CLASS 2A

Well, this is my first blog with my new laptop and though I'm not sure I'll be writing as often as I'd like to, I should be able to improve on my recent performance (or lack of thereof)!

I can't believe we are now in the second half of Term 3 at St Judes. The countdown to the end of the year has begun with only six weeks of term left. In some respects I'm sad because this year has gone so quickly. In other ways I'm excited because I'll be going home to Ireland for three weeks on December 13th!

The last term of school means finding new students for next year. Every year, the school accepts (approximately) an additional 170 students. Those students go into the lowest classes, while all other students (unless they're really far behind) move into the next year. Because the school only goes up to Standard 5 (around grade 5 in Oz or 5th class in Ireland), it means that the school is still growing every year. So next year the school will have almost 850 students.

I never would have thought I'd be able to differenciate between various children because in their uniforms, they really do look similar. Unlike white children, African children all have the same colour hair, the same colour eyes (called black on their documentation even though in my opinion they're brown). AND most of them have their heads shaved because it's cleaner and easier to manage. So telling the difference between them relies on knowing their facial features.

And yet, each child is so unique in that respect that I know many of their names. In my class, I feel like I have a hundred personalities even though there are only 29 students. Some of them are so unique, and I have a real soft spot for each one of them. I wish I'd been teaching them all year. The saddest part for me at the end of this year will be saying goodbye to them, as they'll be in different classes next year. So I'll savour these last few weeks, even though I'll have to drill the rest of the course into them, so they hopefully do well in the exams.

In my class, I have John who is the class monitor and all-round good student. He's smart, popular and quick-witted, even though he's only around ten years old. I have Diana who is almost as smart though a little impatient. She writes letters to me several times a week or rather draws me pictures. She keeps these hidden in some amazing compartment in her dress and whips them out surreptitiously in the playground. She invites me to her house (I've been once) and sometimes wants to tell me the most hilarious secrets (like; one child pinched another one).

Then there's Epifania who is the most hilarious, unpredictable child. She's sulky and cheeky all at once, but in the most loveable way. She will gallop across the playground to carry my books to class, grab my hand in the playground and then pout when I don't ask her a question first. She's demanding and yet playful. Then there's Fransiska who never appears to listen and yet who always performs well. And then there's Caius... Caius is taller than most children, the first to put up his hand even though he's often wrong. He reminds me of myself when I got the award in gymnastics for the girl who wanted to run before she could walk. I wanted to be swinging around the parallel bars before I could even reach it or put chalk on my hands. Caius is desperate to move on and easily bored (to the point that he probably has ADD) and yet he's so sophisticated and tears through the dictionary to understand words. From a broken family, he is no doubt the surrogate father at the age of around eleven. And even though he leaps from his seat continually, albeit to help clean the blackboard or collect papers, I can't but like him.

And then there's Deborah (pronounced Deb -OR-ah with a stress on the OR). A small girl with an impish grin, Deborah often does the complete opposite of what i ask but she always has a carefully though up excuse. And when you feel most frustrated with her, she will grin in a way that makes it difficult to be angry.

Lucas is a small child, who looks younger than everyone else. Dreamy, shy and vague, he is often in his own world. It's incredibly frustrating because even when he does something wrong and he is scolded, he looks so regretful. Now he's listening more and it's nice to see him spelling words correctly - even if it's just bowl!

And yet another exceptional child is sweet Magreth who is incredibly clever, demure and obedient. She rarely looks you in the eye, but takes so much in.

There are so many more of these children I could describe and in time I will. For now, I'll continue correcting their mid-term exams and doling out the stickers the love so much. They don't ask for a lot here!

Class 2A have a special place in my heart, even though they test my patience at times. They're energetic, enthusiastic and eager to please.