Today was a day that made me think! It started off like any other day where I taught my classes with little difficulty. On the way to my second class, however, one of my students said that I was "one of a kind; one of the kindest and most special people he knew." I told him that he couldn't trust me and that I was a very bad person. He didn't seem to believe me :)
And that was not it! To follow this up, another one of my students agreed with him. She then added that she always smiles when she sees me. (A little bit of a spooky statement if you think about it, but a huge compliment nonetheless.) I couldn't help but beam with pride. Whatever I am doing, I must be doing something right!
Then I had to teach the mothers this afternoon, and there was a new student. She did not have a book, and her English was about what the others was (almost nothing). I attempted to include her in the process anyway...we reviewed the numbers as we were correcting their spelling of them. I would write the tens place number and ask the new student what that number was...then I would write the ones place digit and ask her what that number was. Since she knew up to 10, this was no problem for her. I would then ask the class what the whole number was, and she was able to hear the number read as it should be (ex. 6..six 7....seven Class: 67...sixty-seven). She seemed to appreciate it, and I was able to connect the six sixty idea.
After that, I went to relax for half an hour before my last class. This class was sooooo frustrating today!! I gave them dictation, and they would constantly interrupt. I finally told them that they couldn't listen if they were talking. They didn't get the idea, so I didn't repeat the last two sentences as I had the rest. I told them that since they were able to talk, they must not need to hear the sentences again. They were not happy with this. Then I retold them that they need to be quiet during dictations because they are not able to listen very well, and they need the practice. I also told them that I would no longer compete with their talking; I will not teach if they insist on talking. They actually quieted down for a while. When they became noisy again, I just sat on the desk and waited for them to quiet down..and they did!!
I think they are getting the idea, but we shall see if it continues to work. I hope it does, because I really want them to start taking control of themselves. Many of the students seem very immature by Western standards, and this is causing difficulty in the school and with the teachers. The school is set up differently than these students are used to, so we need to work them into this system. How well this is going to work remains to be seen.
Then I had a chat with the dean. He told them today that if they got below 60% they MUST come to Saturday school. While I have no problem with this, I asked what would happen to the student if they did not show up. What would be the consequence? The dean said that nothing would happen; he does not want to be a police officer, but wants the students to be able to make decisions that are good for themselves. I agree, but I feel that if you tell a student they MUST do something, then their should be consequences for not doing it. His reply was "what can we do? How would you punish them?" Of course, I could not answer this question because I wouldn't...I would tell them that it is highly recommended that they go, but to leave the decision up to them. In this way they have the responsibility. The dean questions if they are able to make this type of decision responsibly (I question this as well).
We went around like this for a couple of minutes, when he said that if a student chose not to show up, then they should be sent to talk to him (the dean). I said that I felt that this was a good consequence for it. He, unfortunately, was unable or unwilling to see this as what I was talking about when I said consequence and launched into the circular argument we had just been having!! I tried to get out of it by explaining that what he had suggested was a great idea that covered what I was talking about, but it didn't work....so we continued our rather heated discusion for another 10 minutes...then it was over and forgotten. I love that about him: we fight and argue our points, and when it is over, it is over. There are no grudges, there are no hard feelings, and we are still friends (or at least friendly...depending on how you see your relationship to begin with). I must say that I disagree with him on a number of issues, but it hasn't gotten in the way of us working together.
Also today, I was helping the other teacher to correct creative writing the lower level students had done. She read out some of their mistakes, as did I. I laughed at some of them, and she said that it wasn't funny, "it was horrible!" I felt the need to correct her. I said that the mistakes that they are making are normal and common. I have seen them many times when I was doing my practice teaching in Hawaii. When I read them, I laugh because I see their learning through them, or because they coppied and I have to laugh at their attempts to 'get one over on us'. " She said that she never wrote like that when she learned her second language. I am not sure I believe her, but she also learned younger and was taught much differently. She had more of a background to bring to it. I told her that these things make a difference. I hope she really starts to understand that she can't expect them to run before they can crawl.
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