Landing in Georgetown, Guyana, that cheesy grin spread
across my face as I smelt the humid, night-time air and released I was home. If
I actually took time to think about the move, it should have been one of the
scariest moments of my life but having a hectic summer of travelling didn’t
allow me to get nervous. I never really felt comfortable in London and always
saw it as a step between jobs. Nepal was similar; I had a fantastic experience
there and worked with and met so many incredible teachers but I always knew it
was just for the summer.
After the nightmare of getting an Indian Visa this summer,
it was really surprising to be stamped and set free into Guyana without any
questions asked. Baggage reclaim wasn’t so bad and then I wondered through to
be greeting by another cheesy grin on the face of Javan! I hadn’t seen him
since his visit to London last year and it was so good to see him again. His
(and mine now) housemate drove us into Georgetown to the house- a big yellow
construction, brand new and very spacious.
On Saturday, I visited my new school and met with the
principal’s wife. She showed me round with an awesome blend of thick Scottish
(her home-country) and Guyanese. The classrooms of the secondary school are
quite big and the students get their own desks. Surprisingly, there were
blackboards instead of whiteboards but these were really big and in a good
condition. I met a few members of admin staff and it was nice to see the other
teachers weren’t in school on a Saturday! I think if I had stayed at my Harris
school in London, all the teachers would be in on the weekend before term
starts!
Sadly the school doesn’t have a swimming pool but there is a
big gymnasium with a basketball court and a few of the classrooms, that are
used for teaching the college and university students, have air conditioning
and big leather office chairs!
Javan and I spent Sunday planning lessons and eating roti
and curry. It’s a shame that all this planning had to be done at the poolside
of Georgetown’s swankiest hotel with booming reggaeton in the background.
Now I am here on the last evening before the great slog that
is autumn term but I don’t feel scared. The feeling is really strange to me but
I think it is just content. I’m really excited to meet the students and start teaching
them. I have planned a lesson on non-academic skills as my first lesson with
each class. Jack, who I was in Nepal with, really inspired me to think about
these in my students so we have decided to teach it to them and compare how it
goes. I think I will film some of the students talking about it and send the
clips to him.
If any teachers from other countries can think of good
partner-school ideas then please get in contact: tom.greenwood @
teachfirst.org.uk.
Ciao for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment