My job placement

I am teaching 8-10 year olds at Mawenzi Primary school in Karanga. Today was my first day in front of the classroom by myself, and it wasn't perfect, but I think it was a good start.
Schools in Tanzania are very different than in the states. To begin with, I am teaching two different classes English, one class has 60 students and the other has almost 80. Becasue there are so many students to one teacher they are not taught anything ever. Rather, the teachers says something and they all repeat it over and over. However, they dont really udnerstand what they are saying. Needless to say my approach was very different than what the kids are used to.
I got into a little trouble from the head master today becasue I taught the kids Simon Says, in order to work on body parts vocabulary. The head master thought we were having too much fun, and in Tanzania the classroom is not an appropriate place for fun. I am not going to give up though on my lesson plans, which all involve fun =)
Unfortunatly, they use sticks in order to discipline the children at my school. Becasue I am not willing to beat the kids, I am afraid discipline will be a problem becasuse they already have realized I didnt carry a stick into the classroom.
Overall, the kids are just adorable, and I am so excited for the oppurtunity to introduce them to a different style of education!
Perhaps the best part of my day came at the end. I was done with my four hours of teachign two classes and went into teh teacher's office to work on my stuff for the rest of the week. One of the teachers asked me my religion, when I said Christian she asked if I knew any Christian songs to teach the children in English! I was so excited, so tomorrow after my second class I am going to the Bible Class to teach songs!! I think I will start with Jesus Love Me and work my way up from there...

A note on Religion: In Tanzania everybody is very religious, however there is across the board religious tolerence. At my school there are Christian children and Muslim children and when it comes time for religion class they simply split up and then come back together. Christians and Muslims marry all the time, and there is no problem at all. I respect this so much!! It is my favorite part of Tanzania so far.

More to come soon, and hopefully some pictures soon too!!!