Inspected

Today I had a rite of passage in the Romanian education system; I was "inspected" (observed) by the County English Inspector. My school is undergoing a full inspection, all teachers are being observed, paperwork is being checked, parents and teachers are being interviewed.  All schools undergo these inspections every three or four years; it's essentially the equivalent of being certified by the state. All Romanian teachers have periodic inspections as well, but as a Peace Corps Volunteer I am normally exempt from these, but the Romanian Ministry of Education has asked all inspectors to observe PCVs to evaluate our teaching methodologies as Peace Corps exits Romania.  Thus I had inspection just like everyone else.

I was inspected during one of my 12th grade classes.  It was a very interesting cultural experience for me.  I have been teaching these students for two years and I have never seen them act as they did today.  They rose when the inspector walked in and waited until she gave them permission to sit.  The class that was observed was definitely one of my best classes, but their behavior was perfect.  I realized that, as students in Romania, they have been through a lot inspections.  I was able to take my queues from them a little, which was lucky.  For example, at the end of the class the inspector dismissed the class, not the teacher (I would have totally done that wrong).  The inspector was very nice and took a copy of my lesson plan and said she would use it with some of her classes.  I don't know if she will, but I took it as a very nice compliment.

After finishing all my classes at the high school, I went to the Foundation where I teach some younger students each Wednesday. All the girls were missing today. I had three very rambunctious boys. We had to take a few breaks during the lesson to break up some fights and practice deep breathing.  However, we were able to plow through a lesson on body parts and end with a rousing version of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes."