Volunteering!

This week was very nice! I officially started my volunteering at the Global Academy! I went on Tuesday, which was the first day of school for the kids! I got there during one of their breaks so I talked to the other teachers for a little then they just handed me a marker and sent me in a room!! I was with 19 students, varying in ages but I think around 8th graders. I had one book and was supposed to teach them English. I did the best I could-- we talked about similes, the gender of words and a few other random subjects the book had. It was actually really fun!! The kids were all so respectful and considerate. They answered questions and volunteered. It was great! I left before their school day ended because I had a lecture here on campus at 5pm. Since I travel by trotro and it is pretty far to begin with, I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get back! I ended up having no problems!

I went again to the school on Friday. This time I taught English to 9 7th graders. Again there was quite a range in their ages, but they are all in what Ghana calls Junior High School 1. The headmaster told me that this is the group he wants me to work with every time I come so we can have some sort of consistency. I LOVED it! The students again were so well behaved and almost excited about class! That's a lot for 7th graders! I actually had one kid cheer when I gave them homework!! We learned about the phrases "used to" and "be used to". By the end of day they were mostly able to pick apart the meaning of sentences like "I used to swim" vs "I am used to swimming". The conditions were pretty bad and the resources few. We share a room with another class, with just a wooden board dividing the two. That made it really hard for the kids to hear me without me yelling over the other teacher, who happened to be very loud! I actually lost my voice this weekend! I also have a little cold so that probably didn't help either. But overall I am really happy with this volunteering. I think it will really challenge me but I am excited. The kids were teaching me some games and songs during recess and that was amazing!! I'm going back tomorrow so I hope it goes well again!

I haven't taken any pictures there yet since I just started and all, but I will see if maybe tomorrow I can take some of the school and my room and the kids so I will post them if I can.

I am super tired now and I have class at 7:30 am, so I will be going to sleep! I will post tomorrow about my weekend adventures!! Goodnight everyone! :)