My last post, unfortunately, had not much to bode about my professional life here in Ethiopia. Oh, how the tides have turned!
Last Saturday I attended a teacher meeting that included all of the teachers in my cluster! At the beginning of every school year my cluster heads and teachers come together to discuss the failures and strengths of the previous year and what they can do to move forward. The meetings were in Tigrinya but I was able to introduce myself to every school (at first in Tigrinya then I switched to English due to my lack of skills after what my name is and how old I am) and tell them why I am here in Ethiopia. Most seemed excited at having me here to help and others were even more excited to see Peace Corps in their lives again because they had them as English teachers when they were children. I felt very appreciative for the opportunity to meet all the educators I will hopefully be able to work with at one time or another.
School officially began this week and I turned up bright and early to see about 1500 smiling students welcoming me to their school. The first day was mostly checking that all the students who were registered were actually present and in their proper class. But soon after my arrival some chaos ensued. Apparently some of the teachers thought they were free to leave once they checked their students into their registry so the supervisors were obviously infuriated. A whole day of school wasted. On the bright side the students are registered and ready to begin the school year, albeit a day later than originally scheduled.
I was able to watch the day unfold and try to understand how the administration of the school works and how the schedule is ran. I also was pleasantly surprised to have seen my new office! It is directly beside the principal and directors' office. I have a very large space and a window with a lovely view of the campus. I can not wait to put up materials and begin my work from there.
This week and the next coming weeks will be geared towards observation. I will be observing the teachers and faculty so I can be better acquainted with the processes of Ethiopian Education and the processes of my cluster schools. I will be attending the English classes and observing how often the teachers speak English or Tigrinya, how they manage their classrooms, whether or not they have a good grasp of grammar and mechanics and what their teaching methods are and how they effective they are.
The coming weeks will prove to be more challenging and faster paced than the previous two weeks and I am looking forward to all that we will learn.
On to the social side of life.
Last night Scott and I had the good fortune to have dinner with a currently serving VSO volunteer from Great Britain, named Valerie. She works at our Education Zonal Office and has a very pleasant demeanor that I will personally be thrilled to dine with again. Along with Valerie came two world traveling German fellows, Rodney and Felix. They have now been all over Asia and are traveling through Africa. This was the first time we were able to flaunt our knowledge on all things Ethiopia. We felt very much like know-it-all's and it brought home all that we have learned and how Ethiopia seems more than ever to feel like home.
I know we will keep meeting people from all over the world and I know that this will add to our, already expansive and expanding, life altering experience. Its only been four months and we have 23 to go.
Last Saturday I attended a teacher meeting that included all of the teachers in my cluster! At the beginning of every school year my cluster heads and teachers come together to discuss the failures and strengths of the previous year and what they can do to move forward. The meetings were in Tigrinya but I was able to introduce myself to every school (at first in Tigrinya then I switched to English due to my lack of skills after what my name is and how old I am) and tell them why I am here in Ethiopia. Most seemed excited at having me here to help and others were even more excited to see Peace Corps in their lives again because they had them as English teachers when they were children. I felt very appreciative for the opportunity to meet all the educators I will hopefully be able to work with at one time or another.
School officially began this week and I turned up bright and early to see about 1500 smiling students welcoming me to their school. The first day was mostly checking that all the students who were registered were actually present and in their proper class. But soon after my arrival some chaos ensued. Apparently some of the teachers thought they were free to leave once they checked their students into their registry so the supervisors were obviously infuriated. A whole day of school wasted. On the bright side the students are registered and ready to begin the school year, albeit a day later than originally scheduled.
I was able to watch the day unfold and try to understand how the administration of the school works and how the schedule is ran. I also was pleasantly surprised to have seen my new office! It is directly beside the principal and directors' office. I have a very large space and a window with a lovely view of the campus. I can not wait to put up materials and begin my work from there.
This week and the next coming weeks will be geared towards observation. I will be observing the teachers and faculty so I can be better acquainted with the processes of Ethiopian Education and the processes of my cluster schools. I will be attending the English classes and observing how often the teachers speak English or Tigrinya, how they manage their classrooms, whether or not they have a good grasp of grammar and mechanics and what their teaching methods are and how they effective they are.
The coming weeks will prove to be more challenging and faster paced than the previous two weeks and I am looking forward to all that we will learn.
On to the social side of life.
Last night Scott and I had the good fortune to have dinner with a currently serving VSO volunteer from Great Britain, named Valerie. She works at our Education Zonal Office and has a very pleasant demeanor that I will personally be thrilled to dine with again. Along with Valerie came two world traveling German fellows, Rodney and Felix. They have now been all over Asia and are traveling through Africa. This was the first time we were able to flaunt our knowledge on all things Ethiopia. We felt very much like know-it-all's and it brought home all that we have learned and how Ethiopia seems more than ever to feel like home.
I know we will keep meeting people from all over the world and I know that this will add to our, already expansive and expanding, life altering experience. Its only been four months and we have 23 to go.
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