Well, the first day of work came and went without too much trouble. I enjoy my schedule, for the most part, with the exception of Fridays simply because I have 7 classes. On those days, I have little time for lunch, bathroom breaks, or even just to sit and get my head straight before the next batch of teenagers come into the classroom.
The first order of business for all the classes – the rules. I only had a few rules that I wanted everyone to follow, nothing too bad. The seniors listened to the rules, agreed to them, and we moved on with class without a hitch. The freshmen, however, took note of the rules I think simply to figure out different ways to break them. For example, the very first class I had with one group of freshmen was worth noting.
I wanted to test their English level, so we played a pseudo-game in which the students think of a word in English and point to another student in class. That student must use the word in a sentence using the past, present, and future tenses. This just helps me understand what the students already know and what types of things we need to work on this year.
The game is going okay until its time for one of the quieter students to take his turn. First, he describes the word that was assigned to him, then its time for him to choose another word and point to another student to take their turn. However, he quietly says the words, “Female reproductive system” as if he is embarrassed to say it, rightfully so. Of course, the whole class says altogether “What?!?!”. At first, it took me by surprise, so I had to think for a second about what kind of punishment was going to follow, but while I was thinking he said a variation of his previous phrase… he said, “Reproduction”. But this time he gave the class a visual of what he was trying to say by doing 4 and a half pelvic thrusts while saying, “Re-pro-duc-tion”. Of course, the class erupts in laughter, and as a result I have to kick him out of class (but I’m laughing a little on the inside too). It takes a few minutes to get the class back under control, but we go over the rules one more time before I start making them do wall squats*. Just kidding, I would never physically hurt these guys… I only want to scar them emotionally so that I keep haunting them years after they’ve left school. Right?
Anyway, I think I’ll enjoy the senior’s classes. I want to win their trust without being their friend (and thus losing control)… so my first assignment was for them to read an article from the New York Times about the benefits of more recess in school. We’re taking the next couple weeks to discuss, read, and debate the topic of recess and break-time in schools. I have some good ideas and some interesting literature discussing both sides of the argument. If you have any good info on the subject I would love to hear it (for example, a school in the US switched to 4-day school weeks, incredible)… of course the students are all for this, they started to discuss it as they were leaving my class on Friday.
This year should be interesting. The English department has given me freedom to teach what and how I would like, which is a blessing. I will bring my camera to school tomorrow to take some pictures of the school. Updates to follow.
*Wall Squats: Lean up against a wall as if you were on an imaginary toilet seat. Your knees must be at a 90 degree angle. Remain in this position until the teacher tells you to get up. Only once the student has begun to sweat do I start the 5-minute countdown. Try it at home and you'll see how grueling it can be.
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