To never have to start a sentence with "I wish I would have..."

Dicslaimer:

The contents and opinions of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Peace Corps or the U.S. government.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Details

According to my PC assignment booklet...

Program: Teacher Training and Community Development
Job Title: Primary School Teacher Trainer
Orientation Dates (in Philadelphia): 02/08/2010-02/09/2010
Pre-Service Training (in Uganda): 02/10/2010-04/07/2010
Dates of Service: 04/07/2010-04/07/2012

When I begin training in Uganda I'll live with a host family for three months. During this time I'll learn the local language and receive technical and cultural training, job specific training, and safety training. When I successfully complete the 3 months of training I will officially be sworn in a a PCV and begin my 2 years of service!

My primary duties, according to my PC booklet, include:

As a teacher trainer, you will be posted to a primary school or primary teacher's college in a rural area. The Ministry of Education will assign you to work with a trained counterpart, a Coordinating Center Tutor or a College Tutor. If working at a coordinating center, you and your counterpart will work together to develop and implement plans focusing on key areas of school improvement and staff development for the 12-65 (or more) primary schools which surround the coordinating center. In order to reach and support these schools, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED to ride a bicycle over relatively long distances and rough terrain.

The work plans you develop with your counterpart may include:

1. Improving the technical skills of primary schools teachers by introducing participatory learning activities for young children aimed at developing basic skills in mathematics, literacy, and life skills.

2. Working with school administrators through on site coaching and group trainings to improve their leadership skills and their ability to support their teachers' ongoing professional development.

3. Strengthening home-school-community connections through joint school improvement activities and projects. Your community has rich resources that you will help them identify and use to improve children's learning.

Along with these activities, almost all education volunteers work with their formal counterparts, other informal community counterparts, and teachers to train youth, educators, and communities in life skills that will help them lead more productive, positive, and disease-free lives.

In addition, as with all Peace Corps Volunteers, part of your role is to inform the people with whom you live and work about America and learn about their lives and cultures so that you may better educate Americans about the people of the world with whom you live and work.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

It's official!

I have officially accepted my invitation to join the Peace Corps as an education volunteer in Uganda, Africa. My exact job title is "Primary Teacher Trainer" but I won't know exactly what I'll be doing until I get over there. I leave for staging in Philadelphia on February 8, 2010 then we fly out as a group for Uganda on February 10, 2010. I'll use this blog as a primary means of keeping in touch with everyone and updating everyone on what I'm doing.