MOTA 4: Ferris Bueller & The Hopeful Pants

            As
I stated in the last blog, I realized after the second day of school that I had
taken on the role of the grade 5 teacher. As much as I wanted to teach and get
to know the kids, I knew I was definitely not prepared to walk into the
classroom and spend all day with them on such little material. After a few
days, I finally found a class roster, but I couldn’t pronounce any of their
names. I quickly learned that the principal didn’t deem it necessary to be
present on a daily basis, and not only was punctually not valued or enforced, neither
was presence. We were often the
first ones to school, and I always came prepared to teach as long as possible.

            On
the second day, I started off by teaching science. (I grew to love the subject
and enjoyed using creativity in class and always brought in different types of
examples to explain the processes.) After science, no one else came in to
teach, so I continued with math, which I also eventually began to enjoy. After
a few hours, I realized no one was coming.

            I
walked into the teacher’s lounge and said, “Hey, uh, who is supposed to teach
grade 5 today?” The silence was deafening. A few of the teachers were listening
to their IPods and sipping coffee, and the ones that looked at me in
acknowledgement simply stared for a moment and then put their heads back down.
I went back to class and stayed with the students all day.

            The
next day, it was the same story. I walked in the teacher’s lounge asking, “So,
who has grade 5 today? English? SiSwati? Social Studies? No one?” After about
60 seconds of silence, Emily chimed in and said, “Bueller?!” We giggled to
ourselves and I simply returned to the classroom to teach for the rest of the
day. It became a daily routine. I would ask if anyone was coming to teach, and
no one would respond until Emily would break the silence with, “Uh, Bueller?”
No one else seemed entertained by our clever joke.

            However,
today was a new day! His name is Mr. Smidane, and he is the new grade 5
teacher. The principal has been speaking of his arrival, and today he finally
came. He is punctual, responsible, and walks into the school with a positive
attitude and a smile on his face. He is so eager to start teaching and he is
actually giving the math test I wrote tomorrow. He has started working with the
others on writing a schedule for the students and that means that the students
will be instructed on every subject.