Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Teacher Training

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember,
involve me and I learn."  ~Benjamin Franklin


When Camp UNITE was over, I headed down to Tsevie to start my two weeks as a trainer for the new group of volunteers who arrived in Togo on June 12th.  It was nice getting to know them and hearing about their experiences in Togo so far, reminding me of when I was back in Tsevie one year ago as a new trainee…boy does time fly! Two years used to seem like such a long time to be away from home, living in Africa, haha, but it’s gone by so fast.   

After a couple of days in Tsevie, I left for Kpalime with the 12 new EGE volunteers, and their language and technical trainers for three more weeks of instruction before heading to their posts. The new group is doing their teacher training at my school’s summer program in Kpalime, participating in model classes. This gives them the opportunity to practice in the classroom, a chance to see what it’s really like to teach in Togo and what to expect from the students.
                                                                                
New volunteers ready for their posts
The first few weeks of teaching are tough. Students don’t participate much because they are embarrassed; they don’t always understand the American accent or vocabulary. Teaching English here has taught me to choose my words carefully, to speak slowly and enunciate very well, because if I don’t, my students won’t understand…they may just tune out and give up. You discover how to adjust your lessons on the spot, if the students aren’t quite getting it, and how to better manage your time. You learn which techniques work and which ones don’t. You figure out how to be approachable and welcoming to the students, but not so friendly that they don’t take you seriously. Ideally, these model classes will help the volunteers feel more confident and better prepared for their first day of school. While observing the classes, I am reminded of how hard those first few days of teaching are. I just keep telling the new teachers not to worry and that it gets better with time. I used to be nervous every day before class, but now I’m so excited for school to start and to be back in the classroom again. 

We took a break after one week of training in Kpalime and traveled back down to Lome for the swear-in ceremony for all the new volunteers. When the celebrating was over, the EGE volunteers returned to Kpalime for their final two weeks of teacher training before moving to their posts. It has been great fun to have all these new friends
visiting my town for a few weeks, a nice break from the regular routine.     I will miss them when they leave, but I think they  are going to do awesome work in their communities, and before you know it, they will be training a new group of teachers next summer! 

The Peace Corps Circle of Life :)

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