As a Peace Corps volunteer from 99—01, I worked in rural community of Malawi, Sub Saharan Africa as a high school teacher of English as a Second language (ESL). As an ESL teacher, my duties included monitoring and assessing students’ English listening, speaking, and writing skills; preparing daily lesson for classes of 50—80 students; and leading teachers in curriculum development and implementation with respect to problems unique to Malawian classrooms (e.g. overloaded classes, severely limited resources and under-qualified teachers).

One of my strengths was approaching English lessons with creativity and finding ways to introduce experiential learning methods such as group projects, drama, and storytelling. At first surprised to find such previously untapped techniques in their English classroom, my students ultimately responded very well to these creative methods, particularly the use of drama. By the end of my second year, the 12th grade class led their own production of Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar,” demonstrating mastery of a very difficult text.

My second year also saw another achievement as the school added a library and the foundation for a science laboratory.  This development was made possible by a Small Project Assistance grant through the Peace Corps, for which I wrote proposals, as well as secured and managed the use of funds for the library construction.