Back to School

Well... I am back on the market, for housing that is. After several discussions with Peace Corps staff, we've decided that it would be better for me to live closer to the center of town so that I can be near my school and several of the projects that I will be working with. This will lead to A LOT of changes for me. The biggest being that I will be living on my own. My host family here has been very kind and welcoming, and their home is very comfortable. Who knows what kind of apartment I will find, and who knows what I will eat- kidding. That does bring up a good point though, I will have to start cooking for myself. Of course I know how to make food, but I don't know how to make many Georgian dishes, and cooking for one is always a chore. I don't think cooking lessons are available in Poti. This will be an adventure, who knew that my first time living by myself would be in the Peace Corps. I'm such an extroverted person that I've always preferred having roommates. I shouldn't get ahead of myself however, I still need to find a place- stay tuned!

Mom wasn't here, so I took my own back to school pic.

In other news, this week was the first week of school and the real beginning of my work as a teacher in Poti. Per usual, I am easing into things. This week and next are all about observing classes. I'm trying to decide which classes I want to teach and which teachers I will be working with. This is a little bit of a daunting task at my school because there are 34 separate sections of English being taught. The school is 1st-12th grade, most grades have 2-3 sections of English. That means that there are a lot of classes to observe and choose from. It has been a busy week!

The first day of school started off with a small ceremony in the schoolyard where the school director read out names of students who had received honors from their end of year testing results. Then a few notable students raised the Georgian flag in the schoolyard marking the beginning of the year. Finally, the new first graders were introduced and marched inside the school to meet their teacher (they were adorable).

Flag raising ceremony

Except for the 1st-3rd graders, who stay in the same classroom all day and generally have one teacher the whole time- except for subjects like English, all of the students move around from class to class throughout the day- like middle/high school in the US. The school days begins at 9 am and classes are 45min long, with a 5 min break in between. One of the biggest surprises (read challenges) is that there isn't a lunch break. Instead there is a 10 min break after the 3rd period when student have time to buy a snack and eat it or save it for the next break. This means that most days I am famished by the time school ends. Luckily even though there isn't a lunch break, there is a small room called the "bufeti" that sells some snacks, including the ubiquitous georgian cheese bread- khatchapuri (you can't escape that stuff). Most foods are basically all carbs, I would die for some fresh fruit or something. I might try and recommend that (or I could just go buy my own at the bazar...).

Snuck a pic in 4th grade, I'm sitting in the back corner. It's a tiny room. (Also all the decor is in German?)

The classrooms all vary quite a pit, I've scattered some pictures of them throughout this post. The best rooms are those for the 1st - 3rd grades. They are covered in decorations and examples of student work. Then there are the other rooms. A few are large and well lit, other are small and rather dark. The physical state of the rooms also vary, some are painted bright colors others a dull tan. As a whole the school is leaps and bounds above the school I was working in during my training so I have zero complaints, however, it stands in stark contrast to the schools in the US.

Can these third graders be any more adorable?

There are 5 rooms which are used mostly for English teaching and I would really like to find a way to spruce them up. Even a basic alphabet line would be an improvement. Two of the rooms are the tiniest things I have even seen, smaller than my bedroom yet meant for 14 students. Another is meant for 20+ but is only 8 feet wide. These both create many problems when you want to promote group work or a seating arrangement that isn't the traditional single file-rows of desks. I've already started brainstorming ways to make the most out of what we've got.

I'm brainstorming ways to make one of these.

 Like I said, overall the school is really great and I am excited to be here. There will be plenty of challenges, student behaviour stands out as one that might be the trickiest. There really isn't much leverage for teachers to try and use to encourage better behavior. Teachers really can't do much, and there is a history of lack of discipline that makes it difficult to really try and change anything now. The one thing working in my favor is that I am a male teachers, the only one in the school aside from the PE and computer teachers- who I have yet to figure out. I can have a pretty imposing presence and will probably have to use that in my favor to get some kids to really behave.

Another classroom, I swear it is only 8ft wide. 

I'm excited to see what this school year will bring. The first week of school is always exciting for teachers and students alike. We'll see how everyone is feeling in a month. There is plenty of work for me to do in the school, and that is still only half of the equation. Outside of school I'm continuing my work with the local youth city council and looking to partner with two local groups- one for disadvantaged students learning English (key to getting into college) and the other focused on civics education. Outside of Poti, I am also helping to organize a model UN competition with some other volunteers, working on curriculum development for our boys summer camp, and I was just selected to join to committee- Youth as Resources, focused on promoting volunteerism, healthy lifestyles, and civic engagement among youth in Georgia; and the Education Project Advisory Committee (PAC) which is focused on further developing the education project in Georgia, working to improve collaboration and efficiency in our work currently, and improving things for the future. Training and Summer are both officially over, things are really starting to shift into gear and I've got plenty of work to do.