Luanda International School

Okay, so today I decided to slowly work myself into the school. I started in Sam's classroom but the teacher really didn't need help until the afternoon so she sent me to the library.

(On a side note, I've heard wonderful things about the librarian so I was anxious to make myself handy.) So Sam escorted me over and I met Mrs. Margaret (the students call everyone by their 1st name).

The library was small but welcoming. I noticed that up front she had a parent section which was very nice. After talking with her and telling her about my teaching experience her eyes lit up. She told me that in 5 minutes a class of Year 5 (4th grade) students was coming in, would I like to read to them? Next thing I know, I'm doing a compare/contrast lesson and checking out books. It was wonderful! The students are amazing!!! They are so polite and smart and it just is so neat to hear their accents and to learn where they are from. Literally all over the world!!

After the class left I noticed a bell sound and ALL of the students in the entire school came out for a 30 minute break. They are allowed a daily break to play, have a snack, whatever! Many came through the library and you can tell that Mrs. Margaret is loved by all. She knows them all by name. It was pretty neat.

The school setting is hard to describe. Each grade level has its own separate building. Just about each grade level has 2 or 3 classrooms. So it is a building with 3 rooms. The doors to the classrooms lead outside to sidewalks and covered patios which take you to the other buildings. Kind of like portable buildings. The center of all the buildings is the cafeteria, office and library. There are also several huts where children sit and have lunch or hang out.

In the afternoon I went back to Sam's class to help with Art. Whew....I was exhausted when I left. The little ones are busy!! After introducing myself and telling the class I was an American, Sam's teacher asked the other kids to raise their hand if they were American. Out of the 20 students, 5 raised their hand. That was a cool feeling!! Other countries represented in her room are Brazil, England, Pakistan and many others.

Here is the website: http://www.lisluanda.com/