So as I was told when I first arrived, gr.10 and 12 students are gone because of exams (previously mentioned, students that perform poorly go to vocational colleges). So, today I observed a gr.11 English class as well as a gr.1 and 2 English class. I think I am correct in thinking that after passing their gr.10 exams, these gr.11 are more mature and have a sense of the reality of needing to succeed in their studies. As rarely found in high school in my experience, these students take the responsibility of their schooling seriously. These students have business ambitions, they soak up all they can from the resources at the school that they only have available for one more year.

So, this English class was a little rowdy as I walked into the class, but I was not prepared to have them settle down after a quiet tap from their teacher’s chalk on his desk. That is one thing I have noticed, the teachers never speak above a level voice, not even in a peaceful heightened volume. I think that teachers are used to a certain respect from the students, above and beyond anything I have seen in Canada. I have seen a Ethiopian teacher hush a class in seconds by a wave of his hand. Impressive, eh. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t mention that I have also seen a teacher exasperated with the chattiness of his class and look like he was going to hit something. The last situation is my fault for being a disturbance in the classroom by merely being present.

In each English class, it seems to be a common thing to have a question time where the students get time to practice English by asking me questions. The questions vary, but so far the common theme seems to be, “can you give us advice of how to succeed in our studies?” followed by “is Canada cold?”.

I visited a gr1/2 class as well and it was not what I had expected. This has probably been one of my favorite classes to observe. What a little bunch of happy beings, so attentive to their teacher. They had a hard time staying seated in their desks for want to jump up and see the Faranji, but once I was seated in the back of the class, very few of them turned around. Their teacher was so amazing with them. The teacher was teaching an English lesson with them. She was writing and explaining (in total English and the students totally understood) the difference on what you ‘like’ and ‘don’t like’. The students all had their hands up and took turns: “I like Pepsi, BUT I don’t like lemons!” usually followed by giggles from the agreeing students. Very few fans of lemons I have found.