WWS

My Aunt, a seventh grade teacher, and I are trying to facilitate a cultural exchange between our students through the World Wise Schools (WWS) correspondence Math program. We are still ironing out some details but I wanted to give her class a bit of information about the school here in Meconta.
 

The Escola Secundaria de Meconta-Sede (Meconta High School).

There are two main buildings on either side of the picture. There are four classrooms in each building, so 8 classrooms in total. The building in the middle is the administration bulding and there are also two rooms tucked behind that are the teacher lounge and study room for students. Because it is so hot here and we don't have air conditioning, the nevers rarely use the lounge and, instead, sit under a tree in desks. Students either study in the morning, afternoon, or at night and the grades are 8th through 12th.

Inside each classroom there is a desk and a chair for the teacher. At the front of the room there is a chalkboard that I use to draw pictures and write notes.

The desk and chalkboard.

Being a student here in Mozambique is hard! Schools don't have enough money to buy supplies for everyone so there are...
NO textbooks
NO computers (most students have never used one before in their lives!)
NO projectors
NO laboratories
NO libraries
No cafeterias
NO calculators
NO televisions
NO school buses/public transportation (some of my students live two hours away on foot)
and....
NO air conditioning!

Tough, right?

Sharing a desk is common and if you're rich enough, you can buy a dictionary or textbook for yourself. Every students has a notebook and pens. Because there are no books/computers/internet, the notes I give them are their textbooks. And usually, when it rains on the tin roofs, it is almost impossible for students to concentrate and for me to be heard over all the noise.

Students taking notes.

Everyone wears a uniform, including me! Here in Mozambique, I wear a "Bata" to school. It is white to prevent the white chalk from getting on my clothes and makes it easier to keep clean. The students wear a white shirt and dark blue skirts/pants.

Well that's all for now. Summer break is coming up in a few months and we're all pretty excited for the long vacation.

Welcome back to school everyone in America! :)

It's a little hard to read but the board says, "Hello Mrs. Simmons' class! Greetings from Mozambique!"