Friday, February 16, 2007
This blog entry will not be so emotional. Yes, my first week and a half of teaching went fairly poorly in general, but I admit there were some classes that I enjoyed and I think the kids learned a lot. I am going to write about my scheduale, not because I expect everyone to be interested in these details of my life but because a few people have asked and it’s easier than writing three emails. On Mondays Ben and I meet with the grade 10 students to give them practical experience with English language (i.e. work on pronunciation) and exposure to north American culture (I guess for those students who don’t already watch movies and listen to north American music). I want to look at some Andy Warhol paintings, have them memorize poetry and read Peanuts comics, Ben wants to teach them to sing “You are you my sunshine” and lots of slang, like “howdy.” I think all my readers should feel a sense of loss that they can’t be in this class, how fun!
After that I have what I think will probably be my favourite and most inspiring part of every week, which is our missionary meeting. We get all excited about projects we are working on and I get to pray in English!! I get the rest of the day to work on said projects and prepare for my week of teaching. I arrive at school at 6:30, the teachers have a devotional time together, and classes start at 7. I teach grade 1, grade 2, and grade 4 until 9:30, and on Thursdays until 10:10 because we have chapel that morning. All of my morning classes have about 20 students each; the grade 1 class is really cute and probably already has learned more than the grade 2 class which has 4 or 5 boys who apparently have never learned to sit in chairs. I love the grade 4 class because I already have good relationships with some of the kids, but at the same time they frustrate me the most because they never stop chatting. The afternoons I teach a kindergarten class that loves to colour and can pronounce English words better than all the others. Then I have a grade 2 class that right now has only five students and a grade 4 class with six students. Obviously my afternoons are a lot less stressful and one thing that encourages me to keep teaching is how well these students are going to be able to speak and understand.
In some ways I make a good teacher because I am a little silly and can entertain the kids, like when I made them practice saying (in Spanish) “teacher I don’t understand because your voice is funny-sounding” or “teacher my brain hurts because I don’t understand what you’re saying.” And I have so much sympathy for them trying to learn a new language, because I am in the same place. So it is not too difficult to teach, but it is very difficult to discipline without knowing Spanish. Most of the kids don’t care if they get in trouble in the first place, add the fact that I sound ridiculous trying to scold them, they just laugh at me. One student today remarked that we are supposed to be in a class of English but he thinks it is a class of laughter. Too bad it is not so funny for me most of the time.
I do think this is a funny story though. The other day my roommate Emi asked me what “like” means. Apparently even when I’m speaking Spanish I retain the terrible habit of inserting this work into every phrase…”so I was like…my class was like…” but in Spanish “estuve like…mi clase fue like…” I hope this doesn’t rub off on my students.
Yes, Paraguay did have Valentine’s day of a sort on February 14. Ben translated “Dia de los enamorados” as “day of the in-loves,” but of course an even more direct translation would be “day of the enamoured.” And if someone is not enamoured with you then you don’t get any cards. (Don’t worry, mom, I didn’t get presents.) It’s okay because they have a different day for celebrating friendship. I guess in Paraguay you have to be really sure if you are in love with someone or just friends. In the church they make an announcement for couples even before they have a date picked for the wedding; if you are going to be involved with someone, it is going to be public and serious. So it seems within our church at least, dating doesn’t really exist, they just have really long engagement periods. There is no room for messing around, I guess.
My favourite time of day this week has been walking to school in the early morning silence, except for the occasional rooster. It reminds me of when I used to take the bus to school in the winter, not only because it is still dark at 6:15 here, but also because there is a spot of concrete in our yard that is cracking a bit and kind of sounds like the really thin ice that I liked to break while I was waiting, to keep my mind off of how cold I was. I haven’t even had to time to worry or complain about the heat lately, as I have been too distracted by teaching.
After that I have what I think will probably be my favourite and most inspiring part of every week, which is our missionary meeting. We get all excited about projects we are working on and I get to pray in English!! I get the rest of the day to work on said projects and prepare for my week of teaching. I arrive at school at 6:30, the teachers have a devotional time together, and classes start at 7. I teach grade 1, grade 2, and grade 4 until 9:30, and on Thursdays until 10:10 because we have chapel that morning. All of my morning classes have about 20 students each; the grade 1 class is really cute and probably already has learned more than the grade 2 class which has 4 or 5 boys who apparently have never learned to sit in chairs. I love the grade 4 class because I already have good relationships with some of the kids, but at the same time they frustrate me the most because they never stop chatting. The afternoons I teach a kindergarten class that loves to colour and can pronounce English words better than all the others. Then I have a grade 2 class that right now has only five students and a grade 4 class with six students. Obviously my afternoons are a lot less stressful and one thing that encourages me to keep teaching is how well these students are going to be able to speak and understand.
In some ways I make a good teacher because I am a little silly and can entertain the kids, like when I made them practice saying (in Spanish) “teacher I don’t understand because your voice is funny-sounding” or “teacher my brain hurts because I don’t understand what you’re saying.” And I have so much sympathy for them trying to learn a new language, because I am in the same place. So it is not too difficult to teach, but it is very difficult to discipline without knowing Spanish. Most of the kids don’t care if they get in trouble in the first place, add the fact that I sound ridiculous trying to scold them, they just laugh at me. One student today remarked that we are supposed to be in a class of English but he thinks it is a class of laughter. Too bad it is not so funny for me most of the time.
I do think this is a funny story though. The other day my roommate Emi asked me what “like” means. Apparently even when I’m speaking Spanish I retain the terrible habit of inserting this work into every phrase…”so I was like…my class was like…” but in Spanish “estuve like…mi clase fue like…” I hope this doesn’t rub off on my students.
Yes, Paraguay did have Valentine’s day of a sort on February 14. Ben translated “Dia de los enamorados” as “day of the in-loves,” but of course an even more direct translation would be “day of the enamoured.” And if someone is not enamoured with you then you don’t get any cards. (Don’t worry, mom, I didn’t get presents.) It’s okay because they have a different day for celebrating friendship. I guess in Paraguay you have to be really sure if you are in love with someone or just friends. In the church they make an announcement for couples even before they have a date picked for the wedding; if you are going to be involved with someone, it is going to be public and serious. So it seems within our church at least, dating doesn’t really exist, they just have really long engagement periods. There is no room for messing around, I guess.
My favourite time of day this week has been walking to school in the early morning silence, except for the occasional rooster. It reminds me of when I used to take the bus to school in the winter, not only because it is still dark at 6:15 here, but also because there is a spot of concrete in our yard that is cracking a bit and kind of sounds like the really thin ice that I liked to break while I was waiting, to keep my mind off of how cold I was. I haven’t even had to time to worry or complain about the heat lately, as I have been too distracted by teaching.
# posted by Ellen @ 6:58 PM 
