I'm a teacher?

February 22, 2011

So I have been teaching for about a month now and have much more appreciation for the work teachers do. It’s funny to realize that the whole teaching thing was really put on the backburner. I was so enthralled by the idea that I would be going to Africa, meeting new people, becoming a part of a new culture, learning a new language, breaking gender barriers and crossing racial stereotypes that I hardly ever thought about struggling with teaching. In fact, I really never thought about teaching. I just came here expecting the unexpected, but what I should have been doing is thinking about what is to be expected… you’re a volunteer teacher, darling.

So I go to school and teach too many different subjects. I teach computers 8-10 (six classes a week), English grade 7 (seven classes a week), Math grade 9 (5 classes a week), Physical Science 8 and 9 (four classes each grade a week) and 3 PE classes. I have to plan for many different subjects each day and it becomes a bit overwhelming. I have not been preparing properly, but I am doing what I can. I work from 7:30 am to 4 pm each day but I think I need to start asking to stay later because I can not get it all done. All the adults reading this are rolling their eyes like, welcome to my world. Between the creative planning and the marking and recording grades and writing tasks/tests and disciplining and remedial teaching for various subjects, I feel like I can not be the best teacher that I could be. I just keep reassuring myself that I am a first year teacher and this is my first month. In time, I will figure things out.

What is also difficult is the lack of background understanding that the learners have. We are given a syllabus to follow by the Ministry of Education and in many cases it is way too advanced. Specifically for my English grade 7 class and Math grade 9 class. In English, I am expected to be teaching them how to write letters and form appropriate essays, but the learners do not know what a subject or a verb is. They do not know any of the parts of speech so they do not know how to logically form a sentence. Some of them are decent at English. Do not get me wrong, but the passages they are supposed to read and listen to are much too advanced at this level. In Math, I started the year off teaching my grade 9 the multiplication table. None of them knew the multiplication table so I cut out flash cards and we spent 1.5 classes doing the table from 1 to 10. I spent the whole first week testing them and telling them to memorize the flash cards. They have improved a lot since day one, but are still not totally there. They also did not realize that division is the opposite of multiplication. I am not sure if they understand that now, but we had to move on. The syllabus has a lot to cover. They are allowed to use calculators at grade 8 and really depend on them because they were never forced to learn their multiplication table before then. I refuse to let them use calculators and they hate me for it, but their curriculum does not require it at all. They can do all the multiplication/division by hand if they need to. The other grade 9 class is using calculators, but we will see in the end whose class has a better understanding. (I’m praying it’s mine).

I am designing the computer class so the curriculum is all up to me. To anyone who as ever taught computers to amateurs, it is a grueling and slow process because you take your knowledge of the computer for granted.

“Okay class is over so you need to close the window you are working on. You need to close out! Close out! X-out! Close out by clicking the x in the top corner. No, go to the top right corner. Aaye (No), go up, up, to the right, kololyo (to the right in oshiwambo). Yeah, the x, click. No, not the box, click the X. Okay now Log off. Click Start and click Log Off. Again, log off. Log off!.. Okay Tuyenikelao (name of a learner) class is over so you need to close out. Click the x at the top right corner… Nyanukweni (name of a learner) I said you need to close out!...”

Many of the lessons that I plan are way too long, because it takes them a long time to enter their password. Understanding case-sensitive has taken a while but I think they are starting to get ahold of it. We have spent a few classes doing Paint and that has been good practice at gaining control of the mouse. My main goal is to fuel their interest in computers and inspire them to want to learn more. I don’t think I will be able to fully teach them how to type, but I want to teach them how to explore and figure things out on their own.

The language barrier is the hardest part. I stand up in front of the classroom like I am on stage. Cue the circus music…
“Verbs are action words. They are the ‘doing’ in the sentence, like jump (as I jump), or sit (as I sit) or punch (as I punch) or speak (as I point to my lips and my throat and motion outwards) or cry (with my sad face I wipe my fake tears)…”

I look like a sign language interpreter or a mime that can talk. The learners stare at me blankly or laugh at me. They will not remember what a verb is but they enjoy class anyway. I picture myself in their shoes, listening to someone try to teach me in Oshiwambo and how I would feel. Lost.

Sometimes I want to run out of the room I am so discouraged. Sometimes I just want to run. Get me out of here. In the words of Rachel Odhner, “I gotta go.” And I actually might, if my running shoes weren’t stolen in Swakopmund.