I am realizing that my expectations of structure and organization do not translate well to conditions in Tz. The Chem teacher for Form 2, whom I will be teaching for, will not be back until next week – I’m supposed to start teaching on Monday. Since I can’t meet with my teacher or look at the schedule of topics the teacher planned, I went to a different stream (same level of Chem, different time) and looked at the notebooks of the kids. When I compared it to the national syllabus, it appears that the class has finished all of the topics. I suspect the teacher rearranged the order of topics but I don’t know which topics are missing that I should cover. Lesson planning should be interesting for my class on Monday.
We were interviewed today by PC and asked our preferences for site placement. I basically said that I don’t do hot and humid well, would like a small village, and don’t care how far or close I am to other PCVs. I also mentioned that I didn’t care what size school it is but think it could be beneficial for girls to have a female teacher so an all-boys school may not be best. I further made it clear that I only expect O-level (not A-level: Advanced) because I am not qualified in anything beyond geography (Earth Science back home). James, my interviewer, couldn’t believe that I did not take Organic Chemistry and did not choose to teach Chemistry. It seemed news to him that none of us had really chosen the topics we were assigned/invited to teach. I probably should have indicated my desire to exercise regularly and attend church but I’ll figure something out no mater where I am placed.
My micro-teaching today was on topographic maps because I found out that our micro-teaching can be on anything; I chose a topic I know well and it felt good.