Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Deja vu

The new term has started and everything is getting right back on track. This year seems to be starting a lot better than last year. I’ve given up trying to motivate the all kids by becoming a mentor to them. The overwhelming majority just don’t care. I have a few that seem to be following my example though they aren’t in my classes anymore. This year I have grade 8 physical science and math, and a grade 10 physical science. My classes are pretty well behaved so far but it’s early in the year. Last year I made a rookie teacher mistake by being too lenient in the beginning. It’s a lot harder to be a hard ass to a bunch of people you don’t know than you’d think. After getting a taste of undisciplined children last year, it’s become much easier to be a hard ass to the kids. I see the ones who are most likely to cause problems and try to stop it early. Everyone in Peace Corps says your second year gets easier and it couldn’t be truer. I know what to expect from the staff and from the learners. I know what to do if the power goes out. I also know what to do when everything completely changes in the middle of the day for no apparent reason. Last year I tried to be the model of professionalism and certainty, always being on time to classes and being annoyed when a staff meeting went over or started late. I was trying to be the rock in the middle of the river. Slowly, over time, I’ve learned to be a piece of drift wood instead and just go with it. It’s not easy to do. In the US we are so used to the rigidity of our educational system that it’s hard to break into a fluid system.
This rainy season is not like last year’s rainy season. Last year it rained nearly every day and once or twice I woke up to find a seasonal river going through the town. This year the rain has been more sporadic. It will rain about four or five times in a week and then it won’t rain at all for a week. I love the rain here. It slows everything down and cools everything off. The only problem with the rain is when the power goes out but even then you just eat a can of beans and read by candle light.
Athletics (track and field) has begun for the year. The entire school is broken into teams and forced to compete against each other. Even if you hate sports its compulsory. I don’t quite understand why they make it compulsory, but they do. I see the same problems this year that I saw last year. For instance, no one hydrates. Before races the runners are given sugary juices and maybe a Gatorade, but not water. As a result some of the competitors collapse upon finishing the race or right before the finishing line.
Within the first three weeks of school starting we have had two teachers resign from their posts. One was a grade 6-8 math teacher and the other was grade 8-10 life science teacher. This creates a rather large dilemma because both were put on the time table (schedule) and now all the other teachers will have to cover for them. Hopefully we will be able to replace them soon but I’m not overly optimistic. Most likely all of their classes will be given to other teachers and we will continue as normally as possible. However, the other problem is, I leave in October and all of my classes will also need to be divided amongst the teachers. Imagine needing to split three teachers’ workloads on the rest of the teachers at a school. It’s not fun for anyone.

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