First Week of Teaching

This past week we conducted the Teaching Practicum portion of our orientation.  For this, each day we walked down the road to a nearby secondary school, and each one of us in the WorldTeach group prepared a 40 minute English lesson to teach one of the classes.  It was the first time we had an opportunity to put what we have learned from our orientation sessions into practice.  It was also my first time that I have ever formally taught a lesson to a full class of students before.

Each day was a challenge, but also extremely rewarding as we got to test our newly learned teaching skills, and also prepare us for the many trials as new teachers that we have ahead of us.  For this week, we were partnered up with another volunteer, and individually we presented our lessons to a different level class each day.  As we entered the classroom, the students would quiet down and then rise to greet us with a warm and enthusiastic “Good Morning!”  With each lesson, we faced many ups and downs, and were able to learn from many of our mistakes and also successes teaching in front of a class for the first time.

It was interesting to observe our colleagues teach, and receive feedback about our lessons, but also to get a first glimpse at how a typical Tanzanian secondary school operates.  Each class was filled with at least 40 students (usually upwards of 50).  The classrooms themselves were large, but not in excellent condition by any standards.  Often we found that the students did not have adequate supplies for us to successfully complete our lessons.  Later we learned it’s because they have to pay for all of the supplies themselves, which many of them cannot afford since they already have to pay for tuition to attend the school.  Also with the large classes, what most of us found difficult was to gage the level of their English speaking ability, and the ability to comprehend much of what we were teaching them.  In most classes, there were a few students who were very well learned in English, and also other students who had a much more difficult time understanding our lessons and activities.  All of this was great practice and preparation for us and it provided us with a thorough understanding of what is in store for us when we arrive at our permanent schools.  From what I hear, Mzumbe Secondary School, where I will be placed, has one of the highest reputations of all secondary schools in Tanzania, so it will most likely be a very different experience teaching there.

Despite the challenges of this first week, I had an amazing time teaching the students at our Practicum site.  I gained an enormous amount of confidence as a new teacher.  After winding down orientation, I feel very well prepared and ready to teach at Mzumbe for the next year.