential, and were somewhat intriguing.

First I chose Mr T, because he was always giving trouble. "I'm going to adopt you," I told him, from about the 3rd lesson. He wasn't interested Then Mr Prime Minister caught my attention because he would always tap me on my hand when I was trying to teach, to get in a point (which most times was not related to the lesson!). Next Mr D came to the forefront because he would just look right through you when you were speaking to him. Mr KF also came into the picture because he was always late, and day dreaming. The 5th Kid became one of my helpers at school. "Run and give the Principal this envelope. Put back up this video camera in the case for me." Always did what I asked him.

So it was this motley crew which saw the school term being stretched into Summer, taking up far more time than I had anticipated. But like a proud mama who nurtures her kids throughout their school life, at the end of it all, I was thrilled to have had this experience.

Here's how today went.....

1:00pm was the appointed time. I was in a meeting when they came. A call had come on the cell but I couldn't take it. When I went out at 12:57, there were Mr KF, Mr Prime Minister and Mr D waiting on me. Mr KF was early! Yay! They had cups with various drinks. "Where did you get those? You came with them?" No. My bigger boss (the owner) saw them and asked them what they wanted to drink. One got away with a Coke (they wouldn't have got that if they were with Miss Yamfoot).

I had to go back to the meeting, so I took the three down to the classroom, told them to amuse themselves while I was away and I left. I came back about 20 minutes later to find them amusing themselves. Mr T had arrived by now. His mother had told me he would have been late as he went to a class with his older sister. Mr PM asked for his name badge, then Mr KF and Mr D. Mr T was not entitled today as he did not satisfy the 3 conditions. He is accustomed to the rules, so he did not fuss and ask where his was.

But hold on....where is the The 5th Kid? I called his mother, only to find out he went to the country! Boo hoo. Hear Mr D nuh.... "you see, you shouldn't have let him join the Summer School." (In an earlier blog, I had mentioned that these four had wanted it to be just them.)

I had given them a written assessment last week. Mr T, Mr KF and The 5th Kid were in the classroom which has mirrors so I had been able to see them while I was in the meeting. Mr D and Mr PM were however in my office. When I marked their papers, both these two had almost identical answers. Something told me that they did not work on their own.

I had toyed with calling Mr PM before today, then I decided not to. Before we started, I asked him to come with me to my office. I showed him both his and Mr D's paper. Remember Mr D is the tops in Maths. All Mr PM's sums were right. There was also no workings out, so I couldn't see how he got the answers. I started out by telling Mr PM that I want them all to be good citizens and the matter of trust was very important. I explained that I found it very odd that they both got the same answers for everything (except maybe one thing). I asked him four times, in various ways, if Mr D had helped him, or had looked in his paper. No Miss. He was not maintaining eye contact with me. I asked him to look at me, which he did, and I again asked him if I called Mr D, would he say that no help was given. Yes Miss.

I left it there, but I did not believe. We walked back to the classroom, where I gave each of them their sheet back. I had used the red ink pen, like a real teacher. While we were going through the answers, Mr D said "and ah help Mr PM with the answers." I did not flinch or react. I just waited on Mr PM to respond. He told Mr D he was lying. Mr D, who is accustomed to saying it like it is, no matter what, started to point to which ones he helped Mr PM with. Again, I didn't show any reaction, because I didn't want to spoil his day.

The first question was about time. So I took the opportunity to ask them if they watched Kirani James win the 400m. Yes they had. I asked them if they knew how he grew up. No. I explained that he grew up in a wooden house with no inside toilet. They all then piped up that they too (except Mr D) didn't have an inside toilet. They had latrines and outside showers. Good. Because I emphasized even more, that where or how you grow up, does not have to determine what you turn out to be. I also stressed that Kirani passed 8 CXC subjects and that's how he could have got a full scholarship to an American university.

The conversation then turned to what they wanted to be. Mr D - Pilot (I told him Maths would come in handy). Mr PM - lawyer or policeman. Mr KF - a Banker and Mr T - a footballer and racing car driver (he doesn't know yet that I am going to make him into an engineer!). I ended that section by telling them that they must have dreams and goals.

Now it was time to eat. We were going off property for lunch. I told them when they go to work, they have 1 hour for lunch, so that's all the time we had. We walked out to the car park and my car was not there. No silly.....it was not stolen. A colleague was changing a part on it for me. So he gave me his to drive. It's a much newer vehicle, so the boys were thrilled to bits at its modern look and fast speed. Mr PM had "bags the front." He was therefore the one fiddling with the radio.

We got to the restaurant which is owned by some friends of mine. It's a quick service casual dining restaurant kind of open (Doc Weller, you went there). You order at the counter and then sit, then your food is brought to you. Their eyes were bigger than their stomachs but since I know all too well about eating more than you can hold, I quickly told them it was either the burger OR the BBQ chicken....not both! And when the cashier advised that we order only two orders of fries, not four, they protested. But she was firm, saying that the kids normally can't eat everything.

Mr T ordered BBQ chicken. Mr D ordered a chicken sub. Both Mr KF and Mr PM wanted burgers "with cheese and bacon." For drinks, three ordered LLB (Lemon Lime and Bitters) and Mr KF asked for a Fanta Club Soda. I told him I didn't think he should have that. He said he had had it already. I asked him again if he was sure, explaining that it was just water with bubbles. "Yes Miss." Well you know.....he didn't like it. But he's so polite that he didn't create an issue about it, when I told him that sometimes the kids need to listen to the adults and that I was not going to buy him another drink.

A few minutes passed and then I said "Yamfoot, you are cruel, buy the kid another drink. Cho." So I bent and he got an LLB.

