God I’m tired.
I know I said that
all the time back home, before I had ever had a real job. But that was nothing!!! I get to work around 6am, do some last minute
preparations, and then go to our daily staff meeting. This is followed by classes and marking all
day. School usually ends around 1pm to
1:40pm, depending on the day. From 2pm
to 5pm I’m in the library. Some days I’m free after that. Wednesday’s I watch the grade 10’s study from
7 -9pm. The other days I’m either
teaching computer classes or going on my evening run. Overall, I rarely have any time to just sit
and relax. Weekends aren’t even my
own! I usually have to mark 120 essays
during that time.
Despite my lack of time, I’ve decided to make myself even
more busy! During 2 of those library
hour, every day, my library prefects will take over so that I can have
afternoon remedial classes with about 60 of my Grade 8’s. And boy do they need it! I now understand why teaching is the second
most stressful job! It’s never
done!!! But despite that, I want to do
more. I want to give everything I have
to these kids.
So my days are completely full, yet there always seems to be
more to do. I’ll randomly find out that
I’ve been put in charge of something without my knowledge. Or that there’s an important meeting in 2
days that I have to leave school for. So
many things! My principal, bless her
heart, warned me that I would burn myself out and that she was worried I was
doing too much. I've been asked to extend
my computer classes.
I can tell that I’ve got to keep more aware, though, despite
my constant state of fatigue. I’ve
gotten a bit angry at my classes for not behaving nicely. Granted, I think any teacher would be angry
about that, but I should still try to understand that my teaching method is different (aka I
don’t have a stick in my hand. I need to
preface that with the fact that my teachers don’t use it on the kids, but
it’s still there as a threat). I also
need to watch the things I say. I was
talking to my kids about they need to solve their problems differently instead
of beating each other. American learners
don’t do that (ha!). As soon as that
came out of my mouth, I felt horrible.
And thankfully a kid called me on it.
She turned to me and said, “But Miss, we’re not American learners.” And they’re not.
Overall, despite my inability to keep my eyes open past 9pm,
I’m having the time of my life. I love
my village, my school, my community and especially my kids. I wouldn’t trade it for the world (or even a
Starbucks!). I guess that’s why Peace
Corps motto is, “The hardest job you’ll ever love.”
