Summer School

Summer School- Week One

07-20-11

Only three weeks of training left! YAY!

I began summer school on Monday at a school Muslim school called Ahmadiyya. I teach two English sessions each day for two very different classes. The first class is a JSS 3 class, and the largest attendance I’ve had was about 16 students, all around the age of 14. They are surprisingly smart and have great behavior. Summer school here is different than in America, though, it isn’t for kids who did poorly during actual school. The kids in summer school here are trying to get ahead, they have to pay to be in class, so they somewhat ‘want’ to be there; plus, it is also a way for the teachers to make some extra cash (we get no money). On the other end of the spectrum is my second class JSS 1. Monday it was 30 students, Tuesday 63 and the rest of the week 94. Yes, 94 crazy kiddos between the ages 9-17 all squished together, 4 to a desk. 

I knew I was in for a good time when I introduced myself, asked for a student to do the same and he told me he lives in a pineapple. I can’t decide if he’s been watching too much Spongebob, or he meant to say something else...?

I realized it takes too much energy to yell and speak over them so what I started to do is just kick them out, they understood I was serious then.

I am learning a lot, even if my giant class learns one thing from me, I will be happy. Lesson planning is fun, the kids love when I bring in props, so I have been bringing in cut-out pictures and a clothes line with shirts to go over descriptive adjectives and comparing and contrasting. I also know that when I get to site, I have to start by being very strict, and later on be more myself. Some volunteers started out being ‘soft,’ and the class knows that they are the ones in control.