Seventh Graders...

Today is a day where I miss my sweet preschoolers.  I wish I could just give them all hugs and tell them I miss them.  Middle schoolers are tough y’all, especially when they are the age of high schoolers and older.  Basically, today was an exhausting day.  I am frustrated with learners, I am frustrated with other teachers, and I am frustrated with myself.  For an outsider, it is so obvious to see where the problems lie, but it seems almost impossible to fix them because you are not coming into their lives until they are 16.  How can I test these children on writing papers when they don’t even know how to construct a paragraph?  How can I get them to answer questions about a story when they don’t try to follow along? 

Today, I am at a loss.  I am literally questioning what I am doing here?  Not in a way that will make me pack my bags, but in a way that makes me stop and ask, “what if they learn nothing from me,”  “what if I’m not teaching them anything new?”  I honestly don’t know what they should have already learned.  By fifth grade, all of the classes should be taught in English, but lets be honest, that isn’t happening.  Teachers are switching back and forth between English and Otjiherero, learners are doing other class work in my class, and teachers are not preparing efficiently, which messes with the timing of my lectures.  I ask that you all pray for my sanity and that I start to figure some stuff out.  Next week, I will start giving tests to my learners.  I hope that something sinks in because eventually, I will have to test them for their CASS Marks (the grades that determine if they pass or fail).  Fingers crossed they do ok…better than ok!