Elementary School Visit

I will admit it. There are times that I attempt to hide it, or even try to deny it, but I am an elementary school teacher, through and through. I felt it as soon as we stepped foot on the elementary school campus. The middle school was a bit out of my comfort zone, but despite the fact that the elementary school was an ocean away, and in a completely different setting from what I am accustomed to, some thing about it felt like home.

(Although, maybe it was these guys that made me feel at home!)

As enthralled with us, the visitors, as the middle school students had been the other day, the elementary school students sort of waved, and got on playing their games with one another. We arrived just before class as we can and were impressed to see many assigned students around the campus, completing jobs like sweeping the pathways. 

I got to watch a fifth grade class during a spelling lesson. The lesson was in French, as almost all formal education is in Senegal. This is the students’ second language, if not their third. The words that the students were practicing were difficult. They were working on why some words had double ps, ts, and fs in words such as affection and attention.

In my classroom, I try to pull out as many bells and whistles as possible. Whether that is a funny picture on the screen, movements that we do, silly videos, computer games, etc. However, for things like spelling, students often record answers on their whiteboards, and hold them up for me to check. While this classroom lacked the technological resources that my classroom has in droves, the students, perfectly attentive, responded by using chalk on their personal whiteboards as the teacher walked around to check their work, and they seemed to grasp the subject.

I had been surprisingly overwhelmed by the middle school the day before, and so I believe the context of that school helped me prepare for the elementary school. In this classroom, there were a few posters on the wall, as well as a supply cabinet, where the brooms were held, as well as some extra chalk and things like rulers. But, aside from the teacher’s desk and the chalkboard, little else was present aside from the students’ desks. It was challenging for me to guess the age of the classroom I was in, although that is a skill, I, as an elementary school teacher typically have down to an art. I learned later, that if students do not pass the exam to move on to the middle school, they are held back. Also, although students may begin school at age 5, they do not all began at the same time, so the classroom had quite the variety of ages in it.

Math and geography seem to be somewhat universal!

Some other similarities that I quickly noticed between my school and the school were that kids still drool on themselves, girls still found ways to be stylish and unique in their uniforms, and the classroom was full of students with a mix of abilities, and a mix of eagerness to learn. However, despite the lack of bells and whistles, all students promptly followed instructions and participated in the lesson, and waited quietly in between instructions. And yes, I asked if this was only because we were present. I was told they were always like that. Even in a classroom of 35 students.

We had a long discussion with the teachers in the school after we observed the lesson. There is an automatic camaraderie and sense of solidarity between teachers, despite the ocean that separates us. There were complaints about testing and low paychecks. While the teachers and parents do not interact often, it sounds like they work seamlessly as a team. The teachers have great respect for the parents, knowing that they were their child’s first educators, and the parents have great respect for the teachers, knowing how great their responsibility is. While I am more than fortunate for the support of parents at my school, I believe we can agree that as a nation, this relationship has begun to go downhill. It seems both sides need to remember how crucial one another is in the raising of our next generation.

In our discussion, the comment was made by the Senegalese teachers about the fact that students get to go to school until they are 16. Dave, fellow, educator and colleague, pointed out that typically in the United States, the discussion is not get, but have to. When did this language change? Is this what has led to some difficult behaviors in schools? Have we forgotten what a gift education is? We are so incredibly fortunate and full of resources, and yet, we don’t always appreciate it. Wouldn’t most of life’s confrontations be solved if we stopped and appreciated what we had?

I always knew I was fortunate, but I hope this trip reminds me of that, every single day, from here on out and helps me to appreciate the gifts. I have an abundance.