My schedule… since the new position…
Since the beginning of the new year, I switched over to a new position at the school. I spoke of it a little in a previous blog post. I am now more of a teacher’s assistant but for all of the teachers and principal at the school. My schedule is completely different from when I was teaching class 5, but it is a good schedule.
The day starts at the school library, which acts as my office, the usual place where teachers can catch me and talk about anything. From 8 – 9 am, I do some devotions and preparation for the day such as picking out books for my read-alouds in the class visits. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I visit the reception (kindergarten) class at 9 am for about an hour. On Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9, I visit class 3. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I visit class 1 from 10 to 11. Then on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, I visit class 2 from 11-12. I’m still working on finding good times to visit the older classes. I hope to be visiting all of the classes at least once a week by the time that I leave Lesotho at the end of June.
In these visits, I take a book from the library and read it aloud in English once or twice depending on time. Then if there is extra time, I sit and observe the class teacher, usually asking questions about the topic after they have finished or giving some encouragement about what they did. This is also a good time to continue building relationships with the teachers.
After and in between visits, I am the school handyman. I fix desk-drawers, desks, shelves, and miscellaneous other things that teachers find broken or damaged in their classrooms. Also, I still have 2 big shelves that I need to build for reception and class 1. The desks in these classrooms do not have shelves built into them, so the children have to put their bags and books on the floor, which creates a big mess in the classroom if the teacher is trying to walk around and look at students’ work. The shelves that I’m building will have compartments in which students can put their bags, basins, shoes, and anything else that otherwise would be strewn about the classroom. In addition, I have a few other projects, including helping teachers with lesson plans or questions about class subjects. I am assisting the reception class teacher in learning math and science so that she can gain better understanding and pass the class C exams in those subjects. The principal just asked me to work on getting all of the doors in the student’s restrooms working again so that the students can have some privacy when they go to the restroom. Most of the doors have fallen off the hinges, so I’m going to try and get them functioning again. I have helped the teachers get pictures and information for posters that they want for their classrooms to help in teaching the children English.
School is out at 2:30, so I’m usually out by then and working on some other personal projects after that. Sometimes I am investigating a topic for someone at the school or for someone at the mission, which is always fun because it broadens my own understanding of things. Also, I have some other building projects for my host family as well as some projects at the mission.
Randall Koehler 