Start of November Update!

Happy start of November! I may or may not be listening to Christmas music while writing this post :)

I wanted to provide an update on the past few days. This weekend, I tried both traditional Ghanaian and Nigerian ice cream and homemade fruit ice cream. Both were delicious! I also had time to rest, recharge, and get to know my host family a bit better. We played a bit of basketball in the yard, and I hadn't realized how different basketball feels when the ground is sandy.

This week at school has been challenging but fun. Due to my short time here and the fact that the school starts exams in late November, I have jumped right into full teaching. This has been a bit stressful as any new teaching experience can be, but the teachers are very supportive. I taught two lessons on Monday, one yesterday, and a new one today. I will be repeating most of the lessons for the rest of the week though which is nice! I am not used to lesson planning for multiple subjects which has been a change, but I have plenty of prep time in the school. The class periods are also longer than I am used to at 80 minutes, so it is challenging for me to fill the time productively. I am proud of myself because I researched the history topic that the students were learning today and then taught an 80-minute lecture on it. During this lecture, I did ask students questions, answer student questions, and encourage participation, but I was pleasantly surprised when the class was over before I finished my presentation, because I was worried that I would have to add extra discussion points at the end of the class period.

Flexibility is a big part of this experience, and I am learning to be more flexible. I am still figuring out which classes are taught on which days (the schedule is confusing to me), so I sometimes have to change lessons to adapt to what has been taught previously or based on different syllabus requirements. The lesson plans that I submitted to SNC last week were not always to what I actually ended up teaching, but I am learning to adapt as I go because that makes me a better teacher. I am also finding ways to connect with the students and learn their names as I get to know the school better.

Possibly the highlight of the past few days is the soccer game that I attended this afternoon. Our students participated in a game against students from another international school, and we were allowed to leave early to watch. I do not know what the score of the game was, but it was entertaining to see the students play while classmates and teachers alike cheered them on enthusiastically. Soccer is a popular sport here, and I am glad that I have been getting to experience it!

I am looking forward to a fun rest of the week and then to the weekend!