School!

So, my dad gave me the idea to blog about what school is like here in Tanzania. It is VERY different from school at home. Here are a few questions my dad asked me, and my answers. Enjoy!

-- Do you do a lot of oral exercises? What are they like? I am assuming you don't have much in the line of books and paper.

A typical class period usually consists of the teacher (me or whoever) giving direct instruction. AKA: the teacher will talk and write on the chalkboard while the students take notes. For some reason the students love taking notes. (My guess is that a lot of that has to do with the fact that all instruction is in English, and it’s easier to understand when you are able to see it written down).

Personally, I like to actually make my students physically do something during the lesson (along with the taking notes part). For example: standing up to demonstrate something, or working together on an activity in groups. Today I made my students act out a sentence from the book we are reading. (I made this poor student stand up and demonstrate “She started cultivating the land. Her hoe went up and down, up and down, up and down”) Haha!

There really aren’t many “school supplies” that are available in the classroom. There are chairs, desks and a chalkboard … that’s it. The students have notebooks for each subject, and pens. If a teacher wants to read a book for class, there usually aren’t enough copies for everyone. For example, right now we’re reading a simple, 6-chapter book called “Mabala the Farmer” in my Form II classes. There are only 11 copies for the entire class (about 25-30 students) – so, they have to share.

-- What kind of things are you studying? Is it basic grammar like tenses and pronouns, or maybe everyday conversion like hello and how are you? Or maybe topics like colors or numbers? Current events? Books like A Prayer for Owen Meany?

Because I’m teaching the younger students (Form I and Form II), they started off with the introduction stuff (hello … how are you), and are studying mostly grammar … tenses, pronouns, articles, etc. My job is to focus on “spoken English” with my students … so we try to work on our speaking skills using the grammar they’re learning.
Because I haven’t done anything with English grammar since high school, I’m learning probably just as much as the students are! Haha … ok maybe not … but a lot of the “grammar” stuff I’ve forgotten, so it’s nice to get a little refresher.

-- How well do the kids know English already? Do most speak at a 5 year old level or high school level or at a PhD level like dear old Dad? Are they very varied in their abilities?

The ability of my student’s English really varies. Some speak English really well, and understand a lot. Some, however, don’t understand anything and really struggle. I’d say on average they speak better than a 5 year old … maybe 10 ish? I’m not sure, it’s hard to gage because it varies so much from person to person.

-- What do you do for fun in the class? Do you teach outside or play games or sing English songs?

Like I said, most of the teachers just give direct instruction in the class, but I’d rather have the students do something. I haven’t taught outside (but I’ve thought of it)! I haven’t sung songs (yet), but James has! I have played games, though!
One of my first lessons we played Simon Says with the basic classroom instructions we learned that day. (i.e., Simon Says sit down, Simon Says close the door, Simon Says write this down … etc). The students LOVED this game once they got the hang of it. It was a little difficult communicating instructions in my horrible Swahili, but the caught on. Not all my lessons have been that fun, though. Haha, we don’t play Simon says every day.

-- Do you ever explain things to them in Swahili?

Yes. I usually start explaining something in English, and then just to make sure they understand it try to say it in Swahili as well. Most of the students are still shocked when I start saying something in Swahili, or using the Swahili word instead of the English word. Haha, so that’s fun.

-- Is there homework? Report cards?

Homework and grades are very different here. Yes, the students have homework. For example, sometimes they might be required to write a paragraph, or memorize a passage, but most of the time they are just supposed to study what they learn in class. Teachers often collect the student’s notebooks to go through and mark them, making sure they are taking notes and doing their assignments.

To be honest, I haven’t quite gotten used to the grading here. There are National tests at the end of the school year for Form II and Form IV students. These tests are really difficult, and many students struggle. Because of this (I believe), the grading here is very hard (to prepare them for the hard National tests). On average, only one or 2 students per grade get “A’s” on the tests, a handful get “B’s”, and most get “C’s” or “D’s.” I’ve kind of had to switch my thinking to the idea that getting a B for most students is an accomplishment.

So, there ya have it! Obviously I’m not an expert on these things (I’ve only been here 5 months), but those are just my opinions on what I’ve noticed/picked up on during my time here. There are some things I will miss about school here, but overall it’ll be nice to get back to teaching in America where I understand everything completely!