All Hands On Deck

You all know that starting a new job is a bit stressful, so many unknowns to manage. Its a little bit harder when you don't feel completely prepared for the job or possibly entirely unprepared. And you can add an order of magnitude to that when your job is in Namibia.

Raise your hand if you have teaching experience. I don't. By my count I'm related to 13 people (parents, sister, aunts, uncles & cousins) who have spent time on the other side of the desk, so I'm counting on some genetics on this one. I've done some tutoring but thats apples and oranges.

Now keep your hand up if you've taught a class of 50-65 learners (Namibian for student) with a high drop out rate, inadequate facilities and resources, throw in "serious learner discipline problems due to teachers' lack of knowledge of alternatives to corporal punishment" and just for good measure expect to do a lot of review because many students are behind from previous grades. Oh yes, you'll have between 30 and 40 class periods weekly. And if that doesn't sound like a challenge, you also have to wear a dress slacks, a collared shirt and a tie!

Believe it or not I didn't make any of that up, those are compiled quotes from my training materials. I'm approaching this as an incredible challenge with limitless opportunity to positively impact my learners. Recent 10th grade testing yielded an 18% average countrywide in math... we'll see what we can do to bring that up a few points or a few dozen points. Yes I can be a bit idealistic when I'm not being cynical.

How about some good news though. The Peace Corps has a two week mock classroom for us to practice in during our training time, and I'll be teaching in English which simplifies things and I get to use numbers which translate a bit easier. I'm exicted about extracurricular activities, I anticipate some frisbee in the schoolyard to divert time from soccer. Classroom genetics are in my favor but faculty vs. students soccer games haven't gone so well for Blackburn teachers in the past. I'll need some help from Perea on that one.

What will I be teaching? Good question, math. Ok, Namibia teaches algebra, geometry and trigonometry together in increasing depth through 8th, 9th and 10th grades. Math isn't required for 11th and 12th grades so most of my learners will come from 8, 9, and 10. Has anybody out there learned math this way? From what I hear there is some good curriculum around the States that uses this method so I need to familiarize myself with the merits of teaching the subjects together.

Any advice on teaching would be wonderful, classroom control in particular. Also if you've had to wear a tie to work everyday I could use some moral support for that one too.