Teacher’s Thoughts…

October 13, 2013

I just completed my first full week of teaching here! I feel accomplished. But I think that I may have learned more than my students this week. I don’t think that’s how teaching is supposed to work. Is it?

My form three physics students learned about light refraction through convex and concave lenses. My form one math students learned about significant figures and we started geometry at the end of the week. Every time I teach a lesson, I learn something new about being a teacher, the education system here, Swahili, the students, or myself.

The students, especially the younger form one students, have a really hard time understanding me. This can get very frustrating to me when the cannot do simple tasks that I just explained, or when they can’t answer a simple question on a topic we have just covered. But I have to keep reminding myself that these kids have it way harder than I do. They have to lean from ME! Haha. And it’s easy to calm myself down when I remember that before I got here, they didn’t have a teacher at all. I can’t be such a bad teacher that they would be better off without anyone at all, right? Right???

Emily, Chrissy, Emma, anyone have any thoughts or advice on teaching students who don’t understand English?