Today was a lot better than yesterday - I marked my Grade 8 assessed assignment amongst other things.
Out of the 24 pupils who submitted their assignment, only 2 got a zero, whilst 3 got over 60%! Taking the school's requirement that pupils must get 30% in mathematics to pass the year, 64% of my class passed! And this is a topic I taught them!
In other news, I finally sorted out my timetable, however my skills with teaching Ratios have become legendary so I'm teaching them to 3 more Grade 8 classes from tomorrow onwards...
This now means that I'm teaching or assisting with 8 different classes and pretty much have back-to-back lessons from 8am to 3pm everyday!
Better be off now, got some lesson planning to do...
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Mistakes
The two classes I taught today we not too bad.
In my Grade 8 class, I attempted to give them examples of how to solve the assignment that counts towards a percentage of their grade for this year. I say attempted because, although I repeatedly said that it was exceptionally useful, very few students actually paid attention to what I was doing on the board and even fewer copied it into their exercise books. If they end up failing those questions I think I'm going to write "I went over this on Tuesday" on all their exams...
I taught one of the Grade 11 classes that I work with how to give "proofs" for trigonometric equations, using the trigonometric identities. This class depressed me somewhat. Although in large letters at the top of the board it said sin^2(\theta)+cos^2(\theta)=1, almost nobody in the class managed to see how to convert the line sin^2(\theta)+2cos(\theta)sin(\theta)+cos^2(\theta) into the line 1+2cos(\theta)sin(\theta). I could vaguely understand this but getting things such as (a+b)^2=2+a+b just make me want to cry. Even the work that they did manage to do had to be literally spoon-fed to them almost word-by-word!
We had a short session for Grade 12 at the end of the day and covered similar work to what we did in Grade 11 earlier, to my eternal embarrassment I made a fairly large mistake on the revision sheet I gave them! To be fair they did not need as much spoon-feeding as the Grade 11s, yet they were still fairly poor.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better - I'm going to be marking the Grade 8 assignments and hopefully I will not get too depressed while marking them...
Apologies for the somewhat down-beat post, but the reality of how poorly-educated most of the students really are has started to sink in...
Better be off now - lessons to plan, dinner to eat.
In my Grade 8 class, I attempted to give them examples of how to solve the assignment that counts towards a percentage of their grade for this year. I say attempted because, although I repeatedly said that it was exceptionally useful, very few students actually paid attention to what I was doing on the board and even fewer copied it into their exercise books. If they end up failing those questions I think I'm going to write "I went over this on Tuesday" on all their exams...
I taught one of the Grade 11 classes that I work with how to give "proofs" for trigonometric equations, using the trigonometric identities. This class depressed me somewhat. Although in large letters at the top of the board it said sin^2(\theta)+cos^2(\theta)=1, almost nobody in the class managed to see how to convert the line sin^2(\theta)+2cos(\theta)sin(\theta)+cos^2(\theta) into the line 1+2cos(\theta)sin(\theta). I could vaguely understand this but getting things such as (a+b)^2=2+a+b just make me want to cry. Even the work that they did manage to do had to be literally spoon-fed to them almost word-by-word!
We had a short session for Grade 12 at the end of the day and covered similar work to what we did in Grade 11 earlier, to my eternal embarrassment I made a fairly large mistake on the revision sheet I gave them! To be fair they did not need as much spoon-feeding as the Grade 11s, yet they were still fairly poor.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better - I'm going to be marking the Grade 8 assignments and hopefully I will not get too depressed while marking them...
Apologies for the somewhat down-beat post, but the reality of how poorly-educated most of the students really are has started to sink in...
Better be off now - lessons to plan, dinner to eat.
Monday, 1 August 2011
Head-banging and Hugs
Today was a day of two halves.
My Grade 8 mathematics pupils who I believed were good at ratios suddenly decided to get completely confused when I moved from questions such as "Divide 80 matches in the ratio 1:2:5" onto ones such as "Red paint and blue paint is mixed in the ratio 2:5. I have 8 litres of red paint. How much blue paint do I need so as I have no unmixed paint left over?"
