Every morning I wake up at five o'clock, switch on the light and make sure that the time is right. I quickly go downstairs to brush my hair before going to the bathroom to wash my face and gurgle then proceed to the kitchen to do my breakfast. I only have a cup of oatmeal with milk and a little sugar, so it doesn't take too much time to prepare my breakfast. While having my cup of oatmeal, I switch on the television to watch the morning news.

After breakfast, I proceed to the bathroom and have my bath. It would be exactly six o'clock when I finish with myself. Before leaving the house, I make sure every window is closed and locked. I walk a few meters to get a ride since I have no car to use in going to work. I commute everyday.

At seven o'clock I would be in my sister's house which is near our school. I work with my sister so she helps me prepare paper works for the children. At seven thirty, we would be walking to school. Some children are already in school when we arrive. They would sometimes come to meet me and give me a peck on the cheeks. I love arriving in school early and finding the small children already in school and smiling as they greet me. They are such an inspiration in life.

I start fixing the chairs and tables for the children. Early children are giving writing exercises so as to make them busy instead of making noise. They are all good and well-behaved and I love watching them as they work and as they play. I start my class with a short prayer everyday. Then we have ten minutes singing to prepare the children for the lessons of the day.
After that I give the children books to read. I love teaching oral reading to small children. Children learn sight reading easier if teachers let them read loudly and hear the sound of words. Aside from learning better they enjoy reading with their classmates. Children love to compete and show off what they know. And oral reading is good for them as the hear how their classmates read. If they don't know how to read, they would try hard to learn because they don't want to be left behind.

I give graded exercises everyday after each lecture. I let them recite one by one making sure they understood the lesson. Teaching is fun especially if the children show progress in their learning process. As a teacher I make sure the early morning is spent with greetings and songs so as to make the children enjoy the day.

A teacher's morning is better than the rest of the day. If the teacher is well organized, the morning would go on smoothly and the students would also feel comfortable doing their activities. There are lots of works in the morning as aside from their school works this is also time for the children to have their snack time. I serve snacks to the children and I often encounter spilled water or juice and foods sometimes thrown across the table. Some children would complain that they don't want the food and I have to try to talk to them and make them eat their food.

Before twelve o'clock, I would be too tired to eat my lunch but I have enjoyed teaching and guiding the children and it is an achievement to see them learn what was taught to them on that day. As I close the door and sit down to have my lunch, the different sounds they make are all that fills my mind and what performance each child has done in the class is what occupies my memory everyday as I retire in my room and go to sleep.

Learn more about this author, Rich Rivers.
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