Teaching in Tanzania

I have finished half of a term teaching at an all-girls boarding school. Generally there are 40 students per class, and math classes meet for three 90 minute periods per week. There is one text for every three students, but the students are very good about sharing. Birds and wasps fly in out and out of the classroom, but I am the only one who seems to notice. The students seem a lot like students in the U.S. Some of them take their studies very seriously, and do very well in maths, while others do not study at all, and are failing. Classwork counts for 20% of their grade while their final exam counts for 80% of their grade. Teaching is a lot of fun, and the girls are very helpful, especially with tutoring me in Swahili.

The school starts at 7:45 with a break for porrige for the students and tea for the teachers from 10:45 to 11:00. Lunch is from 1:15 to 2:00 and classes end at 3:30. The students have dinner at 6:00 and must be in bed by 10:00. I really like that I can come back to school at night and offer lessons to help the girls learn material that is difficult for them. One of the real advantages of a boarding school.