KG2 Takes on Exam Week

   All my Kindergarteners have officially made it through final exams. On There ended up being 8 total: dictation, english, phonics, mathematics, writing, environmental, religion/moral, and creativity (coloring).  It was pretty cute- on Monday, after the kids took writing, english, and phonics, my teacher told them to rest for the last fifteen minutes of the day while we began correcting. When closing time came, I asked the kids to stand and say their prayers, but only 8 of the 26 stood up- the rest were out cold. Safe to say these exams take a lot out of them!
   Once the kids were done with each test they get a break while we do the correcting right away. I had to make a big spread sheet we used to record scores and rank the students off of the scores. For each test they get a score out of 100 and where that score puts them in the class. Once all 8 exams were done I totaled all their exam scores and used that number to rank the students overall. For preschool and kindergarten the only grade the students get is the grade they got on the exams, nothing from classwork appears on the report.
   Now that exams are done school days are very interesting for me. Teachers are supposed to use the class day to analyze the test scores, do the rankings, and finish the final reports. That means no teaching occurs, and the students pretty much get free time. It's definitely a different approach than the United States! Next week also sounds like it will be pretty relaxed- it will be a lot of Christmas lessons and festivities. Our last day, Thursday, is only a half day and that is when parents come in to pick up the final reports and chat with us teachers if they wish. I'm really excited because I also found out that after all the parents leave the teachers stay and have a Christmas party! How appropriate for our last day there. It will be a very nice ending to a very great experience at Ancilla.
    Since time is quickly winding down, Auntie has began making us all our favorite Ghanaian dishes so we get to have them one last time before we leave. We just had fufu and peanut butter soup tonight, and on the menu this week is all our favorite rice dishes (I'm still in shock I haven't gotten sick of rice yet!), yams, and lots of plantains. After my little Kindergarteners- the food will definitely be one of the things I miss most about Ghana.
   It's wierd writing this blog and thinking that at this point next week my experience here will be done and I will be on a plane from New York to Chicago. Just earlier today we went into Accra for what might be the last time until we drive to the airport. It seems everyday now I'm doing something that is my last for Ghana- last trip to the seamstress (I got more Ghanaian clothes!), last time grocery shopping, last trotro ride. I really can't believe how fast nine weeks has gone by! But with that I realize I should save my reminiscing and sappy talk for my final blog next week- so for now I will end and begin taking in my last days as a Ghanaian!

The Beginning of the End

     Now that December has started Ancilla has began its revision period before exams, which start next week. That means we are now done teaching new content and spend each day going over what will be on the exams. Even my Kindergarteners will spend five full days taking ten different end of the term exams. I'm interested to see how they handle those long days.
    I have also begun working on the students final reports. After exams, each student will get a report that has the score they received on each exam and where that score ranks them among their classmates in each subject. It also has behavior and student interest comments, which my teacher actually put me in charge of. I had to go through each report and list 2-3 adjectives that described the students work ethic and personality, and also list which subject they seem to take the most interest in. I was a little nervous to take on the job solo but was also happy that my teacher trusted me with it!
    This Friday we don't have school because Ghana has its election day. Schools close because that's where many of the polls are located. Even though Ancilla  doesn't host the polls we still get the day off. This is only Ghana's 5th presidential election, so it's a pretty big deal to the people here. Unlike many other African countries, all of Ghana's elections have gone smoothly and with no violence- so I'm hoping this one is no different. Just to be safe, we'll be staying in the area this weekend.
     It is crazy to think that in just over TWO WEEKS I will be coming home. I've become so accustomed to life here it's definitely going to be an adjustment coming back. Sara and I laugh because we realize how many things we say differently after being around British English all day every day. We'll say things like "my stomach is paining me" or call a flashlight a torch without event thinking twice. I also talk much slower here because most people have trouble understanding my accent.
    One last story to end this update- This morning at school I saw a parent that was wearing a Green Bay Packers Super Bowl Champions T-shirt! I stopped him and told him that's where I live and that they were my team. He then told me that he was at the Super Bowl in Dallas! I guess at the time he was living in Florida  and going to the game was something he wanted to before coming back to Ghana. What a small world! ( I admit it made me sad I couldn't watch a majority of football season)