My first weeks teaching in Ziquítaro have been outstanding. I teach 5th grade at the elementary school, kindergarten, an extracurricular class for young children, the adult class (together with Rachel), as well as the first two grades in the Junior High. I adore the young children for their energy and willingness to participate. In the after-school class I have a number of slightly older students who studied with Rachel M. in the spring and are already proficient in basic English. They are very willing to help the younger ones who are shy and just beginning their study of English. The adult class is also a delight as it is small and almost all the students belong to the extended family of the woman we live with, which makes for a familiar and easygoing environment. The adults are very interested in learning correct pronunciation, so I have utilized my training in linguistics to develop a system to convey English sounds using the conventions of written Spanish.
Teaching at the Telesecundaria is my favorite endeavor, despite its many challenges. The students are at the age in which, whether they are conscious of it or not, they are making decisions and encountering circumstances which will determine the course of their lives: whether to go on to high school, whether they will move to the United States, what professions they will choose, and so on. My most frustrating obstacles to making progress with my students are, in both the seventh and eighth grades, behavioral problems and a lack of basic study habits. The eighth grade is a large and rowdy group: eighteen boys and six girls. Even after considerable time spent spelling out the rules of the classroom, the students still shout out questions, talk while I am talking, and leave their seats during class. Experience taught me quickly that certain tactics to maintain order absolutely do not work – namely losing patience and yelling. Though I felt somewhat defeated for doing so, I resorted to asking the Telesecundaria´s director and the more effective of the eighth grader teachers to come into my class and give the students a stern lecture about my expectations for classroom conduct and the uniqueness of this opportunity to learn English. The director recommended that the students who truly do not contribute to the class should not be allowed to study with me, and that I should report their behavior to the director and teachers. I wish I could inspire all students to be as hard-working as some of them are, but I agree that it is not fair to the others to learn very little in class because so much time is wasted on discipline.
We spoke with Ziquítaro’s priest, Manual Vasquez Rubio, one night after a frustrating day at the Telesecundaria. The priest is a terrific ally and friend to us, and as a result of our conversation I have a new perspective on the classroom atmosphere and life in rural México in general. He is an educated and worldly man, and underwent a similar experience of culture shock when he arrived in this tiny town. He told us that something similar to the lack of decorum at the Telesecundaria occurred when he first gave mass to the people of Ziquítaro: people sat and gossiped, brought their dogs, and neglected to take screaming children outside the church. I realized that this difference in behavioral standards is a town-wide phenomenon, and now I try to view everything through a different lens. I have concluded that my students literally have not been introduced to the standards of behavior that are expected in an American classroom. When I observed the seventh grade class with their normal teacher, their behavior was the same: yelling, talking out of turn, playing with basketballs during class, etc. The teacher mentioned to me privately that he thought the students where payasos (clowns) and there was nothing he could do. I disagree. I feel I am an ambassador and that a vital part of my job is to impart to my students the reality of school in the United States. I must continually remind myself that I do not enter every day into the kind of junior high classroom where I studied, and that I can’t expect anything to be the same.
One may wonder why after the exasperating task of teaching good behavior to these students, I still enjoy so thoroughly being their teacher. Apart from the chaotic atmosphere in the classroom, many of my students are bright, hardworking, and ambitious. I assigned a project to the students, and the result completely surprised me. I asked them to bring pictures of their families, along with descriptions of several members including their ages, names, relation, and where they are live. The vast majority of my students, including those who yell the loudest during class, turned in beautifully decorated posters with several photographs and captions. I cannot remember the last time I felt so proud. The English on their projects was imperfect of course, but I am convinced that their work demonstrates their desire to learn. I am overjoyed, and very encouraged, by their enthusiasm. I believe that with some structure and my own enthusiasm, they will learn a tremendous amount this semester.
Teaching at the Telesecundaria is my favorite endeavor, despite its many challenges. The students are at the age in which, whether they are conscious of it or not, they are making decisions and encountering circumstances which will determine the course of their lives: whether to go on to high school, whether they will move to the United States, what professions they will choose, and so on. My most frustrating obstacles to making progress with my students are, in both the seventh and eighth grades, behavioral problems and a lack of basic study habits. The eighth grade is a large and rowdy group: eighteen boys and six girls. Even after considerable time spent spelling out the rules of the classroom, the students still shout out questions, talk while I am talking, and leave their seats during class. Experience taught me quickly that certain tactics to maintain order absolutely do not work – namely losing patience and yelling. Though I felt somewhat defeated for doing so, I resorted to asking the Telesecundaria´s director and the more effective of the eighth grader teachers to come into my class and give the students a stern lecture about my expectations for classroom conduct and the uniqueness of this opportunity to learn English. The director recommended that the students who truly do not contribute to the class should not be allowed to study with me, and that I should report their behavior to the director and teachers. I wish I could inspire all students to be as hard-working as some of them are, but I agree that it is not fair to the others to learn very little in class because so much time is wasted on discipline.
We spoke with Ziquítaro’s priest, Manual Vasquez Rubio, one night after a frustrating day at the Telesecundaria. The priest is a terrific ally and friend to us, and as a result of our conversation I have a new perspective on the classroom atmosphere and life in rural México in general. He is an educated and worldly man, and underwent a similar experience of culture shock when he arrived in this tiny town. He told us that something similar to the lack of decorum at the Telesecundaria occurred when he first gave mass to the people of Ziquítaro: people sat and gossiped, brought their dogs, and neglected to take screaming children outside the church. I realized that this difference in behavioral standards is a town-wide phenomenon, and now I try to view everything through a different lens. I have concluded that my students literally have not been introduced to the standards of behavior that are expected in an American classroom. When I observed the seventh grade class with their normal teacher, their behavior was the same: yelling, talking out of turn, playing with basketballs during class, etc. The teacher mentioned to me privately that he thought the students where payasos (clowns) and there was nothing he could do. I disagree. I feel I am an ambassador and that a vital part of my job is to impart to my students the reality of school in the United States. I must continually remind myself that I do not enter every day into the kind of junior high classroom where I studied, and that I can’t expect anything to be the same.
One may wonder why after the exasperating task of teaching good behavior to these students, I still enjoy so thoroughly being their teacher. Apart from the chaotic atmosphere in the classroom, many of my students are bright, hardworking, and ambitious. I assigned a project to the students, and the result completely surprised me. I asked them to bring pictures of their families, along with descriptions of several members including their ages, names, relation, and where they are live. The vast majority of my students, including those who yell the loudest during class, turned in beautifully decorated posters with several photographs and captions. I cannot remember the last time I felt so proud. The English on their projects was imperfect of course, but I am convinced that their work demonstrates their desire to learn. I am overjoyed, and very encouraged, by their enthusiasm. I believe that with some structure and my own enthusiasm, they will learn a tremendous amount this semester.
No comments:
Post a Comment