Aren't they cute? Read below to find out about our fun Friday! The picture above this shows the teachers that dressed up. The first two show the bouncy castles, popcorn machine, and juice maker. Find out more below!Bouncy Castles and Beyond!
Yes, I said Bouncy Castles and yes I do live in Ghana. This is what I have been trying to tell you, I live in a different Africa than what you think of due to the students that we teach. This is as you have heard me say before, is somewhat difficult as I have a heart for those with the least but it is my calling right now to reach out to my students. One way this can be done is by the “awe effect” which takes a little more with the students’ standards. This past month has been reading month where I have been recording the number of pages that each student reads every night. We have been competing with the rest of the school to see which class can read the most. My class has read over 20,000 pages which is amazing! To celebrate their hard work, we had parties galore on Friday. So back to the bouncy castles; one family who employs most of Ghana, provided the pre-kindergarten through second grade with a bouncy castle, juice machine, and popcorn maker. I have shown some pictures below but do not want to put too many on of the kids for their safety. I even got to jump with them which was really fun! Yes, this is not typical Ghana but it is the world of our kids. The kids did work hard in reading so it was good we could reward them in such a fun way. We just had to be careful since the electricity went off and the bouncy castle deflated very quickly!
In the afternoon, we continued the party with ice cream and toppings. We had so much of everything and it was a little chaotic for the teachers to get everything together but we figures why not give the kids more sugar!
If this wasn’t enough excitement for one day, we added more by it being character dress up day(aka we can’t celebrate Halloween but we can dress up as a book character.) No, Halloween is not celebrated as much or at all in Ghana as it is in America. Most Americans see it as a fun time to dress up and get free candy but if people in the African culture know what it is, then they usually associate it with evil spirits. My kids didn’t even know what pumpkins were so I had to explain to them which is quite difficult! Anyways, we all came together as a student body at the beginning of the day to look at everyone’s book character which you can also somewhat see in the pictures. I had a Minnie Mouse, two Ben 10’s (not sure?) and others who just wore different clothes so they didn’t have to wear their uniform! I also dressed up which proved to be very fun. I hope you all have read Sideways Story from Wayside School by Louis Sachar as they are hilarious and crazy. My kids are familiar with them as I am already reading to them the second book. At the beginning of the first book, the current teacher, Mrs. Gorf, turns the kids into apples if they misbehave. She wiggles her right pointy ear, then her left, sticks out her tongue, and then they turn into apples. Don’t worry, the kids end up turning her into an apple by making her look in a mirror and then Louis the yard teacher eats her on accident. I promise it is a family friendly book! So, I dressed up as Mrs. Gorf and carried around apples with their names on it. It helped with discipline as I told the kids I would turn them in to apples if they misbehaved! Don’t worry, they knew I was kidding! You can definitely tell that I got a lot of instructional time in today, you should be proud. Okay, so it wasn’t the most productive day but I am learning that each day does not have to be like that. The students do need a break once and a while and we can still learn through different experiences as the students always need help with cooperation, waiting patiently, and being thankful for what they have. You can be guaranteed that I will hit the books hard on Monday so grass can’t grow under our feet!
Yes, I said Bouncy Castles and yes I do live in Ghana. This is what I have been trying to tell you, I live in a different Africa than what you think of due to the students that we teach. This is as you have heard me say before, is somewhat difficult as I have a heart for those with the least but it is my calling right now to reach out to my students. One way this can be done is by the “awe effect” which takes a little more with the students’ standards. This past month has been reading month where I have been recording the number of pages that each student reads every night. We have been competing with the rest of the school to see which class can read the most. My class has read over 20,000 pages which is amazing! To celebrate their hard work, we had parties galore on Friday. So back to the bouncy castles; one family who employs most of Ghana, provided the pre-kindergarten through second grade with a bouncy castle, juice machine, and popcorn maker. I have shown some pictures below but do not want to put too many on of the kids for their safety. I even got to jump with them which was really fun! Yes, this is not typical Ghana but it is the world of our kids. The kids did work hard in reading so it was good we could reward them in such a fun way. We just had to be careful since the electricity went off and the bouncy castle deflated very quickly!
In the afternoon, we continued the party with ice cream and toppings. We had so much of everything and it was a little chaotic for the teachers to get everything together but we figures why not give the kids more sugar!
If this wasn’t enough excitement for one day, we added more by it being character dress up day(aka we can’t celebrate Halloween but we can dress up as a book character.) No, Halloween is not celebrated as much or at all in Ghana as it is in America. Most Americans see it as a fun time to dress up and get free candy but if people in the African culture know what it is, then they usually associate it with evil spirits. My kids didn’t even know what pumpkins were so I had to explain to them which is quite difficult! Anyways, we all came together as a student body at the beginning of the day to look at everyone’s book character which you can also somewhat see in the pictures. I had a Minnie Mouse, two Ben 10’s (not sure?) and others who just wore different clothes so they didn’t have to wear their uniform! I also dressed up which proved to be very fun. I hope you all have read Sideways Story from Wayside School by Louis Sachar as they are hilarious and crazy. My kids are familiar with them as I am already reading to them the second book. At the beginning of the first book, the current teacher, Mrs. Gorf, turns the kids into apples if they misbehave. She wiggles her right pointy ear, then her left, sticks out her tongue, and then they turn into apples. Don’t worry, the kids end up turning her into an apple by making her look in a mirror and then Louis the yard teacher eats her on accident. I promise it is a family friendly book! So, I dressed up as Mrs. Gorf and carried around apples with their names on it. It helped with discipline as I told the kids I would turn them in to apples if they misbehaved! Don’t worry, they knew I was kidding! You can definitely tell that I got a lot of instructional time in today, you should be proud. Okay, so it wasn’t the most productive day but I am learning that each day does not have to be like that. The students do need a break once and a while and we can still learn through different experiences as the students always need help with cooperation, waiting patiently, and being thankful for what they have. You can be guaranteed that I will hit the books hard on Monday so grass can’t grow under our feet!
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