Hi guys! Someone mentioned wanting to know more about school around here, so I thought I'd dedicate a post to talking about academy life. For those of you who might not know, I teach 8th, 9th, and 10th grade language arts and literature at African Bible College Christian Academy. My day starts at 7 and ends at 2:30. The upper school has the longest day- the little kids get out anywhere from noon (Kindergarten and Reception) to 1:15 (6th grade). In the past, the upper school day has ended at 1:30, but this year they decided to extend they day for an additional period, so we now finish at 2:20. The decision to add a 10th grade class is also new, so I'm the first to teach 10th grade World Lit around here. I have to admit, 10th grade is probably the easiest for me to teach. I think this is a fantastic age where students are starting to be old enough to think on higher levels and make some larger connections. I can lecture without losing them entirely, but I can also leave them to do a lot of independent work, and they're totally capable.
My 10th graders always exceed my expectations. They're a really brilliant class of 12 students: 6 guys, 6 girls. We've gained and lost a few over the past semester, but at this point, the guys are Malawian, American, and Norwegian. The girls are a bit more varied- 2 girls are American but have lived in Ecuador most of their lives, 1 is ethnically part Indian, but has lived here most of here life. 1 is American, 1 is Portuguese, and 1 is Norwegian. I think that covers everyone. All this to say- they're a very diverse class. But they get along splendidly. So far we've read Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea, where I asked them to think of it as an allegory and write a paper explaining the symbols. They wrote their own journey stories for me, where the main character starts in one place and ends in another (these were quite entertaining), and then we moved on to Lord of the Flies. Overall, they really enjoyed this book. We talked a lot in this about fear and the nature of man. Are humans inherently evil? What is the author trying to say with this book? Do you agree with him or disagree? The class had a lot of opinions to share on these subjects, and I really enjoyed thinking through it all with them. We then moved on and did a poetry unit, which was fantastic. 90% of the class cared very little for poetry at the beginning of the unit, but by the end, I think they all had a new appreciation for it. I probably should've read more poetry with them, but I really wanted to get them writing, so we focused a lot on form and style in their own poetry. I gave it to them as a way to explore their own personal emotions and thoughts. Told them this was a fantastic and creative way to really reflect on what they're thinking and feeling. They all presented final portfolios after Christmas break and I was blown away. I have a class full of poets! We're now reading The Screwtape Letters, which is proving to be a challenge, but is forcing them to stretch themselves a little and to reflect on their own spirituality, which is a neat thing for this age. One of my students is especially quizzical and is always questioning and challenging what Lewis has to say, which makes for some good class discussion. So that's 10th grade.
My 9th grade class is perhaps even more diverse, with students from Malawi, America, China, Korea, Portugal, Lebanon, and South Africa. This is probably my most diverse class academically, as well. Although they're all very bright, the levels of English vary in this class, which makes things more difficult at times. We've also had 3 students drop out since the beginning of the year, which has been kinda tough. We really miss those guys. This started as my largest class, but is now down to 11 students. My challenge with this class is simply keeping them motivated. They're great kids with a lot of potential, but they tend to want to do the bare minimum. (Of course, I know nothing about that.) It took me a while to warm up to this group, but we've all gotten to know each other now, and we get along grandly. We started the year reading Bruchko, and then moved to Peace Child. Both of these novels are missionary autobiographies, and really are excellent stories of faith. This class is less willing to get into deep spiritual discussion, but we were able to really see the gospel and admire the faith of some brave men in those stories. Considering this is also probably my most diverse class in terms of religion, that was a neat experience. Our last book of the first semester was Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days. I wasn't sure what my students would think of it, but they really enjoyed the book- perhaps simply because it was so very different than the previous two they'd read. We had a lot of fun with this book. Right now we're working on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which quite frankly, is hilarious. These kiddos aren't overly fond of Shakespeare, but they LOVE laughing at Romeo. They've been highly amused by his declarations of love for Rosaline which were so quickly cut short by his adoration of Juliet. As a side note, they also find it highly amusing to try and set me up with any single men they know. 23 is so old, don't ya know? Obviously I need a husband.
My 8th grade class is made up of 7 girls. 1 from Malawi, 1 from SA, 1 from New Zealand, 1 from Zambia, 1 from America, and 1 who is truly African-American. . Ethnically, they've got a bit of everything, but in reality, most of them have lived here longer than anywhere else, so they have a lot in common. Now, I have to say, 13 year old girls are not my specialty. This class is a real challenge for me, simply because of their age. They're great individuals with a lot of excitement and potential. They're smart and beautiful, and I really do love them. I can't wait to see how they each grow up. I started the year off with The Giver, which is a fantastic book. It's my favorite, and I was excited to read it again with these girls. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they loved it, and aced the test on it. I was proud of them. :) We then read Treasure Island, which was tough for them. It's a boyish book, and it had a lot of vocabulary that was unfamiliar to them. We made it through it, though, and they all took something away from the book. Next on the list was A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Again, not an easy read. They did really well with it though, and I think they mostly enjoyed the story. Because I'm awesome, we watched A Muppets Christmas Carol when we finished reading the book. They weren't overly impressed with the musical nature of the Muppets, but they enjoyed the story and I think the story stuck with them a little better after actually seeing it. We focus a lot on grammar in this class, because 7th grade somehow missed out on getting a grammar curriculum. The girls would say it was the bane of their existence, if they knew what that meant. Perhaps I'll teach them that phrase today. As much as they dislike it, though, I'm seeing progress. I encourage you to pray especially for this class's relational dynamics. If you know any 13 year old girls, you know that it's just a hard place to be. These girls are learning a lot about the world and each other, as well as learning about themselves, and that puts a lot of strain on their friendships.
