Teaching

So here I was, a fresh a teacher as can be, finishing my teacher’s exam only 24 hours before boarding the plane to Kenya in December. I have never taught in Primary School before, and I really didn’t have much idea of what level these children in Standard 5 would have. I had been warned about large classes and badly equipped schools, but my main concern was about the pupils. Would they understand my English – or any English at all? In the Kenyan Schools, the pupils are taught in Swahili in their first three years, and then only in English from Standard 4. I still would have to argue that many of the children in my classes don’t understand much English, but I don’t know whether to blame it on the school system, the teachers, the pupils, the curriculum or something completely different. In any case, I will do my very best these months. And if there are someone out there who has a lot – or any – experience in teaching English as a foreign language to children who has almost no resources, then PLEASE! give me some ideas. I would be most grateful to any advice you might have. The school does not have enough money to buy books for everyone, so my 80 pupils share a total of 15 English Text books. That means that I have to collect the books after each period, because I need the same books in the other class in the next period. And that implies that it is very difficult to give any kind of homework which requires the textbook. And even with all these obstacles, I must say that I do like my job, and I would not change Tonongoi with any Norwegian, well-functioning school this year.