This is slightly worrying as, based on my assessment that they were understanding ratios, they have been given an assignment that counts towards their grade for the year. I am planning on continuing with similar questions tomorrow to help them as much as possible, as well as offering to do an extra after-school session where they can drop in and ask any questions about the assignment that they have before they hand it in the next morning. (To be fair, I was already planning on doing a Grade 12 revision session, but will tell the Grade 8 pupils where it is and to come and find me if they want help)
Later in the day, I was told by one of my Grade 8 Natural Sciences (think Physics, Chemistry and a bit more...) pupils that I should definitely become a full-time teach as I would be, and I quote, 'the best teacher in the entire world'. I was fairly touched but also moderately confused by this comment as I have only taught their class for one half-hour period and to be frank I did not teach it at all well! The only problem with this pupil is that they want to get me some sort of present, which I do not really wish to accept as I think most of the pupils at the school have next-to-nothing themselves. I have been advised to tell them to make me a card or draw me a picture as it will not cost them anything and will make me feel special. I was also asked by another pupil when I would be teaching them. I told the pupil that unfortunately I would not be teaching them, and they looked so disappointed!
Better be off now - just got back from a short 20min run (at 5750ft) and kinda need a shower!
My Grade 8 mathematics pupils who I believed were good at ratios suddenly decided to get completely confused when I moved from questions such as "Divide 80 matches in the ratio 1:2:5" onto ones such as "Red paint and blue paint is mixed in the ratio 2:5. I have 8 litres of red paint. How much blue paint do I need so as I have no unmixed paint left over?"
This is slightly worrying as, based on my assessment that they were understanding ratios, they have been given an assignment that counts towards their grade for the year. I am planning on continuing with similar questions tomorrow to help them as much as possible, as well as offering to do an extra after-school session where they can drop in and ask any questions about the assignment that they have before they hand it in the next morning. (To be fair, I was already planning on doing a Grade 12 revision session, but will tell the Grade 8 pupils where it is and to come and find me if they want help)
Later in the day, I was told by one of my Grade 8 Natural Sciences (think Physics, Chemistry and a bit more...) pupils that I should definitely become a full-time teach as I would be, and I quote, 'the best teacher in the entire world'. I was fairly touched but also moderately confused by this comment as I have only taught their class for one half-hour period and to be frank I did not teach it at all well! The only problem with this pupil is that they want to get me some sort of present, which I do not really wish to accept as I think most of the pupils at the school have next-to-nothing themselves. I have been advised to tell them to make me a card or draw me a picture as it will not cost them anything and will make me feel special. I was also asked by another pupil when I would be teaching them. I told the pupil that unfortunately I would not be teaching them, and they looked so disappointed!
Better be off now - just got back from a short 20min run (at 5750ft) and kinda need a shower!
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Apartheid in South Africa
To try and help people understand Apartheid in South Africa, I am going to reverse the situation in this post (making it unfairly biased towards non-Whites). For this reason (if you are reading this post on Facebook or another site that does not support formatting) I recommend that you read it directly from my blog: stepheninsouthafrica.blogspot.com
This attempt will not do justice to the entire situation, I will admit that now, but I thought that this would be an interesting attempt to represent the repression of the system. I do not mean any disrespect to anyone in this post and if you are offended I sincerely apologise.
If you are non-White, please read the first section below, which will be posted in red. If you are White, please read the section section, which will be posted in blue.
NON-WHITES ONLY
Today we went to a museum documenting the history of Apartheid in South Africa. Outside the museum there we several large pillars, representing the fundamental rights granted to all citizens in South Africa by the post-Apartheid Constitution, to remind visitors of how South Africa is today. At the entrance to the museum we were segregated based on which ticket we held (they we randomly allocated) and sent into two corridors separated by a mesh wall. Although the exhibits on both sides of the wall were the same, the separation based on something seemingly as trivial as a word printed on your entrance ticket seemed very unfair. Unlike Apartheid in South Africa, this segregation only lasted for the first 25 meters or so of the museum before we could be reunited. As was to be expected, a large section of the museum was dedicated to Nelson Mandela, including the car he was given upon his release from jail. The materials for the car were paid for by the senior staff at the factory and the labourers who built it did so for free as a way of thanking Mandela for his sacrifice. I will not go into the full details of the rest of the museum. Needless to say it was exceptionally shocking and really made you think as to how one set of human beings could treat another so unfairly.
ALL OTHER CLASSES
Today we went to the Apartheid Museum. It was interesting. It made me think.
I'd better be off now, I hope I made you think.
This attempt will not do justice to the entire situation, I will admit that now, but I thought that this would be an interesting attempt to represent the repression of the system. I do not mean any disrespect to anyone in this post and if you are offended I sincerely apologise.
If you are non-White, please read the first section below, which will be posted in red. If you are White, please read the section section, which will be posted in blue.
