Life with Learners

It’s 5:50 pm and I am ready for bed. Because it is not very safe to go out after dark here (there is no street lighting), that means it is safe to get completely prepared for bed at 6 and go to sleep at 7. Teaching the past two days has been exhausting but great. The past year or so I have really been wondering if teaching is something I really want to go into, or if other educational avenues would be better. While I cannot yet say which direction I will be heading, I definitely think this summer is giving me a good taste of what it is like to be a teacher. Some of the students are wonderful and sweet, while others are a little rowdy and disruptive. Of course back in the US, some of the attention I get as a teacher will be gone because I will no longer be the new white American teacher with the funny accent.

I am really enjoying the learners. Here are some stories:

-Today after school I stayed to watch the Rugby team play, since some of my learners are on the team and told me, “You must come watch us play!” (we won by a lot- I’m not sure how much b/c I don’t know exactly what was happening)

-Waiting for the game to start, I acquired a small possy of 3rd grade girls. One of them told me, “Your legs are so white!” I asked the girls if they knew any hand games, and they showed me a game almost identical to one they played at Western Heights in Knoxville last summer.

-I took pictures of each learner holding up a piece of paper with their name on it so I can try and learn the names. This gets lots of different reactions (hide behind name, put on lip gloss or fix hair, or try in be everyone’s picture), but everyone always wants to see what their picture looked like, even if they were very nonchalant about the whole thing.

-I have been telling the kids I am 83 years old. Some take this to mean 38, others know I am joking, and others are slightly confused. One girl goes, “You are older than my grandma! You don’t look that old- you look more like you are 21!” (I almost told her she was right since she guessed so accurately, but I didn’t want to ruin my rep as a “real adult”).

-The learners all call me “Miss.” I get “Good morning, Miss,” “Hello, Miss,” “Good afternoon, Miss,” “Here, Miss!” and “Sorry, Miss,” (which I soon learned means “what are you talking about, lady, I am so confused!!!”)