Once again this month I am a teacher. (My mom would be proud!) I always thought I wanted to be a teacher growing up….I love kids and even more than that I love seeing a child’s face light up the first time they discover something or learn something new. Not enough however, to be a teacher in real life or so I thought up until this month.
I am teaching 9th graders geography, 8th graders math (to my old math teachers I finally got the hang of it!!) and Bible, and 2nd-5th graders Bible. I think I have learned more from my students than they have learned from me. I have learned about Kenyan geography and political history. We watched the inauguration of their fourth president together. I have refreshed and sharpened my geometry and algebra skills. I have been challenged and learned more about the Bible than I thought possible in three weeks.
Some of the lessons I’ve learned this month from the classroom:
8th grade Bible: We were reviewing the 10 commandments given to Moses. The kids were shouting out the commandments as we listed them on the board. One girl said, “You shouldn’t have sex!!” I said that’s very true but not a commandment, so we continued listing and she continued saying, “You shouldn’t have sex!!” After we had our ten listed she raised her hand and said, “Miss Meghan you didn’t write down you shouldn’t have sex!” So I relented and wrote it on the board.
3rd grade Bible: Somehow our conversation went political and the boys were quick to tell me that President Obama, the first black president from Kenya, had not congratulated their new president 2 days after he was announced the new president.
2nd grade English: My students wrote letters to friends in America hoping to make new friends through pen pals. The letters touched areas of my heart that I didn’t know where there. My favorite line from all the letters is, “My favorite thing to do is love my Jesus.”
Our contact, Mama Catherine informed me the other day my geography students love my class and she is going on her knees before God claiming me to come back to Kenya after the race. So who knows….maybe I will be a teacher after all.
I have learned a lot this month, but my biggest lesson is probably the 11th commandment….Thou shalt not have sex!!