So there ya go! There's a little about my life as an ABCCA teacher. Hope you enjoyed it!
My 10th graders always exceed my expectations. They're a really brilliant class of 12 students: 6 guys, 6 girls. We've gained and lost a few over the past semester, but at this point, the guys are Malawian, American, and Norwegian. The girls are a bit more varied- 2 girls are American but have lived in Ecuador most of their lives, 1 is ethnically part Indian, but has lived here most of here life. 1 is American, 1 is Portuguese, and 1 is Norwegian. I think that covers everyone. All this to say- they're a very diverse class. But they get along splendidly. So far we've read Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea, where I asked them to think of it as an allegory and write a paper explaining the symbols. They wrote their own journey stories for me, where the main character starts in one place and ends in another (these were quite entertaining), and then we moved on to Lord of the Flies. Overall, they really enjoyed this book. We talked a lot in this about fear and the nature of man. Are humans inherently evil? What is the author trying to say with this book? Do you agree with him or disagree? The class had a lot of opinions to share on these subjects, and I really enjoyed thinking through it all with them. We then moved on and did a poetry unit, which was fantastic. 90% of the class cared very little for poetry at the beginning of the unit, but by the end, I think they all had a new appreciation for it. I probably should've read more poetry with them, but I really wanted to get them writing, so we focused a lot on form and style in their own poetry. I gave it to them as a way to explore their own personal emotions and thoughts. Told them this was a fantastic and creative way to really reflect on what they're thinking and feeling. They all presented final portfolios after Christmas break and I was blown away. I have a class full of poets! We're now reading The Screwtape Letters, which is proving to be a challenge, but is forcing them to stretch themselves a little and to reflect on their own spirituality, which is a neat thing for this age. One of my students is especially quizzical and is always questioning and challenging what Lewis has to say, which makes for some good class discussion. So that's 10th grade.
My 9th grade class is perhaps even more diverse, with students from Malawi, America, China, Korea, Portugal, Lebanon, and South Africa. This is probably my most diverse class academically, as well. Although they're all very bright, the levels of English vary in this class, which makes things more difficult at times. We've also had 3 students drop out since the beginning of the year, which has been kinda tough. We really miss those guys. This started as my largest class, but is now down to 11 students. My challenge with this class is simply keeping them motivated. They're great kids with a lot of potential, but they tend to want to do the bare minimum. (Of course, I know nothing about that.) It took me a while to warm up to this group, but we've all gotten to know each other now, and we get along grandly. We started the year reading Bruchko, and then moved to Peace Child. Both of these novels are missionary autobiographies, and really are excellent stories of faith. This class is less willing to get into deep spiritual discussion, but we were able to really see the gospel and admire the faith of some brave men in those stories. Considering this is also probably my most diverse class in terms of religion, that was a neat experience. Our last book of the first semester was Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days. I wasn't sure what my students would think of it, but they really enjoyed the book- perhaps simply because it was so very different than the previous two they'd read. We had a lot of fun with this book. Right now we're working on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which quite frankly, is hilarious. These kiddos aren't overly fond of Shakespeare, but they LOVE laughing at Romeo. They've been highly amused by his declarations of love for Rosaline which were so quickly cut short by his adoration of Juliet. As a side note, they also find it highly amusing to try and set me up with any single men they know. 23 is so old, don't ya know? Obviously I need a husband.
My 8th grade class is made up of 7 girls. 1 from Malawi, 1 from SA, 1 from New Zealand, 1 from Zambia, 1 from America, and 1 who is truly African-American. . Ethnically, they've got a bit of everything, but in reality, most of them have lived here longer than anywhere else, so they have a lot in common. Now, I have to say, 13 year old girls are not my specialty. This class is a real challenge for me, simply because of their age. They're great individuals with a lot of excitement and potential. They're smart and beautiful, and I really do love them. I can't wait to see how they each grow up. I started the year off with The Giver, which is a fantastic book. It's my favorite, and I was excited to read it again with these girls. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they loved it, and aced the test on it. I was proud of them. :) We then read Treasure Island, which was tough for them. It's a boyish book, and it had a lot of vocabulary that was unfamiliar to them. We made it through it, though, and they all took something away from the book. Next on the list was A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Again, not an easy read. They did really well with it though, and I think they mostly enjoyed the story. Because I'm awesome, we watched A Muppets Christmas Carol when we finished reading the book. They weren't overly impressed with the musical nature of the Muppets, but they enjoyed the story and I think the story stuck with them a little better after actually seeing it. We focus a lot on grammar in this class, because 7th grade somehow missed out on getting a grammar curriculum. The girls would say it was the bane of their existence, if they knew what that meant. Perhaps I'll teach them that phrase today. As much as they dislike it, though, I'm seeing progress. I encourage you to pray especially for this class's relational dynamics. If you know any 13 year old girls, you know that it's just a hard place to be. These girls are learning a lot about the world and each other, as well as learning about themselves, and that puts a lot of strain on their friendships.
So there ya go! There's a little about my life as an ABCCA teacher. Hope you enjoyed it!
