A new record

I taught 8 lessons today. That was pretty exhausting. 4 of them were
chemistry, though, and I think that I enjoy those lessons the most.
Unfortunately, I've managed to catch a cold, so I am a bit stuffed up
while I try to teach.

Perhaps I should update a bit more on the goings on at school. The
outstanding news is that we have another teacher for the rest of the
term. He is a university student from the area who helps out when he
is on break. He teaches as wide of a range of subjects as I do. Right
now, he is teaching physics, business and chemistry. And somehow, my
lesson load has increased to 31. That is mostly my own doing, and it
should drop soon when the 4th years become preoccupied with their
practice exams. On the plus side, I am no longer teaching first year
physics, which frustrated me to no end because of how the syllabus is
constructed. Instead, I have 4th year chemistry, which I enjoy much
more.

I am also now in charge of exams at the school. It started three weeks
ago when I agreed to set the exam schedule for midterms, which were
last week, in order to give the secretary a respite and insure that
the timetable was logical. Then, two of the teachers left for a
funeral. Their exams were written, but it fell to me to make sure that
they were given. I also had to proofread them for errors and try to
make heads or tails of what the intended meaning was. As I became
increasingly responsible for sending teachers to give exams, arranging
make-up exams for students and coaching students on test-taking
skills, the other teachers made me de facto head of the exams
department. I don't even know which titles are real and which are
jokes anymore.

Yesterday, one of the other teachers started asking me to set the
timetable for final exams at the end of the month. That's going to be
hectic, as the 3rd years will have double exams this time around to
prepare them for next year. I was able to avoid responsibilities for a
bit longer by stating that I couldn't do anything until the principal
comes back to school. He's in Mombasa. Again. His attendance is only
slightly better than his predecessor's was while I was here. :-/