First day of school! First day of school! First day of school! (Nemo voice)

Ah, yes. It is official; school is in session. Thursday, September 1, was our first day of school. We began in the office with a faculty devotion (one which got fuller toward the end), and then we went to our classrooms to greet our children. Some students get to school before the teachers do! Julie and I will be arriving to school about 7 every morning, and 4 students have been there before us! We got to see our “teachers” in their uniform before the day began. They were ready to go to class, and we were ready to begin in our own classrooms!

Monday and Tuesday, we met with our school visitor, Mr. Landwehr. He serves as a staff minister and youth leader in St. Lucia. Once a month he comes to Antigua to observe us in our classrooms, offer tips and encouragement. He really knows what he is talking about and is a wealth of information. He had suggested that Julie and I read a book titled, “The First Days of School” by education gurus Harry and Rosemary Wong. The Wongs tout the importance of establishing procedures for the class to follow. Better procedures equal better management and less discipline. Mr. Landwehr worked with the faculty to offer examples of procedures to teach and emphasized the importance of 100% compliance. Accordingly, I planned Thursday (half-day) and Friday (full-day) to focus on the procedures we will be using the whole year. Things like how to walk to the bathroom, morning and end of the day routines, how to pass papers, silent signals in the classroom, noise levels… all things that we practiced and practiced and practiced… Ever heard of “Give Me 5”? That is how I will quiet my class and get their attention. The five are

1. Eyes on the speaker

2. Quiet

3. Be still

4. Hands free

5. Listen.

We have practiced this quite a bit. It is a good way to get the class to quiet down and listen to directions. Unfortunately, we often have to give 5 a second time before we have everyone ready to listen.

The first day ended at 12, but it felt so long. There were moments I was so proud of my 27 second graders – they listened so well! Other times it felt like I was hitting my head against a wall – why do they do the opposite of what I tell them to do? In general, the noise level of the classrooms here is higher than what I grew up with in the States. That’s just how it goes. It will take a lot of consistency and firmness to teach the children what I expect and hold them to it. Day 2 went more smoothly on the whole. Still much to adjust to – the culture, the expectations, the heat… but I have definitely learned a lot and will continue to learn every day.

And we wear uniforms. The children, the teachers… everybody. The first day of school was the dress uniform: white for the students and beige for the teachers. We will not have a dress uniform, so we just wore our normal professional attire. After school we picked up our uniforms from the tailor’s. We have a blue skirt and shirt, gray pants and shirt, and a black waistcoat. The only thing we have left to purchase is our polo for PE on Wednesday. Needless to say, Wed. will probably be my favorite day because I am permitted to wear athletic pants, the polo, and tennis shoes.

Monday starts the lessons in all subjects. May the craziness continue!

(Pictures of the uniforms are on the way...)