Teaching in Rabat - Week 1

After one week -the kids, as they are in every school I've taught, were angels. I'm teaching Algebra I (8th grade), 2 classes of Geometry (9th) and Math SL 1 (11th grade) and Math SL 2 (12th grade). I have one class of 5 and the rest have about 16 students. The first month will be a little overwhelming as I move along the learning curve of the school. It seems that 70 % of the students have some Moroccan descent (though they may have American passports). I've been told 40% are American 30% Moroccan, and 30 % from 48 other countries. The students have amazing lives and I look forward to learning about their adventures all around the world. Most of the students speak at least three languages. My Math SL 2 class only has 5 students and all of them speak French so I could effective change the language and teach the class in French which could be fun. The atmosphere seems pretty relaxed and the students seem genuinely friendly and happy. The technology of the school seems much better than I thought and I think I'll be asked, as Math Department head, to increase the technology among Math teachers. Every school has its problems and it is funny that most teachers are waiting for materials. Since it is an American school, textbooks and graphing calculators are ordered in the states and shipped over. Unfortunately, the shipping takes a long time. Things that were ordered in April still haven't arrived yet. The ship is on the Atlantic right now and then will have to go through customs in Casablanca. I hear that during Ramadan (which starts next week) the customs agents work much slower. I have to order new text books for next year and I will have to order them in November to ensure that they arrive before August 2009. It sounds, though, that this is a typical problem in most international schools.