Philadelphia has the population of Namibia

…I think this comparison is the closest I’ve come to getting my learners excited about numbers. I realize that statistic is not totally accurate, but it's close enough. 

…And yes, I did just say MY learners! Barbara (the previous PC volunteer) officially ended her PC service and left Tses this weekend. Which means that now I’m a real teacher here at St. Therese!

Since I haven’t done so before, here’s a rough sketch of what my days generally look like:

6:45 staff meeting or morning assembly (once a week with all of the learners)

7:15-1:05 teach! For the remainder of this term, I’m just covering Barbara’s classes, which consist of 2 grade 9 math classes each day, plus some combination of BIS (library) and Arts for grades 8-10. Peace Corps suggests we don’t teach more than 70%, so I have a few free periods every day.

10:10-10:50 Afrikaans class at our sister primary school: my principal arranged for me to join the grade 7 learners in their Afrikaans class. The primary school is literally just across the schoolyard, so it’s easy to get to! It’s a great way to make sure I’m practicing my Afrikaans every day (plus I’m meeting some of my future grade 8 learners)! Technically my school only has tea break from 10-10:30, but I don’t really have any classes period 5 anyway…

After this, my schedule is kind of hazy. After school activities (afternoon study, club meetings, sports, staff meetings) all take place from 3-5 in the afternoon, so many days I’ll be back at school. Yesterday I officially ran my first meeting of our Let’s Speak Out! Club, which is similar to a GLOW club for anyone familiar with that. It’s basically a leadership club for learners interested in combating social problems like bullying, teen sex/pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, litter, etc. It basically covers everything. I have a group of pretty motivated learners though who are really interested in it, and we’re planning a community trash pick up day this Saturday! Whenever I don’t have actual commitments after school though, it means extra time to relax, plan lessons, or wander around Tses on my own.

At night, I’ve been doing some combination of running/working out, studying, planning lessons, reading, etc. And bedtime happens pretty early around here, since 6am wakeups are kinda rough if you stay up late...

Teaching has been going better than I anticipated at this point, honestly! Today for the first time I felt like I really had my classes under control, and the learners have been pretty focused about reviewing for their exams. Impressive since the exams are 3 weeks away and I think mine is the first class they've begun to study in. Teaching math is fun so far though, and the fact that at least SOME of the learners really wanted to learn today is pretty exciting!