N: Homeroom

Middle school was a time that I did not enjoy very much.  It was fine.  The other people in my grade didn’t pick on me, it was those that were in the grade ahead of me that saw me as an easy target.  Can’t blame them too much though, I would’ve picked on someone too if they were younger, cooler, better looking, and a real athlete (cross country and soccer.)  :)

Every morning a group of about 25 of us would meet in a room on the 10th floor for about 20 minutes.  A teacher would facilitate the time by taking roll, passing along any announcements, and sharing with the class a devotional.  Homeroom, we called it.

As I stroll to my office at about 7:30 each morning here in Yinchuan for my 8-o-clock classes, the college classrooms already have a slight buzz to them.  Students are studying, prepping for the day, practicing dialogues, and working on homework in a classroom that has been assigned to them by the school.  There aren’t enough classrooms for every class to have a “homeroom” so Juniors and Seniors are on their own, responsible for finding an empty seat in whatever classroom they choose.

Classes that have been given a room for their use often decorate it with signs and posters.  In the English department, many classes choose English slogans or phrases to encourage them in their learning.  Sometimes they will use materials from one of their classes to put on the wall.  Remember K’s book class?  For a final review last semester, she gave each student a picture from a Children’s Sunday School book.  Each picture was colored by the individual student and then the student had to stand up and tell the story.  30 pictures = 30 stories.  Lots of review!  Those students chose to put the pictures in chronological order on the wall of their homeroom. 

I snapped a couple pictures of some of the student decorations.