Circles and Circimference

I taught grade six yesterday. A bunch of bubbling twelve year olds, not at all excited about circles and circumference. Even I wasn't excited about circles and circumference. But they have a huge country-wide test on Thursday and Friday that determines the high school they get accepted into and essentially much of the rest of their life.

They were laughing and playing throughout the entire lesson as twelve year olds do, until their teacher finally became frustrated and left, instructing them to get her when they were ready to learn.

I was sitting within earshot, curious to see their next move. Several children rose from their seats to resume the duty of the teacher, but soon realized they had no idea how to do any of the examples in their books and retreated back to their seat.

"Miss Amber?" I soon heard. "Can you come a teach?"

I rose apprehensively from my seat and made my way over to their table. Circles and circumference...how can I put this in twelve year old terms? So I jumped in...and they listened and still laughed and goofed off, but were actually answering my questions and actually learning!

Learning.

It was pretty much a Christmas miracle, as far as I was concerned...these children barely have pencils to write with, but despite it all, are still energetic, innocent and want to learn. And about an hour later, their teacher walked back in, relieved they were actually working and thrilled that they had learned the material. I had won them for the rest of the day, if I wanted them, she told me. So they were mine, and we talked about which high school they wanted to attend and why, along with more on circles and diameter. I think I even recall me saying at least once "Practice makes perfect" (thanks mom) and I never enjoyed the topic more. Their innocent energy made me laugh, but they also made me proud and impressed me, as they really tried their best, despite the issues of poverty they face daily.

I smiled as they celebrated a correct answer with a victory dance or kissed their teeth with an wrong one.

They giggled when I wiped chalk on my forehead. They also loved to continually measure their height against mine...me mostly being on losing end of that game.

But it was a beautiful day and refreshed me, despite the difficulty in keeping their attention at times. Nothing spectacular happened. It was an ordinary day in many ways. I just taught grade six. And I was happy.