Intro to My Schools & Teaching

For the first few days at school, I just met all of the English teachers and observed some of their classes. From what I can tell, the coursework will be pretty random. In one class I just introduced myself and had them ask me questions about American life/teenagers. Some of my favorite questions: “Did you have fun at your Prom? … Did you have an after-school job? … Do you know Green Day? … Is San Francisco a nice city?” I LOVE the random facts that they know about the US, and it’s pretty fun to be a representative of young-American culture. The second day I was here the school held a race for all the students at a nearby park; they had to get sponsors in advance who agreed to pay $ for each lap of the track that they completed … going to benefit education in Mali. It was a bit strange since I didn’t know anyone, but I ran with one of the groups anyway. Apparently the principal is a runner and was out there in full spandex running gear, something we probably wouldn’t see at an American high school. As assistants we are supposed to work 12 hours a week total in the classroom, so I’ve been told that I’ll have 4 hours at my high school, 6 hours at the technical high school next door, and 2 hours at a school for handicapped students. I think it will be great because all 3 schools will be very different; the school where I’m living, in the picture above, is the top public high school in the area so the students should be pretty motivated; at the technical school, I think the level of English will be a little bit lower but I’m not sure; and I really have no idea what to expect at the school for the impaired students. We still have a full week of classroom observation before our schedules are determined and we start teaching. However, one teacher already told me that she would like me to organize a PROM in December for 400 students!! When they teach lessons about the differences between French & American teenagers, the topic of prom always comes up and apparently they are very intrigued by it. So that is my big project for the semester … feel free to send me ideas!!