Some of the conversation during lunch.....

I had ordered fish. Mr T wanted to know if I wanted some of his chicken. No, I don't eat anything besides chicken. He said he chose chicken because he just loves chicken, but that sometimes you have to try something new. Then he said "so Miss, you should have had the chicken."

I told them one of the reasons I don't eat anything but seafood, was that I don't know what the animals are fed. That led Mr D to very nicely tell me that some people do doosey's in the sea! They then went on to explain that some people then use a stone as their tissue. *sigh* (So I guess I am to change to a plant based diet??).

I was talking with food in my mouth. Mr T told me to stop doing that, else I could choke.

Oh. When the food came, there was only two sets of knife and fork, since normally, kids eat burgers and fries with their hands. Not my kids. It was like sacrilegious for them not to be given a knife and fork!

Before we began, Mr D said "let's pray." He said The Lord's Prayer.

Everyone enjoyed their food except the burger boys. And when we were paying the bill, Mr KF stated his opinion. I gave Mr PM the credit card to tender. I explained the process about my bank and the restaurant's bank. They also saw how much the meal cost. I don't want them to think money grows on trees.

More chatter as we drove the short distance back to work. They had been asking me about ice cream, as I promised them last week that we would go after lunch. Time was really moving swiftly, so there was not going to be any of that today. But RuH made more of those delicious cupcakes. She took their preferences into account, and did some without the "doosy-like" butter frosting on top. We aim to please!

First though, it was time for the certificates to be presented. We had arranged to get some designed, which we printed and laminated in house. Technology is awesome. NPH gave out the ones for Attendance, which each of them got. They are all very shy with people who they don't interact with so much, so when she said she wanted a kiss, they all turned their cheek away. They were however happy to give her a hug.

Next, it was the special certificates, which I gave out.

Mr D - Excellence in Maths
Mr T - Excellence in Reading
Mr KF - Excellent Behaviour
Mr PM - Excellence in Spelling.

When Mr PM got his, the first thing he said was "mah grandmudder going to be so happy." She would take him up with his spelling.

They all got hugs from me. Then Mr PM declared that he wanted a kiss from me. Nope, cause you turned down NPH.

Next, RuH's daughter presented them with some goody bags with school supplies. She's a little younger than them.

Cupcake time. All done in quick time. (Not good for my diet!) They had come at 1pm, and it was now about 4pm. My day was dedding without much work being accomplished. Well what's a few extra hours spent on kids? Nutten.

The drive home was pretty regular, except for the matter of the flowers.....

Last week when I got back to work, I discovered a bunch of bougainvillea stuck in the roof by one of the back doors. When I was dropping off Mr KF, I mentioned seeing it after they had left, and I didn't know who had left it. Mr KF. My first "son" Mr T, is not to be outdone (he's very competitive), so when we reached Mr KF's grandfather's house, he says to Mr KF, bring some flowers for me. Any one." So I have a bunch of ixorias on the other door. :)

We got to Mr PM's house and I had noticed that something is not right with one of his front side teeth. I asked him to come closer so I could see. Hmmmm.......it doesn't look good. My next project to tackle. Dental check ups for all. He said the tooth is hurting. Also, as Mr PM has to come back on his own for the tour of the property, so I will discuss the matter of honesty and trust then.

The drive to Mr T's house from my Mr PM's involves a drive down a steep steep hill, from which you have a majestic view of the ocean. I oohed and ahhhhhed. It was not the first time. Hear Mr T nuh....."everytime Miss come down here she saying that." I explained that back home, I don't get those amazing views.

Mr D was in the front, cause he bagged the front from work to home. Mr T was not happy because he was not being dropped off last. He complained when I got to his house. "I don't want to leave."I didn't take him on. He got out of the back seat, stood up outside the front door on Mr D's side and proceeded to dilly-dally. I asked him about the bananas. They weren't ready yet. He told me my windscreen was dirty so I should wipe it off. Ok. Next, he wanted to put the jeep in D. Done. Ok, I really really have to go.

Both he and Mr D started to talk about the ice cream and when we were going to have that. At first, I told them I would come to the school and get them. Then I told them that cyan work, cause all the other kids would want to come. So I will tell them which day they should meet me at Wall Street and we will go. Mr T finally allowed me to leave.

On the way to Mr D's we just chatted about regular stuff, including how mean the drivers were to not let me out of Mr T's road. He then said sometimes when he is at the pedestrian crossing by his 'gap', they don't stop to let him cross. Nobody canna cross it, when di bus don't stop!. I was telling him that when I saw his Mum last Thursday, she told me how much he loves the sea. He said sometimes he will go in the morning and not go back home until evening. What do you eat? Sea Grapes (which I didn't know existed before I moved here).

Oh....when Mr T was lingering, he asked me if I was going to be teaching them Tourism this school term. No, because you are going to Grade 5 and I will be teaching Grade 4. "Why Miss?" Insert sad face here. I didn't tell them that if I did Grade 5, they would just wreak havoc in the class since apparently that is what kids do when they get accustomed to you! Also, the handouts, quizzes etc are already done.....easier for me. But I told him I'd still come to their classroom and look for them. I also told Mr T and Mr D, that I would see if I could make all five of them come one at a time to me at work so we could go over school work, once per week.

I spoke with the Principal last Thursday, to express my surprise at the low level of basic education that they have. The class sizes are small enough for the teachers to spend more time with the foundation stuff. I will talk more about that. Maybe donate some funds to get a good Math teacher to assist them. We'll see. But something has to be done, or else they will certainly be struggling, and no kid should be left behind.

Posted by yamfoot at August 30, 2011 09:27 PM