It has been difficult to arrive at this publication. Too many thoughts, not enough time, frustration setting in. I have been reading a book subtitled A Handbook for Teachers in International Schools and it has brought many things to my attention.
Adjustment- As with any change there are stages of adjustment. I can recognize my “honeymoon” stage now that I have passed it and am beginning to face some of the frustrations of living and teaching here. Part of it also was that I simply did not want to succumb. I think I am still doing ok but there are definitely days when everything just seems off.
There can be a lot of pressure trying to manage a class of very differentiated learners with little to no support. Pacing is the most difficult. I can manage modifying test and homework but I find it a challenge to keep everyone interested in the lesson. I still feel at times that I am doing entirely too much talking. It is not easy (possible) to make every lesson full of sparklers and streamers.
Most interesting has been what I am learning about requests. I may present an assignment and punctuate it with a ‘please,’ as in “Do numbers 1-23 in your math book, please.” Or “Please draw a picture to go with your paragraph.” Somehow, the mere fact of including please results in an immediate hand raise and question….”Do we have to?”
I cannot laugh at this any more and just try taking a deep breath. “Yes, you have to.” Without the please it sounds very abrupt and directive, which is what I need to learn to be.
I am learning other things as well, like how to use an overhead projector ( go left to move right, up to move down, etc. and purchase an LCD ASAP.) The kids seem to like the projector. I took a poll. It also made it into our appreciation box (Yes, someone actually wrote “I appreciate the overhead projector” -10 year old author.) Believe it or not, I also conducted a small group math lesson using individual chalkboards. I felt like a one-room school house. The boards were actually convenient and made the lesson fun. It’s not that we’re so low tech, it’s just unreliable tech right now.
My classroom is really quite spacious and bright, plenty of room for 25 students and a reading area, small group work area and cubby space. We have a bright tile floor and high windows that let in the light.
I have really been enjoying my teaching here. Sometimes I must say I do feel the pressure. This is mostly because I am favoring small group work now and this is a new concept for many of the children. It is important to remember my job is to coach them and guide them into developing the skills that make successful collaborative projects work. Our class museum will be a first experience.
There are other recognizable instances from the book---names for one. There is a student in my class whose name I could just not figure out. For the first two weeks of school I was calling him by his last name. He never told me. When I asked him what his father called him, he told me “Junior.” So I had to laugh. Surely he didn’t want me to call him Junior in class. Compositionally, some families write the last name first and it appeared that this family had done so as well. Turns out they had not.
Finally, I am suffering at times from a feeling that I must do it all. This is common to me, as I tend to be a perfectionist, but I must realize it is simply not possible. Having several children in class that do no speak English raises a great challenge because I want to provide them with all of the individual attention and assistance they deserve. It is simply not possible to do this with such a large class.
So it continues to be imperative that I creatively search for ways to instruct and explain our lessons. This is good. Living on campus, however, means that I am often creatively pondering these strategies in the evening hours as Mohamed and Nabih try to amuse themselves by wreaking havoc on my classroom.
Nabih may be considering changing his profession from gardener to instructor and Mohamed is getting quite adept at fencing with a yard stick.
