I switched my teaching schedule around so I could attend the kids’ “Student Led Conferences” at their school.  They canceled school so everyone could just focus on the conferences.  These were conferences that the kids had been preparing for days.  They were excited to show what they had prepared; not the teacher.  They had the opportunity to choose what they would share with me, what activities we would do together in their classroom, etc.  Each of the kids were so proud of their work, their accomplishments, the things they’d learned, etc.  I was so pleased to see more of the teaching methods that they use at the school too.  It’s all inquiry based learning, done independently or in small groups.  Everything is driven by curiosity.  The kids ask a lot of questions about a certain topic first, and then they research the answers.  They acknowledge when they learn things that they had not questioned as well.  There are no “cookie cutter” ways of presenting their projects either.  I’m used to seeing a classroom full of identically completed assignments displayed around the room, even in rooms of older children.  So I enjoyed seeing how all of the students, especially my own children, were able to express themselves through the presentation of what they had learned.  And I think one of the greatest skills the kids have learned is “reflection,”--how to reflect.  For each assignment, large or small, they had written a reflection on how the project/assignment went—what they enjoyed or didn’t enjoy, what they found to be difficult or easy, what questions they still weren’t able to answer, what they would differently or the same next time, how it was working in their group, etc.  The teachers also provided parents with suggestions of thoughtful questions we could ask during our child’s presentation to stimulate more reflection:  What project are you the most/least proud of and why?  What area do you think you struggled with at the beginning of the year but find easier now?  Why is it easier now?  What do you like/dislike about ______?  I was expecting to hear, “I don’t know” with a shrug of their shoulders.  But the kids actually had thoughtful answers to share, which I loved.  I could tell that the kids loved sharing as they pulled me around the room and said, “Oh, and come see this mom!”  It’s rare that they get one on one time in their own classroom with a parent to share what they have learned away from home, for months.  I walked away exhausted, but grateful that I had this time with each of them without anyone or anything else calling for my attention.

Here the kids are playing on the playground, killing time before the conferences started.

 Rhea's classroom.  She read me a book and showed me the painting area.  She quickly picked up a paintbrush and paint, and without missing a beat, started painting an American flag.  :)

  Ms. Kerrise--Rhea loves her!

Thomas has Mr. Aongus this year.  It tells you something when your child asks you if we can have his teacher over for dinner.  :)  Here we are looking at Thomas' portfolio that he had put together.

 I love this wall where they kids wrote their questions, "connections," and opinions on a topic they had been learning about.  The topic on this board was "Changes in the Earth and its atmosphere impact people's lives."  Next to it are pictures that the kids drew of half of themselves to complete their face.  Not bad!  :)

 Here Thomas is preparing a math game to play with me.

 Savvy showing off the original and photo copy of her self portrait.

After taking me around the room, she picked one of her favorite books to read to me:  "One," by Kathryn Otoshi.

 Ms. Ruth, another blessed teacher.  That makes three out of three!  

Savvy's Angolan Portuguese teacher, Ms. Loide.

 Art class--this was a huge room with projects covering almost every inch of the room.

 Monkey Thomas that surprised me when I came out of the art class.  Hopefully the principal didn't see him.  :)

 The P.E. gymnasium:

 We had our LDS district conference last weekend with all of the branches from the area.  It was held in a covered outdoor movie theater.  A first time for us.  Fun ambiance, but very hot and humid!  Within 10 minutes of being seated, Rhea and I put our hair up in ponytails so we could cool off.  Briant sang in the choir, so he sat up on the stage.   

Here's Thomas with his earphones on, ready to go.  We wear these every week during sacrament at church to hear the meeting translated into English.  We wish we didn't need them, but we're grateful we have people that will translate for us and we're grateful for those that purchased the expensive transmitter/headphone sets!

The kids and I sat in the congregation and visited with a few people from the branch.  One sister brought her niece, Angel, to meet us.  Angel is eight years old like Savannah, so they became instant friends and sat next to each other.  Somehow, despite speaking different languages, they communicated through whispers back and forth, and drew pictures together. 

We also ran into Augosto, our friend from the branch, and the missionaries

We met Elder Khumbulani Mdletshe from South Africa who spoke in English with a Portuguese translator for the Angolans.  It was nice not to be the ones needing a translator!  He was so nice and quickly reached out to the kids and asked them how they were doing here in Angola.  The kids loved being able to talk to someone in English.  :)  

We also met Sister and Elder Ellis, from the Southeast Africa Area Presidency.  We were excited to meet them because they went to law school with Briant's parents.  In fact, they remember Sister Ellis holding Briant when he was just a baby.  It was fun for them to see him "all grown up" now.  Sister Ellis was especially friendly and had a beautiful bright smile.

On Saturday, we went to the "Forteleza de Sao Miguel."  In Luanda, there are only a handful of "tourist sites" to visit, and this is one of them.  It was built by the Portuguese in 1576.  In the 1600s it was a major port used for slave traffic to Brazil.  As Wikepedia says, "The fort was for many years a self-contained town protected by thick walls encrusted with cannons.  Inside the fort, elaborate ceramic tiles tell the story of Angola from early years, and in the courtyard are large imposing statues of Portugal's first king, the first European to reach Angola, Diogo Cao, renowned explorer Vasco da Gama, and other notables.  Until 1975, the fortress serves as the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Armed Force in Angola.  Today, it holds the Museum of the Armed Forces."

We loved all of the views of Luanda:

Thomas confiscated my sunglasses.  It was a very hot, humid and bright day (nothing out of the ordinary here) so I decided that it was worth giving up my glasses so I didn't have to hear too much whining from the kids.  The glasses got passed around and Rhea got carried by me at one point because she was so tired from the heat.  Bri was off taking pictures.  We had some role reversals going on.  :)

I love this picture because it captures the fort, built in the 1500's, with new construction cranes behind, working on the high rises that are so popular all over Luanda today:

Kids having fun getting their heads squeezed:

     

Cooling off in the air conditioned lobby of the Armed Forces Museum
that we had to ourselves.  As we relaxed, we practiced some Portuguese
and dreamed of being somewhere cold for our next post.  :)

 

Using Thomas' sweat to spike up his hair.  We all could have done that to our hair with the amount we were sweating!