School Days

Its occurred to me that I haven't written at all about my day-to-day work here. Now 4 weeks in, its probably time...

At the beginning there was lots of cleaning and building and fixing. We cleaned the classrooms of the school, reorganized them, rebuilt broken desks and chairs. We cleaned out the old dorm room, which were actually classrooms, used as temporary dorms while the proper dorm buildings were under construction.

We also stocked the library; AT received a shipment of some 20,000 books from an organization called “Books for Africa,” and the boxes and boxes of books needed to be unpacked and sorted. We created several shelves of “haram” or “forbidden” books in the teacher's lounge. Books with references to sexuality or other sensitive topics belong there.

We have built and are building more bookshelves and desks and benches. Most recently, we've cleared out the building that is to house the science labs of last year's leftovers – the building was used as the temporary girl's dormitory. Now the girls are in their own (absolutely lovely) dorm, and the science building is clear and ready to be filled with equipment and chemicals and specimens and students. Part of my job as science (Biology) teacher is to aid the department head and physics teacher, Daniel, in stocking the lab. This means, essentially, building the lab up from scratch. We've laid out a wish-list “floor plan,” and now we need to order proper lab benches and counters, and ensure the right type of sinks are installed. We need to make sure that electrical outlets are built into each lab bench. We need to order all of the equipment necessary to make the science program at AT competitive with the best science programs at Western high schools.

As classes are starting on Tuesday (9/28), we must accept that the science labs will not be completely ready for the students this year. I'm brainstorming lots of ways to introduce students to experimental methods without the fancy equipment. By starting out the year with a unit on ecology, I hope to show my students that the entire outdoor environment here is our laboratory. Wish me luck.

In addition to preparing the physical lay-out of the school, library, laboratories, and even the dorms, all of the teachers here have been busy planning out curriculums. We are using US, GCSE, and other sources – AP and Teach-for-America – to create academic programs in each of our subjects that will prepare students to compete well on the SAT, and enter Western colleges on par with their peers from the best college-prep schools in the world.

I will be teaching Biology, yes, and a 9th-grade Geometry course too, and so far I've been planning out diagnostic tests and long-term plans in accord with the resources available here. It is fun to look back at material mastered long ago, and know that I can teach it with confidence. It is also fun to think that I have the chance to not do those things that annoyed me so much as a student in the past.

Fortunately I've had a chance to sharpen my teaching skills with a 2-week program here designed to immerse the AT Finance University students in English before the start of their fall term. I co-taught courses on Logic and Study Skills, and found (to my surprise) that I really, really, really loved the whole thing. I did not anticipate that I would enjoy the process of teaching nearly as much as I do. I completely underestimated the extent to which I would become invested in the student's success, and I did not realize how much I would value their respect and trust.

The students here are everything I'd silently hoped for and more. They are very warm and welcoming. They use the term “Teacher” as a title, such that whenever a student is speaking with me they say, “Teacher, would you please....” or “Teacher what is....” Or “Teacher do you like....”

Watching the students interact with one another is one of the more endearing behaviors I've witnessed. They outwardly display their friendly affection through platonic physical contact. They are always hanging onto each others shoulders, walking arm in arm, or even holding hands – boys with boys, girls with girls. Picture this: A group of strong, healthy Somali teenaged boys, crowding around you. Each member of the group either has his arm around another's shoulder, leaning in, or an arm around another's waist. Two might even be holding hands. And to them, this is completely cool. It is so so different from the stand-off-ish male behavior I am accustomed to. This does my heart good. The girls are just as affectionate with each other, and will often include me in their circle of hugging/shoulder-leaning when we are speaking informally. But there is no interaction between males and females – girls naturally sit on one side of the room, boys will segregate themselves to another. The gender-divide affects every aspect of life.

All for now – there is more curriculum/lesson planning to be done, I need to be sure the girl's dorms are fully prepared to handle 20 more students tomorrow, and I promised I'd play basketball with the girls. :-)