My New Site

I moved to my new site about a month ago. I have been asked a lot of similar questions about my new life – it is pretty boring information, but here are the basic details: 

I am still teaching math(s) and life skills, but now at a high school instead of a secondary school. A secondary school comprises of 8^th, 9^th and 10^th grade (forms A, B and C), while a high school is 11^th and 12^th grade (Forms D and E). However every high school also has a secondary school, so even though people still differentiate between the high school and a secondary school, the term “high school” means that there are both.

Being at a new school, I’ve had to make several adjustments to my schedule and how I can be effective. The school really wanted a life skills teacher, so I teach all 8 classes one (40 minute) period per week. Because the school is fully staffed and there are more than enough teachers for the amount of classes, instead of teaching my own math classes, I co-teach for one double period (40 minutes x2 = 80 minutes) in each class.

Sometimes I feel spread really thin and some classes I have only been to once because of school holidays, field trips, cancelled school for elections, and my personal time to move houses, but this way I can teach new methods to teachers which can be used outside of the time that I am there. I am still getting used to working with the different teachers and grade levels. So far, I think my effectiveness seems to vary based on the teacher I am working with – the better teachers who work harder already are more apt to listen and try new things.

Last week, I finally was able to move into my new home. It is a rondeval, smaller, but still a good size. I also have electricity – a luxury that most volunteers in Lesotho do not have. It is a 2 minute walk to my school and about an hour from the closest town.

I also have a keyhole garden – it’s supposed to be shaped like a keyhole from a birds’ eye view, but mine is more of a Pacman garden. Anyways, it is a raised garden, surrounded by rocks, so you don’t need to bend over or sit on the ground to do your all of the gardening things. I forget what the other benefits are but I think it is supposed to be good for old people. I’m not sure why this is the type of garden that we learned about in PC Training. But there are no chickens or donkeys or sheep or dogs that are going to eat or trample through my garden anyways, so I am very hopeful I will be successful in growing.