On the first day of school I went to school early because I did not want to find the front seats to be occupied due to an overcrowded classroom. In grade one, my preferred seat was in the first or second row. In grade two it was in the first row. The journey of grade three began today. A school assembly was held before the first class.
“Morning, learners!” said the teacher, Mr. Kiboko.
“Yes, good morning, teacher!” the class replied.
“Any new learners, raise up your left hand.”
A number of new learners raised their hands. We always welcomed new learners with a short song. The assembly monitor asked us to welcome our new classmates. We sang:
Welcome, welcome, welcome, friends
The greater our unity, the happier we are,
The greater our unity, the stronger we are
Cause my friends are your friends, and your friends are my friends
The greater our unity, the happier we are
After the assembly, we went to the classroom, and everyone sat in the seat they wanted to. After we installed ourselves, Mr. Kiboko came in and stood in front of the class. We stood up and greeted him.
“How are you doing today?” asked the teacher.
“We are fine,” we responded in unison.
“That sounds good. So, take a seat.”
Mr. Kiboko walked around the classroom, and after a few minutes he started moving students from the seats they had chosen. There were more than sixty learners in our class, and there were three blocks of benches. I was sitting on the first bench of the second block since I didn’t want to be distracted by too many students next to me.
“Hey, Duluzi! Come here, from now you will sit on this last bench,” the teacher instructed me.
“Since I started school I have never sat back there. Could you please leave me where I am, or move me to another seat close to the chalkboard?” I asked.
“You are among the tallest in the class. If we did that, the learners behind you would not be able to see what is written on the chalkboard,” explained the teacher.
“Please, teacher, I would like to stay here.”
“Eh, don’t waste time. Do it right now!” he shouted.
I went to the seat he indicated. I didn’t insist on discussing it with him, as he seemed impatient. He continued moving students around until the first period was done. The class then started. I was now sitting in the last row of the middle block.
The first week of school went well, and Mr. Kiboko was able to give the lessons clearly and had control over the classroom. But after a month or so, I started having difficulties understanding what he was explaining. To hear what he was saying took too much concentration, and I couldn’t manage it. This was because in each block there were two or three learners who were disruptive. They would constantly make noise, which distracted other learners from the lesson. It was hard for the instructor to control the behavior of these learners while delivering the lesson. Sitting far away from the teacher made me lose focus, which impacted my results negatively. At the end of the first term, I only got forty percent in a class of more than sixty. My stepfather went to collect my school results. He asked numerous questions about the reasons for my poor marks.
Following the conversation with my stepfather, Mr. Kiboko decided to take some measures. When my stepfather came home, he gave me some advice on how to behave during and after class. He said, “A poor result does not mean that you are not smart, it means that your focus, strategy, and effort need to change for the better. Think of the things that made you distracted in class and avoid doing them. The teacher and I can help, but if you want to improve, a lot will depend on you.”
The day we went back to school, Mr. Kiboko moved the learners who had received unsatisfactory marks, including me, to different seats. “Duluzi, from now on you will sit in the first row of the first block, close to the wall,” the teacher said. “Here you will be closer to the chalkboard, but not obstruct others from reading what is written on the chalkboard, as you are taller than most of your classmates.”
We started the second term, some of us with new seats that were difficult to adapt to. I was used to my old seat and started missing it: the people there, the noise, and above all the jokes. Most of the time I was not focused. I kept turning my head.
At the end of the second term, my results improved, but I was still failing. But at the end of the year, I passed the class with a percentage above the class average. I was among the best performers. I had finally taken the advice given to me by my teacher and stepfather. Among other things, I realized that I needed the support of my classmates if I didn’t understand a subject.
