Jess's UCC Updates: Part 9

Jess's UCC Updates: Part 9 (23/07/12)

13 days left until London.

This past week, I celebrated my 21st birthday in Ghana.  What a day it was.  It began with special chocolate pancakes.  Yum.  During morning assembly, the students sang a beautiful happy birthday song to me.  At this point I got so emotional I had to work very hard to hold back the tears at the thought of leaving these kids I have grown to love so much!  One of the boys I've been working with, Nelson, presented me a gigantic card the kids had made for me.  So sweet!  Throughout the day, I received little presents from the friends I've made here.  In Ghana, birthdays are not as highly celebrated as back in the US.  The one major tradition they have is pouring holy water on the person.  So, throughout the day I had many cups of water thrown at me.

The teaching experience this week has been incredible.  The educational coordinator has been working one-on-one with me to improve my performance every day.  In general, I tend to focus on areas I need to improve on and neglect attention to the areas I am better at.  This is problematic because it means I improve in the areas I need to but also change my positive habits of teaching.  With Kirstie's help, I've made many strides.  I've come to realize that discipline is necessary to further the learning of the students.  If a classroom is not under control, the students cannot learn to their highest ability.  With this mindset I am much more prone to successful classroom control.  With Kirstie's coaching, I've been able to identify the progress I've made in just a few short weeks.  So cool!

Unfortunately, I've also gotten quite sick this weekend.  The past 5 days have not been pretty to say the least.  I'm finally feeling better and hope to be back in the classroom tomorrow. 

I've attached a few pictures of from the afternoon school and my birthday.

Love,
Jess