It’s hard to believe that our first term
of teaching is already over. That means we have been in country for almost six
months and we have been official Peace Corps Volunteers for about three months.
In the grand scheme of things it hasn’t been that long, I mean six out of
twenty-seven months that nothing, however when you have been away from home for
six months in a place that is so unknown to you six months really does become a
long time. It truly has been the most incredible sixth month of my life, living
in a country I have been DYIN to live and teach here for five years and now I
am doing just that. Now, these past three months being an active Peace Corps
Volunteer have not always been easy. I have been going through crazy bits of
anxiety, stress, and a bit of homesickness. I have although done my best to
make Uganda my home and I have indeed been able to do that as best as I
possibly can. I have gained a sweet kitty Luna, some of the best friends, and
best coworkers.
Now
here we go with term one, I was able to teach phonics in P2 and P4 as well as
have a small group reading intervention with ten pupils in P4. I seriously fell
in love with my students. They have proven to be hard workers so easy to learn
what I have to teach them. I have spent time trying to get used to a new group
of students and allowing them to get used to my accent and my teaching style. By
the middle of the term they were used to my accent and my teaching and they
have improved on their skills of literacy in so many ways. We still have a lot
of work to be down and I can’t wait to continue working with my students. They
are just so fun to teach, they have also given me some struggles like any class
could. They like to talk and get rowdy, they like to sleep in class, and not
pay attention, shows that students are the same no matter where you teach. I
just say this so that you all know that it’s not all cupcakes and cherries but
it’s through the difficult moments that we grow the most.
Here
we are moving along to term two. My head is spinning over all the things that I
want to do as we move into this next term. First I plan to teach whole class
phonics instruction for P2 five days a week. I also plan to teach whole class
phonics instruction for P3 and whole class reading intervention for P4 three
days a week. I also plan to continue you my small group reading intervention in
P4. I am so excited to see what happens with these classes in term two. Along
with all this classes I plan to start library classes each day with a different
class each day. I also plan to open the library during lunch in order for my
students to start reading more. Then I plan to begin a theatre club and a boys
and girls club. I haven’t quite decided how either of those are going to work
yet my amazing counterpart and I are still trying to figure that out. As soon
as we know and begin the clubs I will fill you in on what our goals are. I know
I am sure that you all are trying to figure out how I am going to fit all this
in and honestly I don’t have a clue but it will happen.
Next
step with Peace Corps is IST or In Service Training, this is a training that
happens after three months of being an active Volunteer we take our
counterparts and learn how to better work together. I cannot wait for IST one
so my counterpart and I can learn to work together even better, and two so I
can see my entire cohort for a week because I surely miss them!!
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