I went to the US Ambassador's house for a teacher networking reception and met up with Neo from Maun, met teachers doing cool things across the country, arranged to visit more schools in Gaborone, and took pictures with the ambassador.
And that is not why today was an incredible day.
I also met the regional director of Gaborone schools and discussed doing a workshop benefitting 30-60 primary teachers across Gaborone next month.
And that is not why today was an incredible day.
I went over to a friend's house for dinner. Her (southern) husband made homemade fried chicken, six cheese macaroni and cheese, and sweet tea for dinner. It was incredible.
And that still is not why today was an incredible day.
Today, I learned that all my students in kindergarten passed all of their winter benchmarks.
And that makes today absolutely incredible.
What are benchmarks, you may be asking? In kindergarten, each student takes assessments three times a year to track their progress throughout the year. These assessments range from naming letter names and sounds to identifying numbers and more. Each assessment has target numbers, or benchmarks, to show that students are where they need to be in order to be prepared for their next grade.
All of the my students did incredibly well.
So obviously that is great, but why does it make my teacher dance in circles?
Because this means Helen (my teacher aide) and I have worked hard to lay down a foundation for learning in our classroom. This means students know in kindergarten they come to school to have fun, learn, and work hard. This means that while I have been here, Helen was able to continue instilling this philosophy in their young minds and hearts and they were continue to excel. I am so proud of them. And Helen too. And they are in good hands with a good teacher.
And as it turns out, they miss me a little too :)
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