NON-WHITES ONLY
Today we went to a museum documenting the history of Apartheid in South Africa. Outside the museum there we several large pillars, representing the fundamental rights granted to all citizens in South Africa by the post-Apartheid Constitution, to remind visitors of how South Africa is today. At the entrance to the museum we were segregated based on which ticket we held (they we randomly allocated) and sent into two corridors separated by a mesh wall. Although the exhibits on both sides of the wall were the same, the separation based on something seemingly as trivial as a word printed on your entrance ticket seemed very unfair. Unlike Apartheid in South Africa, this segregation only lasted for the first 25 meters or so of the museum before we could be reunited. As was to be expected, a large section of the museum was dedicated to Nelson Mandela, including the car he was given upon his release from jail. The materials for the car were paid for by the senior staff at the factory and the labourers who built it did so for free as a way of thanking Mandela for his sacrifice. I will not go into the full details of the rest of the museum. Needless to say it was exceptionally shocking and really made you think as to how one set of human beings could treat another so unfairly.
ALL OTHER CLASSES
Today we went to the Apartheid Museum. It was interesting. It made me think.
I'd better be off now, I hope I made you think.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Prisons, Courts, Stadia and Vuvuzelas
Today was a fairly busy day! In the morning we visited Constitution Hill, the site of the former prison that housed, amongst others, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
It was in the prison here that Gandhi's political activism really started. The prison, which in now a museum, had an exhibit of Gandhi's imprisonment in South Africa. This was particularly fascinating for me as, although a few years ago now, I have visited the location in India where he spent his final days and was assassinated. The prison also hit home how difficult it must have been to be non-White in South Africa under apartheid. In one of the courtyards there was an apple tree. When apples developed on the tree, prisoners would chose one whilst it ripened then eat it when it was ready. If prisoners misbehaved, their apple was confiscated when ripe, which must have been completely demoralising.
The site now houses the South African Constitutional Court, the equivalent of the United States Supreme Court. The courthouse includes part of the old prison as a reminder to all of the past of South Africa, whilst also showing the way forward to a better future. The courthouse contains significant amounts of South Africa's history, with large sections of the building employing architectural features symbolising the older rural courts that were held in the shade of a large tree. The building also abides by the principle of transparency, with easy access to the public galleries for all as well as windows from the courtroom directly onto the street outside. Media access to the building is also surprisingly easy, something I believe that South Africa does significantly better than the United Kingdom as, where it is the court dealing with constitutional matters, the decisions it makes should be as open as possible.
After this we went to Soccer City/FNB Stadium which hosted the World Cup final in 2010. The match was the Soweto Derby between the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates. Most of our group decided to support the Chiefs, however we lost 4-3 on penalties, which was disappointing as was most the the footballing skill throughout the entire match, yet the atmosphere more than made up for it. Most people complain about vuvuzelas, yet being in a stadium full of them it was fairly atmospheric!
Better be off now - we've ordered takeaway and it should be here soon!
 |
| The South African Constitutional Court |
After this we went to Soccer City/FNB Stadium which hosted the World Cup final in 2010. The match was the Soweto Derby between the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates. Most of our group decided to support the Chiefs, however we lost 4-3 on penalties, which was disappointing as was most the the footballing skill throughout the entire match, yet the atmosphere more than made up for it. Most people complain about vuvuzelas, yet being in a stadium full of them it was fairly atmospheric!
 |
| Soccer City/FNB Stadium |
Friday, 29 July 2011
Just a Quick One...
Not much to report today - it was so cold that the school closed early and all the pupils (somewhat telepathically) knew and left simultaneously!
Tomorrow should be more interesting - we are going to Constitution Hill and then going to view the football final between the Pirates and the Chiefs!
Better be off now - got to go get some food!
Tomorrow should be more interesting - we are going to Constitution Hill and then going to view the football final between the Pirates and the Chiefs!
Better be off now - got to go get some food!
Thursday, 28 July 2011
A Quick Clarification
I've realised that I've been using "Grade " when referring to the classes I am teaching without explain what the conversion is with the British system.
Based on the average ages in each grade:
Grade 8 is the equivalent of Year 9;
Grade 9 is the equivalent of Year 10;
Grade 10 is the equivalent of Year 11;
Grade 11 is the equivalent of Year 12 and
Grade 12 is the equivalent of Year 13.
In Grade 12 they take what they call the Matric and is their pre-University qualification.
Hope this helps!
Based on the average ages in each grade:
Grade 8 is the equivalent of Year 9;
Grade 9 is the equivalent of Year 10;
Grade 10 is the equivalent of Year 11;
Grade 11 is the equivalent of Year 12 and
Grade 12 is the equivalent of Year 13.
In Grade 12 they take what they call the Matric and is their pre-University qualification.
Hope this helps!
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