School started for teachers the week before last. It was really exciting to get
in and start setting things up! This is my lovely classroom, looking all ready for students:
Actually, preparation week turned out to be a rather frustrating week!
[teacher talk begins] Being the only Aussie became quite
evident.....curriculum in America-land (or America-land combined with
Tanzania-land?) = loads and loads of textbooks/workbooks....even for the little
kiddies! The standards are there, but we don't get much choice in how we
meet each standard. Each time we went through another curriculum area and
I walked away with another stack of books, I had to hold my tongue (sometimes
not so effectively) and accept that this is how I am to teach. It was probably made worse by the fact that I am teaching 3 grades across 4
subjects. My textbook stack is seriously impressive!
After getting over initial frustrations it was super exciting to meet my
class this last week. I have only 9 students (teachers of the world, be
jealous) and a full-time teacher assistant. Not only that, but my
students are really focused and eager to learn. I hardly know what to do
with myself! I really do love it though. Grace, my teacher
assistant is such a wonderful teacher and often takes groups on her own.
I also get to teach drama 2 afternoons a week for all students from K to
8. It's so nice to get to know the little ones as well.
 |
| My students working hard! |
As you can see, my head is well and truly in school mode. Here are
some more pics of the last 2 weeks...all, of course, pics of school!
God's blessings. More updates soon.....perhaps on something other than school???
xxx
