Finishing the day

 If I only have afternoon classes, then I either work on my computer or work on organizing the library while Mary teaches her classes in the lab. If there are Grade 8 Physical Science classes that morning, I go and teach the lesson I’ve planned (we just finished studying Gases in the Air). At 10:10 we have our lunch break and I eat my pb&j and Clementine. Some learners come and ask if they can work in the lab- I let a few older ones that are doing homework come in and I tell the younger learners they must go play, eat, and use the bathroom instead. After break I have ICT classes, where I teach the same lesson over and over until everyone has heard it and I am so sick of teaching it that I am sure it is no longer (if it ever was) interesting.

I only see each ICT class twice a week, and because of the limits of computers, I feel like I have been teaching the same lesson for the past 3 weeks. I wanted them to practice the formatting tools we’ve learned in Microsoft Office Word, but I had no idea how long it would take them each to write the letters I assigned.

After classes are over at 2:00 the computer lab is open for one hour for learners who need to do homework. Mondays thru Wednesdays I keep it open until 4 since the older learners are in study until 3:20. During this time I help learners print research, get the computers started, and kick out learners who are not doing work. It is probably the most exhausting part of the day. When it’s time to close up I send all the learners away, help the few stragglers who need it, close all the windows, lock up the lab and library, and change back into my Chacos. Mary and I walk home, I justify waiting another day to buy more groceries (I can eat soup one more day!), walk past the pharmacy, turn onto the street, I look for my footprints in the sand from the morning, greet people as we pass, and arrive home. As soon as I get in the door I wash my hands, rinse the dirt off my feet, get a glass of water or juice from the fridge, change out of my dress pants or skirts into shorts, and if I plan on wearing my shirt again before doing laundry, I change into a t-shirt, then collapse on the bed.

I read a bit, cook my dinner, work a little on my puzzle, look over my schedule for the next day, maybe take a shower, get ready for bed, take my malaria medicine, set my alarm, read a chapter or two in my book, turn on UP on my computer, set a timer, roll over, and fall asleep.