Mock WAECs, and Future Plans

Since my last post, I've been busy with the usual teaching duties, and just the past couple of days with some extra work that seemed menial but turned out to be a really great time.

The senior students will take a big national exam to successfully graduate high school determine if they can attend university, the WAEC (West African Examinations Council) exam. Liberia has it's own version, though versions of the WAEC are given to students in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia. Basically it's a series of long subject tests covering: Literature, Composition, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Economics, History, Geography and .... one more subject that I can't remember at the moment. Each subject test has 40 multiple choice questions followed by a series of essay questions (for the sciences, this is usually some long involved calculation). I have been preparing my 12th graders primarily on the skills they need to pass this test - and it's a hard F-ing test, I can't answer many of the physics questions off the top of my head, and there's even a couple of stumpers in the chemistry section. Some examples:


30. Which of the following is not a product when chlorine is bubbled into hot concentrated potassium hydroxide?
A. Cl - B. ClO3- C. H2O D. O2

6. What is the common name for sodium nitrate (NaNO3)?
A. Chile saltpeter B. Caustic soda C. Glauber’s salt D. Sodium feldspar

14. What is the illuminance on a surface that is 4.0 m from a 7.2 cd source?
A. 0.20 lm/m2 B. 0.02 lm/m2 C. 28.0 lm/m2 D. 2.00 lm/m2

etc, the math exam is even more cryptic

13. If t and s are the roots of the quadratic equation x2 – 5x – 24 = 0 where t < s, find t2 – 3s.
A) -15 B) 8 C) 3 D) -24

19. Find the product of 267(eight) and 77(eight)
A) 3570 B) 26411 C) 26777 D) 4023

That last one has something to do with multiplying in base eight (we normally multiply in base ten, apparently).


Anyway, the whole point of this is that the students are being given a mock WAEC exam in a week, and I was asked to help get it together. I wrote the chemistry and physics exams (basically took old exams and changed quantities/definitions while maintaining the same general questions), and then helped type and print out the other teacher's exams (working with the only other teacher at my school who is computer literate to type up handwritten questions). I got the brunt of the typing duty since I type about 20 times faster than the other guy, and I spent a good portion of my time getting the school's printer working so that we could print 141 copies of each of the 9 tests double sided. All the while I was breathing in the fumes from the huge generator that powers my school's computer.

So you'd think this is a nightmare job right? Lots of typing, dealing with electronics in West Africa, and doing double duty on exam writing - but it was actually really great. I sort of enjoyed writing the WAEC questions (and managed to teach myself some physics in the process), I liked the challenge of turning the biology teacher's diagram of a flower and of a human heart into a MS Paint image, and most of all I enjoyed working with the other teacher and our Vice Principal on getting the tests together. We spent like 10 hours over 2 days in a small office doing menial work, chatting, and basically being normal co-workers. We even sent out for lunch on Friday (it wasn't great food, but it was surreal to work in an office with these people and have my VP turn to me and say "Hey Fed, we're sending out for lunch, you want anything?"....maybe you need to spend time in West Africa to see the surreal part of that....I'm starting to lose my perspective on normal).

Anyway, so that's been my life the past week or so.

In the "Future Plans" department. I've been offered the job teaching English in France through the TAPIF program. I've accepted the offer to work in the Besançon region, and am hoping I'll get a school in the city itself. This means I'll be moving to Eastern France sometime in late September/early October, and spending 7-8 months as an English teacher at a French public high school. I'm excited for this new development. As for the teaching jobs in Portland and Seattle - I have yet to hear back from the schools I applied to, but I'm leaning away from it since I want to continue exploring my options abroad while I'm still not settled down anywhere.

I guess that's all for now.